“You’re only seventeen, kid,” he told me,
As I attempted to try something new.
Something I wasn’t used to,
Something…different.
But old age never dawned on me,
Nor did illness, accident, or coincidence.
I never consciously thought about my next step,
Instead, I took it anyway.
I took one risk,
I forgot about who I was,
I forgot about the past,
I forgot about the present,
And I forgot about the future.
Look at me now,
Regret never felt greater.
I’m not immortal, indestructible, eternal, or everlasting.
Common sense was something I was never aware of using.
I forgot about when he whispered the few subtle words into my ear,
“You know, you can’t be seventeen forever,”
I didn’t know that at seventeen.