It was my first day or maybe second or third of first year internship and me feeling ever the fraud the sing song in my brain an ongoing refrain, oh god they think I know what I'm doing
All day meeting people hello, hello, hello trying to remember names forgotten already trying to remember how many memories I had suffered to arrive at this awkward moment
Settled, less than more in a small room up the stairs sweat of exertion and panic dripping beads of adrenaline on the back of my neck but then all in a sudden something else ruffled there
Through ion air, someone asks oh, and have you met Hannah I turned, ready for the robotic hello, this time stammered mouth wet with the taste of some long ago wanting a deep unfamiliar knowing
shock of lightening struck me full ripples of unbidden want fireworks in my veins, awakening spaces I thought long forgotten my face betrayed with blushing turned red as a valentine how cliche I taunted myself
wanting was the hard part so I learned to not want
excitement came next because it led to want wanting more of what was good and less of what made the excitement go away or if I got in trouble for being overly excited so I learned to not be excited
doing well was the goal straight A's perfect scores the best the first always except it was wrong to say so it was wrong to brag or say look what I did it was expected I would be the shining star the golden goose or the egg do it well but say nothing don't want applause don't get excited at excellence don't brag or boast or show your colors so I learned to do well quietly
I learned it was all too much or too little there was no pleasing and if I had something and it was more it would disappear and if I did something better or wanted to learn more it was taken away
pleasing seemed to mean to walk that fine line of excellent invisibility of no demands only performance of me not being present except as a mirror a trophy a show piece to put back on the shelf before I tarnished
is it any wonder I can't find the way to lasting excitement or desires that feed the hunger that is consuming me
Very powerful Dot! 'of excellent invisibility', my favorite line, I suppose because I have my own version of invisibility, also prized and expected. When a poem can speak to you of the poet and the reader (each in their own way of course), that is always a WOW!
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3 comments:
For Hannah (name changed to protect...?)
by Deb
It was my first day
or maybe second or third of
first year internship
and me feeling ever the fraud
the sing song in my brain
an ongoing refrain, oh god
they think I know what I'm doing
All day meeting people
hello, hello, hello
trying to remember names
forgotten already
trying to remember
how many memories I had suffered
to arrive at this awkward moment
Settled, less than more
in a small room up the stairs
sweat of exertion and panic
dripping beads of adrenaline
on the back of my neck
but then all in a sudden
something else ruffled there
Through ion air, someone asks
oh, and have you met Hannah
I turned, ready for the robotic
hello, this time stammered
mouth wet with the taste of
some long ago wanting
a deep unfamiliar knowing
shock of lightening struck me full
ripples of unbidden want
fireworks in my veins, awakening
spaces I thought long forgotten
my face betrayed with blushing
turned red as a valentine
how cliche I taunted myself
love (unrequited) at first sight
the trophy has a heart
by Dot
wanting was the hard part
so I learned to not want
excitement came next because it led to want
wanting more of what was good
and less of what made the excitement go away
or if I got in trouble for being
overly excited
so I learned to not be excited
doing well was the goal
straight A's perfect scores the best the first
always
except it was wrong to say so
it was wrong to brag or say look what I did
it was expected I would be
the shining star the golden goose
or the egg
do it well but say nothing
don't want applause
don't get excited at excellence
don't brag or boast or show your colors
so I learned to do well quietly
I learned it was all too much or too little
there was no pleasing and if
I had something and it was more it would disappear
and if
I did something better or wanted to learn more
it was taken away
pleasing seemed to mean to walk that fine line
of excellent invisibility
of no demands only performance
of me not being present except as a mirror
a trophy
a show piece
to put back on the shelf before I tarnished
is it any wonder I can't find the way to lasting excitement
or desires that feed the hunger that is consuming me
Very powerful Dot! 'of excellent invisibility', my favorite line, I suppose because I have my own version of invisibility, also prized and expected. When a poem can speak to you of the poet and the reader (each in their own way of course), that is always a WOW!
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