...dear seventeen...

...I wonder where you've disappeared to.

My history is stained, a pale shade of grey,

filled with might-have-beens and unfinished yesterdays.

My golden days of yore,

of optimism and vigor are long gone,

tarnished by the storms of life's cruel austerities.

You used to be all I ever knew.

My shield, my solace,

my sunshine after the rain,

the mask I wore,

the sword I held,

the shelter I cowered beneath when the going got tough...

It kills me to think I've somehow lost you now.

...Why do I feel you're a lifetime away?

"There is nothing so pitiful as a young cynic because he has gone from knowing nothing to believing nothing."

- Maya Angelou