Scalded Scholars

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Loaded question, I know.
The great matriculation into the "rest of your life" starts now,
So you better be ready or prepare to be trampled to the ground.

I think about that a lot.
So much so that it grips my waking hours
And pushes itself in my face like a 6am infomercial
So much so that at night insomnia engulfs me and takes me for his own
So much so that's it's what my life has led up to!!!!

Get a stable job
Make your parents proud
Don't fail society
Don't falter at all
Obliterate your rivals
And above all, be a Star!

I'm "just a teenager", though. But I know this house is temporary and if I don't
Start packing boxes and filling a suitcase now
I will vaporize out of existence like a comet that ran out of ice to burn

So, what choice do I have?
I have to roll with the punches, go with the flow.
Run away from the only home I've ever known to what seems like the greatest trap I'll ever know.

Sure, I hear what they say:
College opens doors for a successful career, a successful life!
But I also know that keys don't just unlock.

Author's Note

An old vent poem I did.