I thought that I was normal
The average teenager
Who stressed about the future
That loomed on my horizon
And watched Pixar movies
And had nerf gun wars
Because adulthood was waiting
To snatch my childhood up

(And I know it's not my place to judge
Because I'm the farthest stretch from perfect
That you could ever get
But I just can't help feeling
The depth of all this sadness
About the adolescent years
That plague every generation
And leave them

breathless.)

I guess I never fully understood
How naive I really am
The innocence that I was
Formerly unaware of
Until the other day
When I overheard your conversation
About your boyfriends and your girlfriends
Throwing love around
(Or at least your idea of it
Because love is infinitely more
Than a lonely night together
In the backseat of a car)
Like it was nothing

And you and all your drunk friends
Playing beer pong all night long until
Intoxication knocked you out
Cold in a pool of your own bile
And there you slept

I never knew
It left me stunned
People I talk to every day,
Whom I consider friends
I thought you were more like me
Than them
But it seems like I'm all alone

Backseats are for road trips
And for sleeping on the seatbelt
And for spilling drinks and dropping fries,
Lost beneath the seat forever

Sleep is for a bed with covers
And an extra blanket when it's cold
Where a pillow will support your head
And an alarm clock will wake you in
the morning

Just because you turned eighteen
And think you rule the world
Doesn't mean you have to take your life
And throw it to the wind

And maybe all the things you do
Are right and I'm all wrong
Maybe I'm just missing
What I know should truly be
The greatest years of life

But what happens when you're older
And have a family of your own
I wonder if your husband or your wife
Will ever find you out
Or will they be in the same boat

And when your daughter asks you questions
About what's right and what is wrong
I think the flashback to those days
When you thought you were invincible
Will blind you with its weight

I wonder how regret will feel

You'll think about how you
Maybe asked your parents the same thing
And then you'll understand
And the walls you built to keep them out
Will crumble just a bit

And when your mind has turned the past up
And you truly see your child's eyes
Filled with such potential
But waiting on the brink of lies
It's not the answer that matters
But the depth,
Guilt or innocence aside,
Of your conviction

You'll want with all your being
For her to choose the better path
Where backseats are for road trips,
Not for a night that steals you
And sleep is for a bed,
Not a cooling pool of vomit

Your eyes will fill with tears
Composed of love's true depth
The memories of nights in a car
Shatter into nothingness
But teenagers know everything
The decision is no longer up to you
She turned away without seeing them
And there's nothing you can do.