Alphabet letters for adults

Did you know there is one letter that
no matter what
how many times you recite the alphabet
no one else can teach you
until you learn it yourself?


All my life, I remember hearing "don't slouch"
"don't slouch"
So what else could I do?

Without any of us knowing, I'd studied the grown-ups
and the invisible burdens that sank their shoulders
and rounded their backs with the weight.

I tucked my own shoulders in my chest
tried not to stand out
so they wouldn't notice
and slink onto my shoulders, too

But now, for inspiration standing straight and tall

I contemplate the letter I between my shoulderblades:

I
I can
I will
I want
I hope
I did
I am

And not the letter Y
which is the only letter
others can give you, leaning over
so you must to crouch to fit:

You
You think
You should
You won't
You don't
You aren't

It is not easy to practice one
after becoming so familiar with the other;

to relearn my grown-up alphabet
in a taller body.

But what could they do?
The letter that we all need
is the one we must grow on our own.