My Story

 

I put on this paper

my name
my story
a made-up friend
and our arch
enemy.
Here I tell
how we got
our revenge
in five different ways
and then became
friends.
I stuck in the story
my favorite jokes
my strangest dreams
my secret hopes.
I put how it felt
when my frog
disappeared
and the place
that I went
to let go
my tears.
I included
my blanket
no one knows
I still love.
I put all this
down
on the lines
up above.
That spot
on the edge
is my very own
blood
from when
I got cut
fixing it up.
Here.
I hope
you like it.

I have a manuscript ready to submit. It’s sitting on my desk right next to me. I can’t quite get myself to mail it, yet. The idea of putting it in someone else’s hands sends me back to my childhood, when I would write something, pour everything onto the paper, and hand it to someone, desperate for their their acknowledgement, approval, and appreciation. No matter how old you are, handing someone your writing is like handing them your heart.

See you at the post office.

(c) 2012 Elizabeth Ehrenfest Steinglass, all rights reserved

7 replies
  1. Marjorie
    Marjorie says:

    Ooooh Good Luck. I love your poem, right down to the paper cut – you capture so beautifully the preciousness and vulnerability in sharing of small things…

  2. Tabatha
    Tabatha says:

    Enjoyed your poem, Liz. It certainly rings true. Congrats on getting your manuscript ready to submit — that is an accomplishment, no matter what happens after you send it out!

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