Experiments
01 Free Form Poetry
Growing Pains
I cried on my birthday because maybe you forgot I meant something to you once
People come and they go and you went
I always knew you would
It doesn’t hurt anymore
You don't get to hurt me anymore
It’s about time.
I am 20 and mom sent me a cat stuffed animal for my birthday
Trixie is 11 now and still sleeps on my bed at night, mom tells me through the phone
I haven’t been home in months and nothing is quite like the warm yellow walls of the living room
or the pine trees in the backyard that are taller every time I return home
Home is in two places now yet I have grown with the trees in my childhood backyard
I have learned a myriad of things in these 20 years:
That my gut is always worth listening to
Mothers and therapists are angels
No one is worth shrinking yourself down for
Friends can turn into sisters, and sisters into friends
To name a few
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My heart has grown and grown and grown
Light has filled any empty spaces.
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02 Flash Essays
Twenty
I’ve always been an emotional girl, since I was a child I’ve experienced emotions to their fullest extent. I used to think this was a weakness. That I was too much. Now, I recognize my softness as a strength. It is fitting that on my 20th birthday I cried, as us "silly" emotional girls are known to do. Throughout my 20 years I have grown taller (5’9” to be exact) and wiser. I am proud of the woman I have become, and I cherish the little girl that remains inside of me. I carry her with me wherever I go.
Home
Home is in two places now; one with my family, and one with the family I have found within my friendships. I am a homebody and I will always come back, but I am no longer afraid to leave. When I return to my childhood home I am greeted by four yellow walls and a hammock in the green back yard, inviting me to lay down with a book. Home is nostalgic and warm- a kind of time capsule awaiting my return.