Same Dragon, Two Voices
1Part One: At the bike rack, to my best friend, Jonah
Jonah! Dude! Guess what?
My wire dragon got a ribbon,
a big blue one, no joke!
It's hanging right by the gym doors.
You have to come see it tomorrow!
I kinda freaked out when they called my name.
Remember how the tail kept flopping?
I bent that thing, like, a million times
till my fingers were totally sore.
And the wings? Super wobbly.
I almost chucked the whole thing.
But then I stuck a coat hanger inside,
and boom, those wings stayed up.
The judges were all, "Whoa."
Okay, gotta go. My mom's here. See ya!
2Part Two: In the gym, to the art show judges and families
Good afternoon, judges, families, and Ms. Carver.
Thank you for this blue ribbon.
I am honored that you selected my sculpture.
My dragon is made of copper wire
and pieces of one recycled coat hanger.
It took me three weeks to complete.
Building it was more difficult than I expected.
The tail would not hold its curve,
so I shaped it again and again until my fingers ached.
At first, the wings would not stand upright,
and I nearly gave up on the project.
Then I placed a section of the hanger inside each wing
to make it stronger and steadier.
I am grateful to my art teacher, Ms. Carver,
who encouraged me to keep trying.
Thank you very much for your attention.
3Part Three: Walking home
Same dragon, same ribbon,
same sore fingers, same wobbly wings,
but two different voices came out of me.
With Jonah, my words tumbled out
like marbles spilling from a jar,
quick and loose and full of laughing.
In the gym, my words stood up straight,
shirts tucked in and shoes tied tight,
each one waiting politely for its turn.
My mom has a phone-call-for-work voice
and a kitchen-table voice.
Now I know I have two as well.
Neither voice is fake.
Both of them are mine.
I just choose the one that fits the room.