An open note
to the girl that I was
between the ages
of fifteen and twenty-one;
From the depths of my heart,
I am sorry.

You were too depressed,
too angry,
had suffered too much,
faked too many smiles,
wore too much gray,
and butchered your bangs
with too many kitchen scissors.

You who had given up,
an honor student drop-out,
long-since written off.
Among the forgotten.
The neurodiverse.
The impoverished.
The lost.

Cut to now;
Walking a Uni stage
in a polyester cap and gown
like Milan couture,
a head full of plans
and a heart forged in fire
for the first time.

An open note
to the girl that we were
between the ages
of fifteen and twenty-one;
Here we stand.