Poem | 16

 

This poem had been sitting in my notes app for far longer than I'd like to admit. Truth be told, it had been sitting in my head even longer before it found its way into my notes app. There's something about putting words on paper that makes the feelings real. Today marks three years since my mom's passing. In honour of that, I think it's finally time to let this poem go.

_

To my mom, I miss you unbearably. And to every lost soul still wandering this earth, wondering how much longer they can pretend they're fine.

_

16

I was sixteen.

I was a child.

Young, foolish

Convinced I was invincible.

Nothing bad could ever happen to me... right?

Death was a far-off thing,

Something I'd figure out how to face when I was older

Not now.

Not yet.

I was sixteen.

I was a child.

A teenager who believed the people she loved would live forever.

Sure, people die

I'd read about it

But not someone I love

Not someone who knows the sound of my laughter.

I was sixteen.

I was a child.

When my dad told me 

I could choose the clothes

We'd bury my mother in.

That's when it shattered

The illusion of invincibility.

I was sixteen.

I was a child.

With a lifetime ahead of me,

And suddenly

The only person who truly understood me was gone.

I was sixteen.

I was a child.

Wandering through a world blurred by tears,

Learning the hard way

That I was not untouchable,

Not unbreakable.

I was sixteen.

Hopelessly lost

And just like that,

I was not a child anymore.

Until next time,

Jovana <3

16/11/2025