I sit by the kitchen window

My brothers bookbags sit next to the door

With the dirty sneakers they always wore

I want to go to school

I whine

They leave me behind

My mother calls me her baby

She doesn't want me to leave her too

When I grow up she’ll beg me to stay home for another year or two

For now she’ll smile at me as I sit by the window 

While I’m watching the older kids play

“You’ll be old enough to some day”

Once I got to school my character was already defined 

My small feet still couldn’t fill my siblings shoes

I'm compared to them no matter what I do

People call by their names

So I must be better than they were back then

I sit and watch out the window again

I sat there alone

And it was quieter than before

Only my sneakers by the door

The houses halls used to be filled with noise

Filled with little footsteps and laughter 

I sit by the big window long thereafter

They left me behind