In the Middle of a Beginning

Seventeen is a question mark,
half a map and no clear start,
a borrowed coat that doesn’t fit,
a spark that doesn’t know it’s lit.

It’s quiet wars behind closed doors,
first heartbreaks swept off bedroom floors,
a voice that trembles into song,
not sure if it’s too loud�"or wrong.

It’s moonlight scribbled in a page,
the teeter on the edge of age,
a hundred dreams and tangled fears,
a laugh too loud, a mask of tears.

It’s wanting more, and not sure why,
to touch the stars, to kiss the sun,
to run from rules, to chase what’s true,
to make the world make sense to you.

It’s being lost and finding grace,
in every friend, in every face.
It’s saying “yes,” it’s learning “no,”
it’s holding on, and letting go.

Seventeen is almost free�"
a shadow of who you will be.
Not child, not quite adult�"between.
A masterpiece that’s still unseen.

Reviews

[DeletedUser]

Wow. I don't know a lot about poetry, but I loved this! As someone who can totally relate to your poem, it's such an incredible way to draw someone in and really feel what they feel. Even if someone who couldn't relate as much read this, I believe they would feel as though they were 'trapped' in a sense and 'not yet free' from the cage they've been brought up in. I know the feeling of wanting to be free and I could truly understand the emotion being emitted from your poem.
Other than that, I'd say good job and I look forward to reading some more.
Kindest regards,
Skyla

[poetic swan]

Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m really glad the poem spoke to you and captured those feelings. It means a lot to know it connected with you. I’ll be happy to share more soon!

[Beccy]

It was the direction I thought I needed to go in which was the most confusing; that and being expected to act like an adult yet still be treated like a child.

'Tis a long time past now, but the memories linger.

Beccy.

[butterfly]

A masterpiece that is still unseen. This is my favorite part. I also like to run from rules. Thanks for sharing this great poem.

[poetic swan]

i am glad that you like it

[Neha agrawal]

This is a **love letter to the messy, aching, luminous in-between**—where youth trembles on the edge of itself, not yet sure of its own shape. The poem captures **the contradictions of seventeen**: half courage, half confusion; half rebellion, half longing to be understood.

[poetic swan]

Thank you so much — your words are poetry themselves. You understood exactly what I was trying to capture. That in-between space means everything to me.

[Soren]

You convey well the conflicts and shining aspirations of that age where childhoods fairy tales and sand castles become physics books and office towers. At that cross roads tied between four horses each pulling in different directions one is pulled apart. Very nicely written

[poetic swan]

Thank you! You summed it up so well — that pull between childhood and reality is exactly what I hoped to show.