4 Foot 5 1/2 Inches Tall
Claire Blancett
People have asked me whether or not
I was so small that I just slipped out of my mother.
I tell them “no, I was hatched from an egg”
Just think of the absurdity of it all.
Lying in bed with you
Eyes slowly drooping.
Fingers interlaced, so we can’t tell
Whose hand is whose.
You ask me why I am the way I am
“I didn’t eat my vegetables as a kid”
I tell you.
You laugh, and roll your eyes.
So, what am I?
Who am I?
I see the world from a different angle
For every one step you take
I take three more.
Do not pat my head,
I lack the four legs and tail to deserve such a gesture.
I don’t know how to “lie down” or “play dead”
So, you ask me again
Why am I the way I am.
I curl up into a ball and yawn.
“Because I am, that’s why.”