13 Million

I feel small
And insignificant

I’m 17 years old
And I carry the weight of a 13.8 million
Year old universe on my shoulders

I am nothing compared to
Buddha or Gandhi

My atoms are not as important
As the ones that made up
Martin Luther King Jr.

It took me four years
Of pain and misery

But I finally recognized that somewhere
Deep in my soul
There’s a dark, oozing wound

I’m 17 years old but I live with
The battle scars of wounded soldiers

I put everything in and
Get nothing back
But I’ve made up my mind

The stardust that created my bones
Must have been lazy and achy and sore

My body is 17 years old
But it creeks and it aches
Like it were thousands more

I try to find solace in war broken souls
Shattered by bullets and hatred and sorrow

I feel small
And insignificant
And my bones ache with old age
My body is only 17
But my soul and my mind
Are 13.8 million years old