Origin Story (7.16.18)

when was the moment you first called yourself a writer?

we had these days
in freshman year
where Mr.schmit
had us read
scheduled days
three days a semester
read something you wrote
anything.
I came up blank
grasping at straws
with no clue who I was
I wrote what was expected-
fifteen-year-olds starting
to know what love is
the seasons-
cold winters
hot summers.
I took a piece of mine
at the end of the year
sent it into lit mag
expecting a decline
I was published.

I had these days
in my sophomore year
where I felt alone
invisible.
voiceless.
I would write
furiously
at things I couldn't change
at people I couldn't change

then I found an escape route.
my control art delete
I found my escape route-
Perpich Arts High School,
my home renewed.
send in ten pages of writing
they said
and I was in.
three hours of writing a day
five days of the week all year
you are a Writer
when a blank page
doesn't scare you
like it once did
it wasn't until I got up on stage
that my heart poured out onto the page:
I am Charlie and I am a writer.