"Brush your hair"

Said my mother, and I did.

"Clean your room"

Said my father, and I did.

"Write for us"

Said the teacher, and I always did.

There wasn't a question in my mind. 

I just did. 

There wasn't any significant meaning to what I wrote;

Words just spilled

From my mind to my hands,

From my hands to the blue lines

In my notebooks-

in the margins of my math notes

During English class.

I didn't care.

I was a mindless drone to the task of

Putting pencil to paper

To come up with something just to pass the time.

Little did I know,

There were pieces of me

Scattered among every little scrap I've written on.

"Study hard"

Said my teacher, and I did.

"Keep your grades up"

Said my mother, and I did.

"Take it easy"

Said my father,

and I did.

I did it all for me.