highways and alleyways
by crystal tiara

when i was young
i had no sense of direction.
so they made me walk
down this long, almost unending road
with other wide-eyed innocents
who, like me, had no idea
whether to go this way...
... or that.
we walked down that long road
together, for thirteen years.
some stumbled, and others went on.
but i just kept moving forward
even though at times i bruised
and scraped my knee.
and they said,
"she's got a good head on her shoulders.
she won't lose her way."
and funny - we hardly noticed
that one day we just found ourselves
at the end of the road.
now, everyone can tell left from right,
this way and that.
everyone but me.
everyone wants to take the highway -
it's rough and bumpy, but it's the big road
and at the end
you can see towers and buildings so high
that you can hardly see the blue sky
or the flowers growing beneath them.
(if there still are any)
and as for me?
i just want to walk down the alley.
it's a road not always taken
but it smells of belonging to me.
still, i don't want to be left behind.
i don't want them to say,
"i always thought she had
a good head on her shoulders.
i wonder why
she chose to take that path."
so, like every other person
who walked with me once,
i'll trod down the highway as well.
it's been thirteen years
and i still have no sense of direction.

Author's Notes: After suffering from an incredibly long dry spell (thanks to writer's block), I finally managed to write another poem that reflects my state of mind regarding college. The "thirteen years" in this poem refers to the total time I spent studying in kindergarten, grade school and high school. I wrote this because of my conflicting feelings on what course to take as my major. Personally, I'd rather take up something more oriented towards my interests, such as creative writing, literature or international studies. But my parents seem to be expecting me to take up something related to management. Also, being an honor student in school, people are thinking that I'll be aiming for something "high", i.e. a course with "prestige", such as management engineering, chemical engineering or any of those fancy-sounding courses. But those simply aren't my cup of tea. So when school starts this June, I'll be a college freshman who will take up management. I don't like it that much, but I don't totally dislike it either. But even so, people are expecting me to take up the honors program for management. It's a long story. Anyway, I appreciate constructive criticism, so please review!