I found out today that
I do not belong to you.
Yes, I have your blue eyes,
Your Julia Roberts smile,
Your tendency to organize
Skittles by color.
I look at my hands
And see your knuckles-
Bleeding from a day's
Work on the Stude.
I look at my feet and
Smile wryly at the outline
Of your second toe,
Longer than my first.
I know that when I
Have a staring contest
With my friends in band
I will flare my nostrils
To make them laugh-
A strategy I learned
From you.
But then I took a good look
At my nose.
Yes, it was my nose that
Told me the truth about myself.
It is not yours,
Nor yours.
It is not stuck in someone's ass.
It does not stick itself
In other people's business.
It is not held high.
It does not smell fear.
It is not papery like yours.
It does not have your elegant slope.
No.
No, my nose
Is stuck in a book.
My nose
Is stuck between my aunt's fingers,
Because she still thinks I believe in
Those childish tricks.
My nose
Is pointed down at my shoes
When I am scolded.
My nose
Can smell the air,
And tell when snow is coming.
My nose
Is sprinkled with freckles
And has a crooked bump in the bridge.
My nose
Is everything your nose
Is not.
And that
Is why I do not belong to you
