The speaker walks through their life in a series of ages, each with a new desire. At five it's drawing, at eight dancing, at ten acting, at thirteen being known, at sixteen love. The early wants feel simple and joyful ("I felt alive," "I felt great"). But the wants slowly shift from things the speaker does to things they need from other people, and that's where things start going wrong. Being known ends with no one calling. Love becomes sleeping around, and the dove line suggests it left the speaker restless rather than peaceful.
By twenty, the wants have shrunk to one: "just want someone." The speaker is alone, and the sarcastic "Surprised?" hides a lot of hurt. The mood turns from bright and energetic to bitter and tired. The final lines are the saddest, with the speaker deciding they were "only good for a sad song." The poem's own rhymes and short lines make that conclusion feel like a quiet, defeated shrug. The title, "escape_artist," suggests the speaker kept slipping from one identity to the next, never staying long enough to feel held.