I found this poem recently in old notes. I have no memory of the situation that made me right it, and no longer connect with all of it (for example, I’ve made peace with birthday parties). But there is something here that is worth saying. Enjoy.

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I’m the little girl transfixed by the elephants.

I am not you.

You may think we share interests

And maybe we do.

You may think we do all the same things

And maybe that’s a little bit true.

But I am not you.

There is no guarantee here

That what you want

Is what I want.

And there is not guarantee

That what I truly love

Is what you truly love.

You tell me the most exciting way

That you like to spend your time.

Thinking that I will

Be somehow exactly the same.

But I am not you

I am me.

And being me means that I like

What it is that I like.

You love big birthday parties

My birthday is almost a secret

So that I can avoid all of the

Hoopla.

I love wandering aimlessly

For hours on end,

Whereas you always seem

To need to know the destination.

Because I am not you.

You look to show you

How much you love me

By giving me what

You

Love.

I look to show me

How much I love you

By giving you what

I

Love.

But I am not you.

And you are not me.

---

Jena Ren / Jenny Guilford, October 2020