ORPHAN

 

of the teenage years
when parents become strangers
an emergence of a new self
orphaned by maturation
the old shelter of mommy and daddy
a dead wood forest
a leaky roof of annoyance
sharp elbows
in the hovel of mind
no more afterbirth dinners
we get our own food
pull off the wires of obedience
we are a new hat
eyes to the sky
no more being dragged through old valleys
step up and off the precipice of dependency
an upward sweep
to find shaky ground
in shadows labyrinth
holding roses
destination unknown