once upon a time

my mother once told me
that I have a poets soul
because I feel everything so deeply
she told me I have an artists mind
because I hear in color

my grandmother once told me
I was special
because I see beauty
in the cracks
of the walls
where others see
only what is in front of them

my father says I am an old soul
that my heart beats at a naive pace
for I am only seventeen
but the blood in my veins
runs through
like a river set by time
steady & strong

and I think
that when my Father in Heaven
created those before me
He saved for me
a single strand
of hair
from each of their
heads
and wove them in between
my humble brown locks

I think
He left my heart out in the clouds
until it became drenched
heavy
In the rain

I think
He pulled stars down from the sky
and anchored them to my eyes

I think
He collected dandelion seeds
& planted them in my feet

I know
He gave me
this old oak
heart
for reasons I may never know

my father once told me
I have an old soul
&
I smiled, looked up to the sky

my Father 
wrote me an old tale