At age 8

I began to hear lyrics

I thought they were songs

But they would not conform to meter

And I forgot

how

i

sang

 

At age 13

I started to see sounds and stories

I did not know what they were

But I wrote them down to puzzle over

And I forgot

how

to

speak

At age 16

I looked at my collection of fragments

Shards of words scattered on sketchbook pages

As the cruelty of life came

Bit my skin and drew blood from my soul

I mended the fragments

And I started to learn

how

to

grow

 

 

how

to be

free