I am the child who wandered off to the edge of the playground during recess, picking collections of the tiniest little lavender flowers you ever saw.
I am the newlywed setting up house who occasionally walked about in public with things on my head…shopping baskets, cans of soda, books, whatever.
I am the adult who wandered through the night looking for a playground to swing upon.
I am the teenager who dressed in old-fashioned styles, consciously calling upon an earlier time at an age when my peers were working on popular fashion culture.
I am the one blurting out random sarcastic comments at inopportune moments.
I am the one who can make anybody think porn is hilarious.
I am the one who sometimes speaks in quotes and bits of song.
I am the girl who was eating spaghetti while you ate your omelette.
I am the one who is always out of time, out of step, friends with those who are older, yearning for times long gone.
I am the girl who secretly wanted to be a teen mother.
I am the genius who flunked out of college, a dropout.
I am the one dreamily watching the sky in the middle of a crowded public space.
I am the one who always wants to try out new roles, try on new personalities, pretend to be somebody else for a while…maybe not knowing if any are really mine.
I am the redhead without red hair.
I am the one who always points out how I am different.
I am the one who can’t keep my mouth shut.
I am the friend who forgets promises, the borrower who forgets to return, the possessor of 20-year-old library books.
I am that one. You know who I am. But do I?