in elementary school we were told
to write interesting facts about ourselves
on the first day, to get to know one another
and at that time the only things i could think of
were that i collected nutcrackers
and had many siblings
i see myself in better lighting now
hello, i am emily
my middle name is kane,
my great grandmother's surname,
and i take pride in it
my fingers shake when i explain things
that i don't understand myself
and my legs shake on their own time
that's the quirk of a chronic tic
i draw to express myself to myself
and to show off
and to be better than the girl i met in the third grade
who painted a sunset
just a sunset
and all my friends ooh'd and ahh'd
and i sat there, confused
if savannah could paint a sunset
and get such a reaction,
then watch out world.
here i am, painting roses and butterflies and cartoons
on the cardboard backings of old spiral notebooks
i found in my closet
and leaving my sloppy signature in sea-foam green
on the corner and in the back of
my mind
and smudged on the side of my left hand
i have a scar on my cheek
from getting just too close to a dog
and scars on my arms
from staying just too close to the edge
and playing mind games with myself
the kind in which neither of us
came out victorious
i like mozart and debussy
when i'm working
and gershwin and joplin
when i want to have fun
i write on the spot, spur of the moment and
my words don't seem to
fit on the paper in a way that pleases most
but i assure you, they speak volumes
in the middle of the night
when i lay in bed, pen in hand
anger in mind, worry in chest
i am in love with a boy who lives
far away though it seems
every night when we talk
he's right next to me
wrapping his arms around me,
binding us together and
keeping promises
and holding on to the
agreement we made
at twelve a.m.
i can sing and play instruments
and tell you anything you want to
know about the surrounding universe
or the Liverpudlian lads who
started a musical revolution
and taught me that
all you really did need was love
i read every day
from books that have been sitting on my shelves
every day for the past five years,
some even longer
when i sleep i snore
though i've heard that
it sounds like a cat
purring while being pet on the head
but i think that the most interesting
fact about me
is something that
has not come about just yet