A poem a day for 2013 - day 135 - poem 2 - The best of me

I am a storyteller
I tell stories with mouth
With pen
With paint
With camera

I am a woman
I am complex and caring
I am afraid and fragile
I am daring and willing to try
I am bigger than my fears
I am courageous and mouthy and quiet

I am a mother
I am overprotective and too easy
I am nervous and proud and prayerful

I am a sister
I am concerned and cautious
I am a listener and giver and taker and friend

I am a daughter
I am confused and confusing
I love
I share
I forgive
I repent
I understand
I remember

I am a niece
I am funny
I cry
I am smart
Here I am smart
I am understood
Some

I am a friend
Period

I am a human being and an artist
I am African-American
I am always a hyphenated something
Except I prefer commas
With all that I am

I am a poem
A poet
A story