When I Am Older | Teen Ink
  1. Home
  2. Poetry
  3. Free Verse
  4. When I Am Older

When I Am Older

August 27, 2021
By EvelyneWrites PLATINUM, Arlington, Virginia
More by this author
EvelyneWrites PLATINUM, Arlington, Virginia
21 articles 0 photos 19 comments
View profile

Mom says I’ll want to eat kale

When I am older-

Says it’ll taste good

And when I am older

I’ll wake up when my alarm

Goes off, not after I hit 

Snooze

Three

Times

When I am older

I’ll be able to organize

I’ll learn things I don’t know 

Yet, I’ll have adventures

I’ll be allowed to go

Where I want, do

What I want, but

Teachers say they learn

More from the kids

Than the kids learn from

Them, and maybe 

When I am older 

I’ll wish I had the innocence

And naive goodness

I once dropped like pennies

Maybe when I am older

I’ll miss the cheap

Lollipops at the drive-through

At the bank 

And I’ll sleep through my alarm

Old habits die hard

And I’ll be a mess with

No one to tell me to

Clean my room

I won’t have the funds to

Go where I want,

Won’t have the time to

Do what I want

And I’ll wish I’d never

Quite grown up

But that’s just a maybe

I know that 

When I am older

I’ll have the freedom

Of less than six feet

Of eating indoors

Of seeing a smile in real life

And maybe

When I am older

I’ll be in 

Your arms 

Again

© Amy B., Alabaster, AL

The author's comments:

Thie piece is about the poignancy of growing up coupled with the hope of the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Post a comment
Submit your own

Similar Articles

Previous Next
Poetry
Brother
By Anonymous
Poetry
My Sister's Keeper
By Angels1031 BRONZE
Fort Worth, Texas
Angels1031 BRONZE, Fort Worth, Texas
4 articles 0 photos 4 comments
View profile
Poetry
Motley Crue: I really hear you
By Arbys GOLD
Dobbs Ferry, New York
Arbys GOLD, Dobbs Ferry, New York
15 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.&quot;Edgar Allan Poe<br /> &quot;A dream doesn&#039;t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work. ~Colin Powell&quot; ~ Colin Powell<br /> &quot;Wisdom is not finally tested in the schools, Wisdom <br /> &quot;A poem is never finished, only abandoned.&quot;-Paul Valery

View profile
Poetry
Death At Your Door
By sHaDoWnInJa PLATINUM
West Jordan, Utah
sHaDoWnInJa PLATINUM, West Jordan, Utah
31 articles 0 photos 3 comments
View profile
Poetry
Secret Crush
By C.J.H. BRONZE
Benciao City, Taipei County, Other
C.J.H. BRONZE, Benciao City, Taipei County, Other
4 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Sometimes the world tries ot knock it out of you. But I believe in music the way that some people believe in fairy tales.&quot; August Rush(2007)

View profile
Poetry
Arrival of Storm
By Anonymous

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 7 comments.

CeeCee80 said...
on Sep. 13 2021 at 12:43 pm
CeeCee80, Chandler, Arizona
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
View profile
This is absolutely beautiful. It really makes me think about what life really is and what it really means to one another. Great job.
summerchild GOLD said...
on Sep. 13 2021 at 12:29 pm
summerchild GOLD, Chandler, Arizona
11 articles 0 photos 18 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Some of us have been through so much that even something good feels like a set up.”<br /> -Anonymous

View profile
I love this. The description and the underlying truth of how growing up isn’t what it’s cut out to be is very well said. I think it’s beautiful!
cmariej GOLD said...
on Sep. 9 2021 at 10:15 am
cmariej GOLD, Buckeystown, Maryland
13 articles 7 photos 19 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Even darkness must pass, anew day will come and and when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer."<br /> J.R.R Tolkien

View profile
So beautiful!!
12376-astravo SILVER said...
on Sep. 8 2021 at 10:34 am
12376-astravo SILVER, Centennial, Colorado
6 articles 0 photos 24 comments

Favorite Quote:
" A writer is a writer not because she writes well and easily, because she has amazing talent, or because everything she does is golden. A writer is a writer because, even though there is no hope, even when nothing you do shows any sign of promise, you keep writing anyway." - Junot Diaz<br /> <br /> " Overnight Success is almost a myth. Half of this industry is luck, and half is the refusal to quit" - Victoria Schwab

View profile
This was amazing. Great Job! :)
Rsnail-925 PLATINUM said...
on Sep. 7 2021 at 10:44 pm
Rsnail-925 PLATINUM, Boulder, Colorado
29 articles 11 photos 106 comments

Favorite Quote:
A story has as many versions as it has readers - Winter Of Our Discontent

View profile
This is so moving.
Crazywolfiegirl2 PLATINUM said...
on Sep. 2 2021 at 3:22 pm
Crazywolfiegirl2 PLATINUM, Kington, Other
26 articles 3 photos 284 comments

Favorite Quote:
There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter. —Rachel Carson

View profile
Wow, so good
Rune DIAMOND said...
on Aug. 31 2021 at 3:55 pm
Rune DIAMOND, Tama, Iowa
58 articles 0 photos 14 comments

Favorite Quote:
Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.<br /> — Isaiah 24:1

View profile
This is beautiful.