teenage truths

your voice is too loud;
echoing through the suburbs,
past perfect airbrushed families
having summer barbecues
in the warm evening.
you laugh
smile
brush your hair from your face
and light your cigarette
ignoring the bitterness
of adolescence even as it fills you up.

we bypassed rebellion,
until our 18th birthdays
when we dusted off heavy coats
of teenage angst
hated you/hated me
hated the perfection
we were brought up in.
so when you shout through the suburbs
I know it isn't accidental
or excitement from all the covert cider and nicotine.
it's you breaking through
the bonds of family
to begin to grow
into you.


-g.m