My Older Sister

sometimes i think about all the people she's been,

to her friends, to my parents, and to me, see,

i wish i could've grown up faster, been nearly 20 while she stayed 13,

and if you ask me my reasoning i'll tell you about all the things i could never be,

i could never be wiser or gentle or free, always annoying or small or mean,

all i wanted was to be friends with her friends, and with her, too,

but now that i've grown up, i wish i could go back, 

to her, and treat her with all the respect we both lacked.

our parents gave us different wounds, and we've had different times to pay our dues,

to each other, to our friends, to ourselves, yes, but never to mother or father again