on life, love and other things

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my test papers used to tell me:
fill in the blanks
with what you think
is the right answer

and atop the lines of my notepads
there were blanks for dates,
names, unimportant details

so easily the dates could be written wrongly
my chinese name something i often messed up
so many mistakes that didn't matter

maybe they caused some confusion
from time to time
but that was all

the blanks i loved the most
were the ones that said '(sign here)'
because it gave me the chance to
form my signature

(i was less aware of what i was submitting to
i concentrated more on perfecting the curve of my
small 'm')

now i see these other blanks
on employment forms, university forms,
feedback forms, membership forms, misc. forms
'fill in the blanks'
so many to fill, so hard to fill

and i have the urge to write
anyone else's name but mine
to make up things about myself
i wish were true

to fill in things i know they weren't asking for
(and didn't want to know)
when they asked for 'age' or 'name'
i'd rather have told them who i was
than what i was

'please certify that all this data is true'

or maybe to confuse the administration
a little bit
make up a person, 'ms eleanor smith'

like how my friends and i would
fill in names of celebrities for fun
on feedback forms
and what we imagined they'd say

so easily we fool others
and so easily we lose track
of people

your name, like mine
please sign here -> ____________
(replaceable)

2:39 a.m. - 2006-04-15

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