When I was younger, around 14/15, I was probably what is equated to an emo kid today. Back then, I guess I was something between a new-wave/hip-hop/something or other (I have a photo laying around somewhere where the back of my head was shaved in an upside-down V formation – no joke. The front looked more china doll, and therefore more “normal.”

I don’t know when I started writing poetry… Lie. I do know when I started writing poetry. My great-grandmother had died. I was 14. The old bag was my caretaker. She used to scare the crap out of me. I couldn’t have loved anyone more.

Anyway… my friends noticed a definite shift in my personality. My friend Judy had visited me a few months back and reminded me that I used to walk the school hallways with my head down and headphones on listening to Sade. I don’t remember this. Besides, is/was Sade considered emo?

I do remember discovering poets. Feeling connected to other people through their words. And feeling great satisfaction that I wasn’t alone in what I thought were very unique feelings. I can only hope that the teens that read my blog, or email me