i am a lot of things

so let me begin by sharing

the things i am not

i am not

a number on a scale

i am not

the letters on my report card

i am not

what other people decide i am

and as long as i am able to decide

i will wake up

and remind myself

that i am

the doodles in the back of my notebook

and the laughter after i tell a joke

i am

the last note of the songs that i sing in my car

and the words that i write in my poems

i am the person

i decide to be

everyday

and no one

can tell me

to be anything else

-srb