Living To Be Older Only Has One Result

She had spent almost half her life wanting to be older
Because being older meant freedom
Freedom to participate, freedom to indulge

When she was a few months older than 15
She started proclaiming she was 21
Started dressing like the older girls
Started talking like the older girls
Started going out with the men
The older girls preferred

It occurred to her in her late twenties
She had grown up much too fast
Couldn't believe how much time had passed

But she quickly let that rumination slide

Her two kids were in Elementary school
The father of the first one had been buried last year
And she couldn't remember the last time she cared

When she was a few months older than 15
She loved being able to get into clubs and dance all night
When she turned 21 she was still feeling it
When the Judge gave custody of her children to her mother
Said it was for the best
The best for the kids, at least

Now she was 24 days past her 33rd birthday
At least her corpse was
That's as old as she ever got to be

With a needle in her arm