The Poet X

by Elizabeth Acevedo

It’s not like that anymore, but one thing I know for sure is that reputations last longer than the time it takes to make them.

Just because your father’s present doesn’t mean he isn’t absent.

And even that young I learned music can become a bridge between you and a total stranger.

I only know that learning to believe in the power of my own words has been the most freeing experience of my life. It has brought me the most light. And isn’t that what a poem is? A lantern glowing in the dark.