"Gone"

That chapstick with sand all around the cap...
Got my lips all cut up and bleeding.
Sand all in my teeth now, been spitting all day, trying to get rid of it
And it ain’t working.

This paper clip necklace around my neck may not be made of diamonds,
But I feel like a million dollars when I wear it.
I walk down the street, my head held high
And people are looking at me
Starstruck by my royalty
Blinded by the glare of the sun off my special diamond necklace.

I practice my name over and over
In the same notebook, over and over again
Until I get it perfect.
Just right.
L’s big and loopy.
C’s curvy and strong.
G’s fat as they want to be.
No room for the vowels, as they don’t matter.

I run down the street holding Powerball tickets,
I picked out of the trash
I yell “I won, I won, I won the 300 million! I won!”
People look at me, keep passing me by.
No one to celebrate with me.
And I wander why.

This power chord,
It’s all I got.
Someone stole all my other stuff
Paper clip necklace gone,
Chap stick gone,
Notebook gone
300 million gone.
Everything gone.
I may as well go to the top of this bridge
The bridge I sleep under every night
And tie one end of this chord around something up there.
And wrap the other end around my neck.
And jump like they do off them bridges
That bungy thing, I think they call it
And Fly and fly and fly,
All the way down…
Hoping I’ll bounce back
So I can do it all over again.





From October 24, 2010 Women of Color Writer's Workshop...

Writing prompt: Pulled a notecard from a stack... use what is written on the card in a story/poem (10 minutes).

On my card was written

1. Chapstick with sand around the cap.
2. A necklace made from paperclips.
3. A notebook for practicing your name over and over
4. A power chord
5. Old winless powerball tickets.

Sigh. When I got that card, with all that written on it, I wanted to throw it out the window. I don't like long complicated writing prompts. This one involved things possibly found in a bag. Those were strange things to find in one's bag. (Poor Dawn, who made up the cards, got some sideway looks from the stuff she came up with for the cards, lol)

But I am glad I made a go of it. Got a useful little poem for my blog out of it!