Nina is a very “airy” person.
When she’s happy
She flits around like a fairy
Dancing on tip-toe, dipping and swirling,
Face luminous with an ear-to-ear smile.
When she’s angry,
She “bounces” in a different way.
Bounding into a room,
Bouncing violently several times at the end
Finally coming down with a furious stomp.
Screaming about some injustice.
Many changes this year.
Jake’s now in high school,
Growing like a weed,
And Nick is a senior.
Jake, her former savior,
Is now being kind of a jerk.
“What the fuck are you doing, Nina”
Cuts into her frequently.
Fights break out for the first time.
We trust this is temporary.
With girlfriends,
Being the shining personality that she is,
Nina attracts her share of jealous attacks.
But she takes the high road
And doesn’t retaliate.
She voices endless complaints of,
“So-and-so copied me!”
I tell her, “You’ve got a passion for fashion;
You’re a trendsetter and always will be.
Get over this, learn to love it,
Because it’s going to be this way all your life!”
Despite her beauty and charm,
Nina is proud of “not being a slut,”
Being a good student
And behaving appropriately.
The year of best friendship with Natalie,
A thousand calls from Makayla,
Long phone conversations with Faith,
Sleepovers on Fridays.
Endless phone calls,
Always on speakerphone.
Do her friends know their conversations are overheard?
However since all they talk about is clothes
Nobody else really cares to listen.
The year of MySpace and Kiss Layouts.
20,000 friends and 600 friend requests daily.
Internet wars with other layout queens
Who want to guard their secrets.
Flashing logo gifts
From others who want to share.
First year at High Tech Middle Media Arts.
Ms. Lopaz and kick-boxing,
Mr. Green and tech went from good to bad to good,
Ms. Toperoff and problems.
Condiment Fridays and Kumon Math.
Finally serious about ballet
She’s taking four classes a week
And learning quickly.
Soon she’ll be a star.
Treasured school picture
Captures something about her:
Her incredible maturity and poise.
Nina deals with a lot and does it well.
Daria Doering 
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