.: The astonishing poem you are about to read was written by my first cousin (once removed!), Christina, who lives in Winnipeg. Christina is in Grade 9 at Windsor Park Collegiate, the same school I attended in Grades 11 and 12. It is derived from and based on the poem, Ellie: An Inventory of Being, by Lea Wait. She wrote her version for an assignment, and received a mark of 20/20 for her efforts. Christina is an avid reader, and her love of the written word shines through in her poetry. When I read “Christina: An Inventory of Being” for the first time, I was astonished at the level of insight and creativity in her writing. With her blessing, please enjoy, and any comments received will be forwarded to her accordingly.
Christina: An Inventory of BeingI am Christina
I am fourteen years old.
I am a student, but only in school.
I am a young woman, but a girl at heart.
At my fullest height, I am 65 inches.
I have blue eyes, but they’re sometimes green.
My hair is light brown, but once it was brown.
Sometimes my hair is fancy.
But on other days it’s dull.
I’m one of two children.
Being the older one, I have more responsibilities.
I think.
I love to draw, but I don’t really share it.
I’ve drawn a couple pictures but am afraid to show them.
Yet, I adore art.
I love the outdoors.
But despise leaving home.
In the summer my house is empty.
I believe in God.
But sometimes I feel like he’s not there.
I go to Church,
But only on special occasions.
I’ve been called a nerd.
But then again I agree.
I love to read.
Some people hate it.
But they don’t know what they’re missing.
Reading is my life.
The air that I breathe are the words that I read.
I eat the chapters.
But paper doesn’t taste good.
My younger sister is sporty.
And I’m bookish.
My Dad said that she could run me into the ground.
And I said I could read her into the ground.
Touché.
People nowadays judge by appearance.
And think before they get to know.
I don’t care what people think.
Especially about me.
I’m a proud Italian.
Yet I don’t like spaghetti.
I’m a proud English.
And dying for the accent.
Fate.
Some people think it doesn’t happen.
But I think different.
One day it will happen.
My name is Christina and this is 2006.
I think my cousin Christina did an amazing job adapting Lea Wait’s poem to her life and its varying point of view, at the tender age (at the time) of 14. Ms Wait notes on her website that she was thrilled to discover that her poem is used in creative writing classes over the years, and I hope that if she ever reads this one, she’ll be pleased with what Christina wrote in her own words.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs2.5 Canada License.
Of note is that Christina is already a published author – she had a short poem published in a Canadian anthology in 2005.