Poetry

Many a parent of teenagers has warned me of the rollercoaster that this phase of life presents. Some have cautioned me to, under no circumstances, get on the coaster while others have described this as the ride of a lifetime, not to be missed. I'm still not sure which camp I'm in but I know I'm enjoying this almost as much/more than/not nearly enough as I'm feeling thoroughly taken for a ride (depends on the day).

There is, often enough, a moment when I feel like there is some kind of greater awareness that comes from all of the chaos. C won her school's poetry contest again this year. She wrote a poem motivated by her perception of the suicides of one of my friends and a girl we did not know well but who was close to many of our friends from elementary school. She said she wanted to write a poem about how they might have had a different ending. She has no idea how much I wish history was so easily re-written.

Human

by "C"

She’s standing on pointe on the head of a pin

Her image intact, she betrays nothing within.

So close to perfection, crafted in stone

Inside a fire rages and she fights it alone.

On the head of a pin, she strains to stand tall

Stressed out and tired, she can’t bear the fall.

Crippled by thoughts of the abyss that surrounds

She’s inches away from touching the ground.

As cracks develop and exhaustion appears,

Imminent failure is shrill in her ears.

She can’t kick the habit of self-doubt so defining.

Might surrender expose her lost silver lining?

Out of nowhere, a friend, with both hands extended,

Helps her feet to the ground and the battle has ended.

She is frozen, at first, without the fire’s embrace.

But newfound humanity radiates warmth in its place.

Missteps embraced, celebrated quirks

Self-effacing laughter and “I messed up” smirks

Now much more to her life than perfectionist greed

Life on the pin was lonely indeed.