i'm late

february 19, 2025

i’m late

i’m sorry

they convinced me i was small

that my work

always needed more editing

that i was too vulnerable

too exposed

too raw

the piece was

too long

too short

it didn’t rhyme enough

it rhymed too much

they convinced me

i could not live and write

i could not live and create

they convinced me

this was a childlike wanting

it was childlike

and therefore so was i

but

i walked

somedays

i crawled

others

i walked and crawled and rolled

my way through each

too much

and

too little

and i made it

here only to find

that i’m not too late

but that i am

right on time.

m.