I’m not like you.
In the world around me,
People talk
People sing
People ignore me.
This is not who I am,
And now that I have six legs is not who I will be.
My parents have always loved me,
But I watch them cry because they could not communicate with me.
My grandfather makes me especially sad,
Because I see him also unable to express himself.
Mom scared me once,
When she asked that I die.
I wasn’t afraid of dying,
What scared me was that she read my mind.
Everything is different now.
I met a new friend,
He knows everything I want to say.
He doesn’t use human words,
But he and I are able to talk all of the time.
In fact, he may be bilingual because he helps others,
Understand the words I have been trying to say.
Having six legs makes me more of a person,
Than many I meet who have two legs.
Some look at us like we are from another planet,
My friend and I laugh because these people look funny to us.
Kojak and I pray at night
That someday grandpa can have six legs.

I wonder sometimes if grandpa is truly sad,
Or just thinking of the incredible gift that he gave to me.
He never said so, but when I look into Kojak’s eyes,
It seems that I am looking into grandma’s soul.