She Matured Early

She matured early.

She felt the gears in her brain

turn faster than her classmates’

Felt an inferno run fiercely through her veins

before they could light a single spark

She pulsed with electricity.

She learned to hold a paintbrush

and promptly created a masterpiece

Made a map of the ocean

with her eyes closed.

But knowing the ocean so early

made swimming seem slow

By age 9 she had memorized

every starfish and seahorse beneath the waves

and now her nerves quiver

as she feels her classmates gaining on her fins

She wills the electricity to coarse faster through her

and searches for new parts of the ocean to map.

Maturation has kept her swimming strongly

but her flotation device is losing air

Soon the school of fish will reach her

and pierce the water beside her

Together they will follow the current

she has always felt

in her veins.