Poetry Month Day 9: Depending on When You Met Me

Today’s poetry challenge is to compose a “depending on when you met me” poem. It’s a good way to think about all of the “me’s” I’ve been over the years, and to whom. This seems like a tough one to narrow down. I could do my evolution as a mom, as a person, as a teacher, as a hobbyist…my life has gone through a lot of iterations, to say the least.

Have you met me?
is what I say when I mention
that I meal plan for the week, that I
organize my closet by color, that I
tend to be obtuse and random,
bordering on awkward

but

depending on when you met me,
I was a “wise-ask,” which is
what nobody likes, Helaine,
when I mouthed off
to grown-ups from
a tender young age.

Depending on when you met me,
I was the had-to-be-right kid,
the first-hand-up-in-class kid,
the do-what-I-like-and-skip-boring-work kid,
the wander-in-the-forest kid,
the picked-last-for-kickball kid,
the hey!-Earth-to-Lainie kid.

Depending on when you met me,
I was the class clown runner-up,
doing all the activities,
joining all the groups,
trying to be everything
to everyone.

Depending on when you met me,
I was the starry-eyed newbie teacher
with a tote bag full of ideals
and ideas,
ready to change the world
one kid at a time.

Depending on when you met me,
I’m the reluctant grown-up
who might still mouth off
who will definitely still be awkward,
who still loves teaching as much
as thirty years ago,
and is ready to meet
her own evolving,
changing,
growing
self.