My dad used to tell me
I could be anything I wanted,
but he’s dead now
and I know that was just something
you say to kids.
You can’t be something
unless you want it,
and if you don’t know
what you want
you’re screwed to drift
on the wind like smoke, dissipating,
while something you don’t want
is knocking on your door so loudly
that you wonder if it would be better
if you dissipated faster.