What sort of student was she? This 'Courtney' this girl? I will tell you. She sat in the back corner of the back row and paid no attention at all to the lesson. She never raised her hand and acted as if she would prefer to be in detention-which she did in fact volunteer for when given that as an alternative for reading an assignment in front of the class.

But I will tell you something else. She knew. She knew all of the writers and the writers they had learned from and the books they had read. She knew the symbolism, and the pacing and the sounds; the feelings. Her papers were brief- but exact-no wasted words or space.

Her own writing was brilliant but odd. She wrote on candywrappers. She wrote on empty Barbie doll boxes. She turned in sonnets written over magazine ads- one about "souls gone away" on a Calvin Klein photo shoot-eternity.

When I asked her if she ever thought about writing on paper she just laughed-

No, I used it all up in the restroom.

*title-from Strong enough-Sheryl Crow

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