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Dan Calnan is a freshman at Endicott College in Beverly, MA. He is an English major with a concentration in Creative Writing. Dan is from Lynn, MA, and graduated from Lynn English High School earlier this year. At Endicott, he is working on developing a portfolio of various writings, and aspires to become a writer for a career.

Dan Calnan

18

18 is verdant,

A darker, calmer green

Like leaves in a deep forest

upon aged trees

18 is those leaves, snapping

away from the branch

blowing away, sometimes

taking rest before being

blown away again

18 is driftwood in the sea,

unpredictably moving

reaching all the horizons

sometimes floating in calm waters

but then launched by storm

18 is the sand battered by tide

sometimes untouched,

dry and pure, but then

bombarded and baptized by waves

18 is the fall, sometimes warm

sometimes cold

where leaves blow

and sea batters sand

sea with driftwood dragged by tide

18 is the age

where you no longer hide

where you no longer sleep

where you cannot stay still

where you cannot not move

where you cannot not live

where you no longer

cannot not be a kid

where you must leave the tree

where you must face the sea

where you must eat the tide

and be beat by your dreams

where your whole world seems

to fall apart at the seams

18 is that age

18 is this age

18, 18, 18

18 is the age

of freedom with chains

a test of your strength

to conquer yourself

— Dan Calnan

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