i was lucky enough

to be introduced to poetry

when i was seven

but poetry was never my thing

no matter how hard i tried

i couldn't get past the boredom-inducing

 rhyme and rhythm

the unrelatable words of

poe and frost

i hated poetry

but i always wrote it.

when i was fourteen

i made mistakes with boys

used words i shouldn't have known

to describe actions i shouldn't have yet understood

i molded descriptions of body parts into seductions

that were as far from asexually medical as could be

i never considered my lewdness to be poetry

but i always wrote it.

when i was sixteen

i was abused by my father

i didn't read poetry

i read books

logic was for the strong

poetry was for the weak

but i still wrote it.

when i was seventeen

i wrote words on the internet

on a blog i didn't intend to keep

about feelings i would rather not have

i considered my words to be nothing more than

worthless rambles

i didn't think it was poetry

but i wrote it anyway.

when i was eighteen

i came across a website that helped me understand

that poetry does not have to be symmetrical

it does not have to be a haiku

it does not have to rhyme

it does not have to be one page or less

it does not have to be in iambic pentameter

it can be descriptions

it can be lists

it can be emotions and experiences

it can be mine

and once i finally grasped my definition of "poetry"

i never stopped writing.