I was six, maybe
I used to call order,
order
to raucous tea parties hosted under magnolia trees,
littered with fairy circles for my friends to convene

that’s the first time I heard the word, ‘bossy’
I remember following it up with tears and deciding that if I didn’t speak up so much,
maybe things would be a little easier for me.

The world seemed to agree with that, then.
Since then, I’ve learned something else —
I’m still bossy.

Yet now, I like the sound of it.