Wow, this was ME.

a poem about my teenage years. i'm entering it in a contest. i'm still a teen, but this is how i will look back when i'm on my way to college.

The rain outside beats against my bedroom window.

I watch as the drops of water slide off the glass.

The house is quiet.

No talking, no movement.

Just the quiet little taps.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

I'm trying to think.

I stare at the blank page before me.

I need to finish the application,

However, the lines just become blurry.

Frustrated, I throw down my pencil.

It is impossible to think!

Tell us who you were, and who you will be

Tell us who you are, and who you will be

Tell us who you are, and who you will be

You would think this would be easy.

It would be,

But then I realize,

I don’t even know ME.

 

I find myself wandering up to the attic.

There’s no particular reason

I'm only curious if, maybe,

Maybe it could help me.

Looking around, all I see is dust,

A couple of spider webs, and of course,

That putrid smell of must.

I must find me

Or at least who I used to be.

 

I don’t see anything all that appealing,

So I turn to leave

Accidentally tripping over it.

A dusty box.

Labeled: Juli.

This is the ME

I’ve been searching for.

 

Excitedly, I tear open the box

Exposing its contents for me to see.

I recognize all the items from when I was a teen.

Pulling out the first item, I remember it clearly.

A microphone.

The memories flood back to me.

Nights spent in my little church

Rehearsing.

The next item I unearth

Is a bumper sticker with the words

Live Aloha.

Live Love.

Paradise on earth

Waves crashing on rocks.

How I loved it there.

 

Underneath the sticker,

I see it there.

Probably my oldest friend.

We’ve been through a lot over the years

Always there.

I gently lift the delicate cross

From the corner of the dusty box.

Running my fingers over the cool metal

I can see myself in the reflection

A young girl,

Full of love, of compassion

Handing out prayers to anyone in need

 

Setting down the cross, something else catches my eye.

Made of cloth, it is a blue tie.

I can’t help but laugh.

I don’t know how I would have gotten through

Without you.

As a teacher, you were the best

I pray you will be forever blessed.

Setting down the tie, I notice only two items left.

 

Picking up the next one,

It makes me laugh and cry.

Just a photograph of a moose

So many memories.

Most good,

But some bad.

Love. Hate.

Spoons. The Joker.

Glow in the dark paint.

My biggest prayer. 

 

Taking a deep breath, I know the item.

The only item left.

The biggest struggle

The epitome of all my trouble.

Reaching for the item, I cry out in pain.

I snatch my finger back, taking it away.

Tiny droplets of blood fall from my wound.

The last item, the sharpest, most vivid part of my teenage years,

A small razor blade.

My eyes close.

See. See the eyeliner staring back at me

Feel. Feel, the pain that coursed through my veins

Taste. Taste the salty tears that run down my cheeks

Touch. Touch the keys as I type away

Hear. Hear the sound of empty prayers resounding in my ears.

The most difficult time.

When I had to fight,

Fight for my life.

A tear escapes my eye.

Oh great,

Now I'm starting to cry.

The tears are streaming as I put everything back.

I close the box,

All the memories.

Of who I used to be.

 

Glancing back at the box, I sigh.

Wiping the tears from my eyes,

I begin to laugh.

Time to finish that college app

 

So there I am,

Back in my room.

Sitting on my bed, I start to think.

After all that happened

Through junior high and high school,

I know that those items will never be forgotten

 

I pull out a new sheet.

And begin to write.

As I look back, I can’t help but think,

Wow, that was ME.

But as to who I will be

Well, that,

That’s a different story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reviews

[Wildecat]

This is a phenominal write, I know many people who have had similar things happen to them in thier lives as have you. Nice write.

[Kiara]

wow.........all i can say........great write! i feel the tears coming down!

[A Simple man]

Seriously... wow. My eyes were speeding through that poem without stopping, I am amazed as to how emotional reading about another persons life can make me. I can't say that I know where you come from, but it is clear you really pour your emotions into your writing. You have a quality for really hitting the point you are trying to make which is what makes your poems so hard to stop reading. I love em!

[Save the Trees, Save th..]

that is absolutely amazing im almost in tears wowowowowowowowo. u are soo talented. it must run in the viens lol hahahahahahahahahahahahaahaha. total goose bumps. yeah so was i hiding in the box because i think that i am a very important part of your teenage years. moose but no mrah. me go cry now

[Jessica M.]

I read the first two stanzas and thought damn this is me.
Beautiful poem about overcoming life's obstacles.