I Am

I am Sleeping Beauty on the weekends and Cinderella at night, a damsel who’s never needed to be rescued from the highest room in the tallest tower.

I am curly hair that cannot be tamed and eyes as wide as the moon, I am pair of lungs who never quite knew how to work and never tried to learn.

I am a laugh as loud as a clown from the circus that make others chuckle in amazement at the ridiculousness of the sound, it echoes across the room and always comes back to me.

I am Chinese food after karate, soy sauce stinging the inside of my mouth every evening. I am sweat that has dried on my skin and won’t wash off until I get home, and belts made of wood, time and effort.

I am rainbow shoe laces and unicorn hoodies and a pink backpack covered in donuts and I am 17 years old. I am Peter Pan who refuses to leave Neverland.

I am silver pans covered in barbecue sauce and spices, sitting at a tan table with my legs never quite touching the ground. I am one life taking up space.

I am slumber parties and movies at midnight and endless giggles. And I am hoping the sun never comes up and the moon will stay watching over us forever.

I am darkness once the sun sets, and the white light after the stars come up.

I am the girl who tries dancing in high heels, and then I’m the girl who dances without any shoes at all. I am a white dress that flutters in the hot evening wind.

I am airplane tickets and marred by the stress of travel. I am wide eyes and shock and amazement. I am grateful for all I have seen and broken by all the things I never will.

I am wanderlust, and I am the fear of leaving home. I am one of the few who doesn’t even know where home is. Yet I always miss it. How can that be?

I am shy like a puppy and fierce like a wolf. I am endangered like the white tiger and in abundance like a deer.

I am late nights in the theater and early mornings on the stage. I am strong and quiet, and I try to be a leader when people wish to follow.

I am a child trapped in a young woman’s body and I am a woman trapped in the body of a girl. I try to be honest, and yet hide all the pain that people don’t want to see.

I am frightened and fearless, and brave and cowardly, and I am a beauty and a beast.

I am me.