Poem: On Turning Twenty-Three

I did not write this when I turned twenty-three, nor do I think I had these thoughts, but I like that age.
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On Turning Twenty-Three

I'm still taking tests
with number two pencils,
writing essays and term papers
in this mime of real life
while my cohort
is running businesses and marathons
making salaries and wedding plans.
My goals are ages away,
curiosity and wanderlust
pave my meandering
and at this junction
between palindrome and prime
my big moves are still dreams
hatched from an unharnessed mind,
immature and volatile,
buying into an investment
I don't really understand
to do a job I cannot fathom
with faith in my divergence
from that real life road
to pursue more books,
more letters after my name.