Category: Poetry

A Poem a Day: a Series – Day 50

Day 50: “Best Friends Forever”

My best friend from childhood is getting married today

Second grade was when we really became close

Started a band on the playground by the fence where the honeysuckle grew

Named ourselves the Honeysuckle Band because we were 7

Over the years

We started a covert, spy operation

Called the Secret Crazy Club, or SCC

Our spy names were Colby Shae Williamson

And Misty Ray Scherzinger

Very convincing

I shot her brother with a BB gun once

Well five times but in one instance

We’d watch SpongeBob together

It was her favorite but my mom didn’t let me watch it

So we’d come home from school,

She’d put the pizza rolls in the microwave

And we’d go downstairs to her giant movie room complete with recliners

And watch

We’d also watch My Strange Addiction in her room

I didn’t watch much TLC at home,

Only at hers

We’d play band hero for hours

Her on drums

Me on vocals

Jamming to She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5, her favorite song

We made a cardboard house once

Upstairs on the balcony by her room that overlooked the living room

We were coloring the cardboard with sharpies and we dropped one

It fell onto the couch below, making a small mark on the leather

We were terrified

Went into problem-solving mode

Ended up organizing the pillows just so and never saying a word

I don’t even think her parents ever noticed

When she turned 8,

I got her an outfit just like mine

And we went to Haruno for sushi, matching

Then we had a sleepover

And the next day, she had an outfit for me

Just like hers

Twinzies!

I still, to this day, cannot eat Cool Ranch Doritos

Because one day

We ate a whole big bag of them

And then spun each other in an office chair

Until we’d get dizzy and couldn’t really walk

We thought it was so funny

Until I was nauseous for hours

I can’t even stand the smell of those Doritos anymore

We saw Coraline together in theaters

We loved it so much

Only in adulthood did I realize I love that movie so much because I related to Coraline

Loneliness, curiosity, independence

And wanted to be like her

Strong, brave, resilient

In high school, we drifted

Hung out in different crowds

We’d still say hi and be glad to see each other

But it wasn’t the same

Until early college,

I can’t remember what prompted us to set it up

Maybe an IG post or our moms running into each other

But we planned to get together when I was home next

And we sat at The Aviary, talking for hours

We realized that we both had come out of religion

Were thinking for ourselves

And unpacking religious trauma

We helped each other

Saw each other

Understood each other

Since then, we’ve been such an amazing support to each other

Helping each other learn to trust ourselves

Learn to stand up for ourselves

Learn to love ourselves

Unlearn what we were taught about our worth growing up in the church

I’m so grateful for her

It’s incredible to know someone

From being young, eating pizza rolls and watching SpongeBob

To growing up, coming out of a negative, painful, toxic cult-like religion

We go way back and not as far back

But we’re growing together

Unpacking trauma together

We do monthly FaceTimes

Since we live so far away

And I love the quality time

Being there for each other

I’m forever thankful for that day at The Aviary

Bringing us back together

To be there for each other in a new way

I’m so excited for her and her almost husband

There’s so much love

And a beautiful life together

And I’ll look forward to our next FaceTime when they’re back from their honeymoon

A Poem a Day: a Series – Day 49

Day 49: “Parasite”

Guilt was instilled in me young

By my father

By the Father

Everything I did I did for others

Never taught to listen to me

Never taught to trust me

Never taught to love me

“Me me me”

“You’re selfish,

Devilish,

Of the flesh”

That’s what they said

What they say

A look in the mirror

Would destroy them

I never knew pleasure

Independence

Strength

Myself

That’s how control works

Questioning is only okay if you come back to the Truth

Ritualistic chants

Drink of the blood

Lifelong contracts

Give me money

All your money

You’re bad

Bad

Bad

But just five easy payments of your soul

Will make you good enough

Good

Good

Just like that

Bow your head

Give yourself

Wholly

Until there’s nothing left

A Poem a Day: a Series – Day 48

Day 48: “Process”

It’s interesting what gets left on the cutting room floor

I try to keep an open mind

Write from the heart

But sometimes

I just need to delete

And rewrite

And try again

I started today’s poem with

“I wish I was a witch

And sisters with Sandra Bullock”

Which I liked, but how do you follow that?

What do you write next?

Then I started a poem about gluttony

And that stopped right when it started for obvious reasons

Now

What’s left?

Something pretty meta

And I’m okay with that

A Poem a Day: a Series – Day 47

Day 47: “Inspiration”

I look out the window

See the sun shining through the clouds

I listen to new music

On repeat

I watch a classic romcom

And feel nostalgia flooding me

I lay down

After a busy day

I move my muscles

And stretch

I take the bus

And sit on a worn, weathered seat

I pet my cat

And cuddle up to her

I talk with my loved ones

And give tight hugs

I cook

Paint

Clean

I see beauty all around

I’m inspired

A Poem a Day: a Series – Day 45

Day 45: “Life in Sitcoms”

Sometimes I wish my life was a sitcom

I’d be funny

I’d have friends

A quirky, misguided group of friends

I’d have a nice place to live

I wouldn’t really have to work

Did I mention I’d be funny?

I could sit in a coffee shop all day

Or build a pillow fort the size of an entire dorm

Or have three guy roommates in a huge loft

Or work in local government

Or prank coworkers at a paper company

Or teach at an elementary school in Philadelphia

Or be a floor worker at a giant store

Or be an overworked nurse at a hospital in Oregon

Or be a rambunctious detective in the NYPD

Or reminisce about being in my twenties to my teenage children

Or be in a family caught up in white collar crime where there’s always money in the banana stand

The list goes on

I already think in sitcom jokes

And I laugh at said jokes

Maybe I should write a tv show

Maybe I’ll just rewatch “Community”

A Poem a Day: a Series – Day 43

Day 43: “Couch Time”

Sleeping on the couch

Is a simple pleasure

Lay your head back

Put up your feet

Listen to the tv as you fade

Fade

Fade

Not quite asleep

Definitely not awake

A dreamtime escape

It’s comfy

Yet uncomfortable

You’ve got everything you need

Once you’re gone

In dream land

You awake with a start

And realize you haven’t even been asleep 20 minutes

Your eyes start to close again

Just 20 more minutes

And then you’ll actually head to bed

It’s morning

A Poem a Day: a Series – Day 41

Day 41: “Gen Z Existentialism”

No one ever told me

that you can get acne in your 20s

Nobody told me

that being an adult is never ending tiredness

No one told me

that everyone is performing and nothing is real

No one said, “hey,

we’re sorry we made the world a terrible place”

No one ever told me

that it’s okay to take a break

Nobody told me

my younger me was right about a lot of things

No one said, “hey,

you’re cool” and meant it

No one ever told me

that my mascara smudged on my eye

And that’s fucked up