I am a songwriter.

I am a songwriter because music is the one idea that can evoke multiple emotions out of a single person,

because of the sound of my words jumping and running,

because of old strings aching against hard fingers,

because of the pencil dragging across paper as my head pounds and my heart throbs with emotion,

because of late nights sitting on stiff bar stools and voices distant but present,

because of the idea of a life without songwriting

and because of my heart grasping to the hope that people will listen and feel my pain and hear my hopes and acknowledge my dreams,

because of the hope that even one person will hear my song and laugh or cry or scream the way I did when I put the words on a page,

because of the hope that another person will laugh or cry or scream when I did not,

because of those who have helped me and continue to help me to this day,

because of my dog who was the first to listen to me,

and because when I go I want to say the earth shook.