What You Were

Who was the one to tie your shoes
 When you couldn't figure out the loops?
 Who was the one who came late and sat inside on the couch
 In front of TV shows that I'd be too young to know about?
 When the slumber party boys
 Had the audacity to dare you
 Did you swim across the pond?
 Did you climb the fence
 To walk among the dead in graveyards?
 'Cause I'm not sure of what you were.
 And there are shadows on the wall
 That look like things they really aren't.
 My fingertips pressed together make a bird fly.
 Two jars on the countertop in front of a nightlight
 Paint the skyline.
 And when my mom was pregnant with me,
 Did you sing to her the songs
 That you learned from the choir?
 And did you wonder what to name me?
 Did you wonder what I'd make of you when I became alive?
 Because I'm not sure of what you were.