I am a woman.
I am a daughter and a lover and a friend -
I am a student, a poet, but not just
the body I occupy,
I am much more than the photo on the wall.
I am the laugh traveling down the hall
I am the pull of a memory as you walk by our spot
I am the beat
of your heart
as you hear my words
And I will still be, even when I am not.
mute, but echoing
invisible, but lingering
gone, but so far from forgotten,
Because I will not let myself become just a name on a yellowed sheet of paper -
I am the stars and the rain and the dust in the beam of sunlight streaming in your window and I,
I am human, and so I will always
be.