No One

No One


I'm no one.
No one at all.
I'm not famous, don't have
a book on the bestseller list. (yet!)
I'm no one.
Never been one of the cool kids,
the in-crown, an A-lister.

I'm just me.
Nothing special.
Writer, poet, reader,
lover of naps.
I'm no one.
A faceless name
in the grand scheme of things.

Oh, but wait.
That's wrong.
(sort of)

According to a kid from grammar school
a million years ago: I was smart, she wasn't.
Now she still isn't smart and I am one
of the cool kids.

According to a writer I mentor:
I'm brilliant, the writer
they aspire to surpass
and I have taught him so much
his world is exploding.

According to my granddaughter:
I am awesome,
I listen, I don't judge
her and yet still
manage to give her
very good advice.

According to several friends
going through difficult times:
I always seem to say just the rights things
to derail their spazz-trains,
to bolster their confidence and
make them feel good about
whatever path they are on.

And yet, I am no one.
Even if to some, I am the everyone.
Funny how that works.
My grandmother always said:
if you can't say something nice;
say nothing at all.

I try to find the silver linings, the smile
at the end of the rainbow.
(now that is treasure!)
and that little burst of helium
to lighten a load.

It's what I do. And still,
I am no one. You could pass
me on the street and never see me.
The hibiscus would bloom
even if I wasn't waiting breathlessly
to capture their dinner-plate-sized blooms
with my camera.

Even though a seven-year-old asked me
to autograph her copy
of her 'favoritest book' in the world
and if I was working on
another book in the series.

Even though I received a phone call
from a young man who walked away
from the Golden Gate Bridge
after reading my book.
He decided he really did not
want to jump after all.

A brilliant lady 'of a certain age'
who is a dear, dear friend is dying.
I've connected to three of her friends
spread across the country
as I keep them up to date
on how she is doing because she
has no family as such. All three called me
angel yesterday. That is every bit as much
my brilliant friend's doing as mine. She will
leave a new friendship legacy behind.

I am no one.
Just me.
And that?
That is perfectly okay.