“The best thing you can be is yourself.”
I unscrewed the spring in my step from the bottom of my little brother’s shoes.

“Everyone else is taken.”
I nervously tap my foot to the rhythm of the metronome pocketed from the top of my best friend’s piano.

“Stay true to who you really are.”
I sat with a stopwatch to find the breaths between her laughs,
Skimmed the slang from his sentences.

“People should love you for you.”
Each day I thieve a handful of mannerisms,
Each night I pilfer a pattern of speech.

“Be unique, be original.”
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I'm in love with everyone I know.