a week ago 

a professor asked me 

what i wanted to do with my life, 

the quesiton caught me wrong-footed; 

two decades ago

learning to walk, 

a decade ago 

learning my body, 

5 years ago 

discovering love,

3 years ago,

accepting my body

a month ago,

accepting who i am 

and now? 

thrust into the unknown,

an oblivion that teases me;

infinite doors to open they say 

as they shut them all closed,

a budding robin 

falling out of its nest, 

however this fledgling   

has had its wings clipped,

by a system  

engrained in compliance, 

devaluing learning, 

preaching individuality

yet demanding conformity 

that same system 

now dares ask, 

what i want to do 

with my time left here? 

time they've wasted, 

time they tell me is my own 

but inquire as if it were theirs,

time they loathe i have,

for the wisest man

would barter all his prudence and savvy

to once again taste youth's fruitfulness, 

time, 

my time. 

what do i want to do? 

i want to

step back and breathe.