While I was at Third Place Books this afternoon, a teenage girl asked me if she could take a couple of pictures of me for a class assignment. 

‘I wish I were older,’ she said

I wanted to tell her
not to be in such a hurry
that getting older would happen soon enough

There’s always a carrot to tempt you
to keep you amped for the chase
and the next thing you can get

Let life unfold at its own pace—
follow a step or two behind

‘I wish I were older,’ she said
‘Then I could use film’

(1 May 2018—posted May 2nd)