Seventeen is like this:
I am sarcastic and stubborn
Sweet and sensitive
I feel helpless and also full of hope
I’ve never been braver, but only because I’ve never been more scared
Seventeen is like this:
I am eager for the future to arrive, and yet I wish it would slow in its approach
My hometown is a prison
And my hometown is who I am
Part of me will always be here, and part of here will always be in me
Seventeen is like this:
A middle finger is a salute
Fast food is its own love language
We are wild and stupid and brilliant
There’s a dialect you speak at seventeen that you will never be fluent in again
Seventeen is like this:
I scream into the void at the top of my lungs
I haven’t found my voice yet
I am nearly an adult and I’m still a little kid
I am a mess of contradictions and I am a blank canvas
Seventeen is like this:
It’s beautiful in spite of and because it’s ugly
Seventeen is freedom
Seventeen is purgatory
Seventeen is the cusp of something great
Seventeen is the most important year of my life, at least until I get to the next one
Katelyn Caulder, 17, is a queer poet from Lakeville, MN who enjoys YA novels, iced coffee, and dogs. In her free time, Kate competes on her school’s speech team, teaches karate, and plays guitar.