Poetry has taught me what I can only teach myself

Nothing that others could say

Nothing in any book on the shelf

Because poetry to me is my own looking glass

It reflects what matters to me

Answers the questions that I ask

Like, “Who am I?” and “Why do I care?”

“What matters to me?” “What do I think is fair?”

When I’m writing

It’s what’s exciting

Or what hits me deep inside

Poetry is like a journal

In myself I can confide

The more poetry I write

The more I become clear

When I rhyme about my life

And the things that I hold dear

No one else could ever define

The way that poetry defines me

Because when I’m writing poetry

I’m writing who I am and want to be