Just Seventeen

She was 5'6" and a little thin
Long brown hair on summer's skin
Her father beamed with undisguised pride
Her mother shed tears of joy by his side
As they watched their princess becoming a queen
It was hard to remember she was just seventeen.

"For general excellence", they called her name
She laughed as she stood; it was all just a game
As she made her way up towards the stage
She felt with each step the confines of her cage
For all that she was, all that she'd been
All she would be; she was just seventeen.

No longer a girl; a woman? Not quite.
She wasn't quite sure what was wrong, what was right.
"Be polite", "You're alright", "Wanna go out tonight?"
It was precisely these things that she wanted to fight
Because lost in the cracks of all in between
She was really afraid of being just seventeen.

Two hours, six shots, and a cocktail later
She knew that, somewhere, there was something greater
She stepped on the street, eyes closed with a smile
Bright lights and a horn, she was going in style
The laughter and lies played out on a screen
And she knew she was done, at just seventeen.

---

She was 5'6" and a little thin
Limp brown hair on lifeless skin
Her father remembered, as her mother wept,
All the promises that he'd never kept
But perfect in death, she lay serene
Forever to be just seventeen.