Middle school sounds like discomfort and shuffling Birkenstocks

And sometimes

on wet days

in hallways

with padded floors and lazy feet

your ears deceive your mind

and you forget that time exists,

and that funny guy called "brain"

sends you right back into prepubescence

at least for the moment

And this experience,

the one from brain,

is familiar

but equally foreign

Leaving you with exactly what drew you in—

A little piece

of you,

of brain,

that holds onto the

simplicity of bottle-rigged kisses,

and secrets folded within

geography flash cards,

Realize that what you are

is the composition of these bits and pieces,

scraps and fragments,

little pasts bound by duct tape

and that no piece is you,

but every piece

good and bad

and wickedly weird

these pieces are perfect

and you

Katherine Krehbiel is a constantly curious Libra who loves both her 9 to 5 and her 5 to 9.