I look younger
than I am.
When people
do not know me yet
I can feel
how lightly
they hold me.
Then I speak.
Sometimes
the first change
is the voice.
The accent.
Then Australia.
Then PhD.
I watch
the information
reach their faces.
Nothing about
my face changes.
Nothing about
my skin.
Nothing about
my age.
Still,
I become
more important
in front of them.
As a child
intelligence
was the cushion.
Now there are
more things
to keep me afloat.
I do not always know
whether to enjoy
the leverage
or resent
that leverage
is needed.
Artwork by: Albert Gleizes
