age

most would call me young
at seventeen years,
i’m at my prime
i still have
all the time
in the world.

and yet,
i can feel it
i can sense it
i have an old soul
i am older than i appear

i've seen too much,
been through too much,
to be truly young

i notice things
that others don't
things that they
have not been trained
to look for

my body is scarred,
cut-up and burnt;
telltale signs
of the hell
i've endured

living like this is taxing
it takes so much effort
to get through the day

people think
i'm too young
to feel this way

but i'm older than they
could ever know.