Gabriella wants to work with
kids with cancer
But I don’t think
I could come to bare
I look at my students and feel a twinge
As they have to
come to age
in this world
I can’t stop thinking about when
it
will get me
Maybe
it
will be
Breast Cancer
Gunshot Wound
Childbirth Complications
Ovarian Cancer
Car Accident
A Famine
Guaranteed War
Or the world burning up to a crisp
Why? Why! Theories:
Greed
Hatred
Power Hungry
Rage
…
???
I can’t stop thinking about when
not if
And I can’t figure out just why
As I see the fresh faces of my students
Walk in the classroom
Poker face
Dread
Set down bag, tactically
Open it, tactically
Smile, tactically
The sheet is in there
Make sure no one suspects
They shouldn’t
If your heart is racing
If your chest is pounding
If your arms are shivering
If you have goosebumps everywhere
If you have to make yourself smile
Beginner nerves
Teacher will come around with the test
Dread
But deep breaths
You will do fine
You may feel terrible afterwards
And you always will
But don’t overthink it
And just don’t overthink it
We said forever, yet you are gone somewhere, now, I don’t know.
I remember hearing that you were in Florida, but maybe you moved again.
I came across the half heart that you gave me, the cursive letters spelling out “forever.”
I remember when we stayed up at night whispering, “forever.”
I remember climbing trees and screaming “forever.”
I remember swinging from monkey bars wearing monkey bar shorts falling, “forever.”
The necklace, glittery, cheap, and poorly made yet a sign of luxury only a few can hope to have.
Maybe you have it tucked away in a box somewhere and you think “forever” what a joke.
You never received my letter and a fish is reading “I miss you” down is the sea.
Roly poly’s safe from us now, we aren’t there to unearth them.
Butterflies safe from us because we no longer chase them.
I remember I wonder if you remember me.
Forever is forever in my mind
Maybe someday, each other, we will find.
When I left for College
I truly forgot how much
Boys grow.
Before I had gone
I would stand by brother
And his head would barely
Come up to the top of my
Shoulder.
Now,
Just six months later
I have come back to find
My once little brother
Just a mere inch shorter than me.
His voice had changed
From the squeaky
Higher pitched tune
It once was, to a low
Rumbling. He slowly
Was growing a fuzz-stache
On the top of his lip.
My little brother
Had suddenly sprouted
Into a young man.
I think to myself sometimes,
And realize how much I miss
Little him.
I was probably
staring at you.
There’s a good chance I was
watching you Maybe your
e y e s
met mine
and maybe I held your gaze because I was
d
r u
n
k
and maybe youheldmine
because you are
BRAVE.
Or maybe I just watched you
and < thought
about what would happen if
youreyesmetmine.
Greed and guilt.
Should we create a future?
A generation to fix what we can’t.
Or is that unfair?
Is it wrong to want children?
No one chooses to be born.
Is it a want born from greed?
Will guilt inevitably ensue?
Greed and g____.
Should we create a future for:
Our children that we should maybe not have
A generation different from our own who we expect to fix what we cannot
Other
Is it even our choice at all
Is it within our control
Guilt will inevitably ensue
Grandma gave us a bowl of parsnips
Then lemons
Then peaches
Then rum
R o c k i n g us back and forth in her chair
Whispering sweet every things in our ears
With her hard caramel breathe
We had cinnamon l-i-n-e-d porridge for breakfast that morning
With a •dollop• of honey gracing the center
With full bellies dashing through the garden
Dandelions and soft blades tickle our feet
The smell of hot cocoa drraagggss us to our porch seats
Listening to grandma’s hums and dancing honeybees
Looking beyond the sugar maple trees
Laughing on our rotten wooden seats
Cherishing these little memories
8 responses to “Conversion Poem (Tues)”
Gabriella wants to work with
kids with cancer
But I don’t think
I could come to bare
I look at my students and feel a twinge
As they have to
come to age
in this world
I can’t stop thinking about when
it
will get me
Maybe
it
will be
Breast Cancer
Gunshot Wound
Childbirth Complications
Ovarian Cancer
Car Accident
A Famine
Guaranteed War
Or the world burning up to a crisp
Why? Why! Theories:
Greed
Hatred
Power Hungry
Rage
…
???
I can’t stop thinking about when
not if
And I can’t figure out just why
As I see the fresh faces of my students
Walk in the classroom
Poker face
Dread
Set down bag, tactically
Open it, tactically
Smile, tactically
The sheet is in there
Make sure no one suspects
They shouldn’t
If your heart is racing
If your chest is pounding
If your arms are shivering
If you have goosebumps everywhere
If you have to make yourself smile
Beginner nerves
Teacher will come around with the test
Dread
But deep breaths
You will do fine
You may feel terrible afterwards
And you always will
But don’t overthink it
And just don’t overthink it
We said forever, yet you are gone somewhere, now, I don’t know.
I remember hearing that you were in Florida, but maybe you moved again.
I came across the half heart that you gave me, the cursive letters spelling out “forever.”
I remember when we stayed up at night whispering, “forever.”
I remember climbing trees and screaming “forever.”
I remember swinging from monkey bars wearing monkey bar shorts falling, “forever.”
The necklace, glittery, cheap, and poorly made yet a sign of luxury only a few can hope to have.
Maybe you have it tucked away in a box somewhere and you think “forever” what a joke.
You never received my letter and a fish is reading “I miss you” down is the sea.
Roly poly’s safe from us now, we aren’t there to unearth them.
Butterflies safe from us because we no longer chase them.
I remember I wonder if you remember me.
Forever is forever in my mind
Maybe someday, each other, we will find.
Stop and Wonder
What colors drip
D
R
I
P
D
R
I
P
Down the cold
D
R
I
P
Canvas and Wonder
What it is like
To Stop
When I left for College
I truly forgot how much
Boys grow.
Before I had gone
I would stand by brother
And his head would barely
Come up to the top of my
Shoulder.
Now,
Just six months later
I have come back to find
My once little brother
Just a mere inch shorter than me.
His voice had changed
From the squeaky
Higher pitched tune
It once was, to a low
Rumbling. He slowly
Was growing a fuzz-stache
On the top of his lip.
My little brother
Had suddenly sprouted
Into a young man.
I think to myself sometimes,
And realize how much I miss
Little him.
I was probably
staring at you.
There’s a good chance I was
watching you Maybe your
e y e s
met mine
and maybe I held your gaze because I was
d
r u
n
k
and maybe youheldmine
because you are
BRAVE.
Or maybe I just watched you
and < thought
about what would happen if
youreyesmetmine.
Greed and guilt.
Should we create a future?
A generation to fix what we can’t.
Or is that unfair?
Is it wrong to want children?
No one chooses to be born.
Is it a want born from greed?
Will guilt inevitably ensue?
Greed and g____.
Should we create a future for:
Our children that we should maybe not have
A generation different from our own who we expect to fix what we cannot
Other
Is it even our choice at all
Is it within our control
Guilt will inevitably ensue
Grandma gave us a bowl of parsnips
Then lemons
Then peaches
Then rum
R o c k i n g us back and forth in her chair
Whispering sweet every things in our ears
With her hard caramel breathe
We had cinnamon l-i-n-e-d porridge for breakfast that morning
With a •dollop• of honey gracing the center
With full bellies dashing through the garden
Dandelions and soft blades tickle our feet
The smell of hot cocoa drraagggss us to our porch seats
Listening to grandma’s hums and dancing honeybees
Looking beyond the sugar maple trees
Laughing on our rotten wooden seats
Cherishing these little memories