Late Night Hide and Seek

A poem about the poignancy of growing up, and the anxiety of realizing you don't have much time left to figure out where you want to go, or how to get there before you're thrust into adulthood.

five-one thousand...

The clock reads 2:04 am.

four-one thousand...

I can't help feeling time's running out.

three-one thousand...

How small has that steadily dwindling number become by now?

two-one thousand...

I've always been counting my age in reverse,

watching this withered, worry-ridden childhood

waste away behind a static screen.

one-one thousand...

Lacking warm memories on which to fondly reminisce,

I can't grow up just yet.

With tears still clouding my starry eyes,

there is no shelter I can improvise.

...zero!

Unable to decide on a hiding spot,

I scamper frantically about with no destination in mind,

no semblance of a plan on which to rely,

as an uncertain future calls out a familiar cry,

“ready or not, here I come!”

Author's Note

First off, thanks for reading! If you liked it, or have any advice/critiques/comments I'd love it if you left a review! I always love to hear what unique feelings and ideas my poems evoke in others, so please don't hesitate to talk about what this poem means to you! Conversely, feel free to ask me about what the intended meaning behind any part of this poem is!

Now, I'll talk about the poem itself for a bit.
This is obviously a very personal piece that I wrote to convey my own anxieties and melancholy surrounding my ever-nearing adulthood, but I feel like it may resonate with a lot of other teens who like me, don't feel ready to grow up just yet. Every line of this poem has a specific meaning behind it that relates to my own feelings and experiences, though some are clearer than others.

I was always a strange child in the way that I have never, not even before I had the capacity to worry about the distant future, ever wanted to grow up. For as long as I can remember, it was my dream to remain a child forever.