Eloquent

I used to talk a lot. Now, not so much.

"You used to be so good with words!"
"You had such a rich vocabulary!"
"You were so talented!"
I still know those words, ma'am
But now everyone else knows them too,
as they should at this point in their education.
And ma'am, I'm not sure I appreciate the
past-tense conjugation that is
'were'
because
(let's not cut corners now, one can gloat once in a blue moon)
I am still very talented.
I still know too many words
and I still write just as well as I did
(better, now that I'm older)
and just because I can't tell you
doesn't mean I am unable to do anything.
Just because I stumble through my words
and sometimes stop talking for hours on end
doesn't mean I suddenly forgot everything I knew.
The only past tense that could be used when referring to me
is likely
"I used to be talkative.
I used to be very eloquent."