I didn’t set out to be a “problem child,”

Terrified by the word “Goodbye,”

Nor did I know why I felt alone

In a room filled with people.

I didn’t marvel at the creatures at the zoo

Like children do,

I wasn’t clamoring for my mommy’s hand,

Or reaching through a swarm of liquid bubbles

Marveling at how wondrous life could be,

In a world I barely knew

Early on, I felt as if I knew,

And as I grew, the world I barely knew

Came at me like galloping horses,

Rearing back, wild and temperamental.

Life seemed to whisper it’s secrets to me

I chose not to  inhale deeply; filling my lungs with more

I learned to hold my breath,

Perhaps so my human presence would go undetected.

Every inkling, every life moment pressed at me;

Ideas bursting like sunflowers

Hanging their heavy heads

Knowing deep in my belly….if indeed I blossomed

I would be the only one

To ever pick me.