When did I outgrow my hometown?

When did I outgrow Main St. and Broadway?

When did the people of this town become strangers instead of family?

When did I stop knowing my town like the back of my hand?

Was it when I was 9 and we left the cornfields behind

and entered into the concrete jungle of Chicago?

Was it when I saw a homeless man for the first time

and was told not to stare?

Was it when I was 10 and I asked what global warming was?

and you said it was the world getting worse.

Was it when I cried the first time I realized

you weren't always going to be there.

Was it when I was 12 and realized that Mount Pleasant

isn't always a pleasant place?

Was it when I lost my sense of self

and tried to find it in others.

Was it when I was 14 and went on my first mission trip

and saw the world outside my bubble?

Was it the first time that a boy said that he liked me?

and I couldn't say it back.

When did I outgrow my hometown?

Was it when I was 16 and got my license

and the open road called my name?

Was it when I didn't go on the family vacation

for the first time and instead saw the world.

Was it when I was 17 and I fell in love with a girl for the first time?

and she couldn't love me back.

Was it when I decided I was going to anywhere but Central?

and everyone asked why as if they didn't know.

Was it when I was 18 and had my first drink?

at my first party with people I didn't like.

Was it when a boy touched me for the first time?

and I didn't want it.

Was it when I was 19 and made a new home for myself?

with people who knew nothing about me.

Was it when I went home for the first time?

even though I didn't want to.

When did I outgrow my hometown?

When did I stop hating it so much?

When did the streets I walk my dog on stop being familiar?

Will I ever stop outgrowing my hometown?

Do I even want to?