what makes me who i am
who i am makes me
what?
movies my parents made me watch
terrible seventies television i saw too much
hilarious movies i saw too young
fragments make me who i am
who i am is fragments
what?
the good grades and the hatred of conflict
the loud music and the screaming
contradictions make me who i am
who i am is split down the middle
what?
born with a built-in best friend
so i never looked
for someone to truly understand me
sameness makes me who i am
alone is who i am
who i am is a mirror image
what?
what?
favourite movie was about hot girls doing gymnastics
and i loved ezra miller in perks of being a wallflower
never felt like i could touch girlhood
bisexual is who i am
transgender is who i am
queerness makes me who i am
what?
music i am revisiting
sprawl ii (mountains beyond mountains) by arcade fire is a perfect song
but i can’t like a band as much as my father
find my own personal brand
of women screaming the pain away
music makes me who i am
music is who i am
what?

–By Sagan T., 14, Kitchener, Ontario