If I had to tell you who I am,
I would say that I was born in a sea of alligator tears,
while the men from crosswords played the tiniest violins on earth
I would explain that I was molded
like a homemade matzah ball
and plopped into a pot of broth
to sail on carrots.
and that I was fed, and overfed
on mountains of blintzes and kaklieta.
that I knew every lyric to every ABBA song by age six
because they sang to me as i drifted to neverland every night.
That Through some fortunate twist of fate,
I have five aunts and five uncles even though
each of my parents was only born with one sibling.
I would tell you that I am the naked baby in the Dells,
and golf course playgrounds.
I would admit that my favorite program was never
Barbie or Barney.
It was the Price is Right,
offered on constant rerun at Camp Grandma.
I would tell you that I am Charles, Harriet, Samuel, Clara, Melissa, and Stan
That my favorite thing about people
is the way that their eyes inadvertently spark when you smile at them,
and that my favorite smell is crayons.
I would try to make you understand why the grand canyon made me weep,
and why bone dry winter branches and decaying barns make me smile from ear to ear
How sometimes when I wake up, I turn on Christmas lights to set my walls aglow.
I would show you how the lines of my right palm
repeat in my veins.
if I had to tell you who I was,
paint myself on a canvas for audiences to peruse,
I would say that I was born in a sea of alligator tears
and that I’ve been swimming ever since.