Something You Should Know 
is that when I was 15, my mom took me  
               driving. 
               I went behind the wheel  
   of the car, putting my seatbelt on,  
   depositing the key in,  
   taking a deep breath and pushing  
   down the gas pedal. 
   I watched the car roll over the gravel  
   hesitantly, sputtering, tumbled  
   forward, and maneuvering across 
   the roads of my urban neighborhood.  
   Which left me to think of when I was  
   little  
   and words came with hesitance, to 
   sputtering mispronunciations, to 
   mumbling my words, to maneuvering  
   around my words so people wouldn’t  
   point out these flaws.  
   Perhaps that is 
   when 
   I became hesitant of speaking to people 
               beyond close friends. 
   Perhaps that is why, even now, people  
   call me shy but once I’m comfortable,  
   feeling safe to be exposed,  
   words hurtle out as fast as when a car  
   speeds across the highway.