bittersweet recollections of your adolescence // 2019 poetry collection

happy

it's important to document more than just the bad days.

so here's me trying.

today i maybe failed my first quiz in a class essential for my major.

tonight i'm doing homework due tomorrow morning.

and i'm happy.

i went to an ultimate frisbee game with my friends.

i didn't know what was happening the entire time.

i got shaved ice at 8 pm.

i had a strawberry milkshake for lunch.

i'm happy.

my life could fall apart at any moment,

but i'm happy.

and it's a weird, crazy feeling to be standing

on what feels like a ledge

and have no fear of falling.

it's a weird, crazy feeling to know that these things are happening

the good and the bad

and for once i'm looking at the good and somehow it outweighs the bad.

i parallel parked perfectly.

i made my friend laugh when she wanted to cry.

my professor told me that i'm a good student and a likeable person.

and yes, life's tough,

and yes,

maybe failing my first quiz in a class essential for my major

doing homework due tomorrow morning

would have made me cry and fall apart a year ago.

but i'm happy.

i'm realizing more and more

that sometimes it's okay to be happy.

and you shouldn't feel guilt for choosing joy.