At thirteen,
I dreamed of joining a professional orchestra.

My peers advised otherwise.

I didn't let them discourage me,
but cracks began to form
in the foundation of my dream.

I held out and stood firm.
And yet one semester was enough
to change my mind, six years later.

The goalpost shifted,
and I swapped degrees from
performance to music education.

But it was for the wrong reason.
Music ed appeared less stressful,
but I did not want to be a teacher.

My dream had already started to crumble.

Addiction hastened the decay.

Eventually I came to realize,
I held onto nothing,

swirling...