Puberty

I fear change like caterpillars as their bodies encase themselves in cocoons;

Nerves burning

body changing without consent of brain

world darkening

as I close and close and close and then,

I am nothing.

Will I live for a day upon bursting out with such radiant wings

or will I be crushed under adolescent heel,

my remains puddles of puss and pieces of shell?

Time will tell its tall tales

and then silence itself till we forget it ever existed

yet I will remember this fear,

this horror of feeling yourself from within

like snakes shedding their skin

ripping yourself to pieces to see the sun tomorrow

but tomorrow, the sun has died

and the moon just sits there and asks

“Who are you?”

I do not know, I do not know, I do not know