Five

Five
It's supposed to take five years
for every cell in your body
to clone itself and die.
After five years
you're completely new
nothing of the old is remaining.
You only remember the child
you used to be, the one you're not.
I waited:
I waited five years
it's a long time.
Like a prisoner to myself
and everything the darkness ever touched
... every cell holding me back like bars.
Until finally my sentence was up
I was released-- New!
I sprang forth only to trip on my way out
scrapping my knees, bruising my heart
earning five more years.
I'm not waiting this time...
I'm not sitting in the bath tub
scrubbing with steel wool any longer
trying to shorten my sentence
and erase all of the mistakes.
I'm not trying to peel off my skin.
Because someone saw me.
They saw my cage and they said,
"Five years wasted, five more to go
I have a key.
I can unlock you.I'll make you new
right now." and I am free,
no longer waiting for
five years to pass.