My name is Sam

My name is Sam and I am small

and quiet

and smart

and funny

The usual introductions

Cut and dry

No further explanation needed

because what more could you need?

In a class of 36

no one cares

that I’m scared of heights and bees

and people not knowing they’re important

My classmates

could live their whole lives

without knowing

that I come home and write down

a poem about what made me happy

that day

So I don’t forget it later

Save ticket stubs and everything

that other people give me

So I can hold on to memories

I don’t tell people

mid handshake

That I cry when I listen

to the Godspell cast-recording

and don’t look both ways

when I cross the street anymore

No one I pass in the hallways

at school

know that I eat mints

when I get nervous

and have test-score scars

on my thighs

That I chipped my tooth

in a bowling accident

And can’t talk to store employees

without wiping my palms

on my jeans first

It is just never asked

My name is Sam

I do Improv and Theatre

I was born in Springfield

My favorite color is green

and I am small

That’s all