Used To Know

The first time I went to competitive

I was 8 and nervous

Crossing to the other side of the gym

I was told to follow Alita

And I did just that for warm-up

The Kona Winds is a large boat

It took me to and from Gambier until it broke

And I would always sit on the top deck

Except for once; we played cards

I lost and was dared to lick the window

I did

I have a sister

Our height is on a wall

Marked with a pencil

Just down the hall

I know she is sleeping

When I hear a thunk

On the wall that we share

The stop lights were horizontal in Calgary

and the floor for gymnastics was bouncy

the White Spot had just reopened and my mom and Michelle

had Bellinis with dinner

We found the crawlspace in our cabin

This one time at band camp

There were mysterious blue crystals in a Ziploc bag

We never found out what they were

But it was a resounding ‘yes’ from my cabin mates for drugs

The Crown Motel

Has a lousy “heated” pool

We would float around on our air mattresses

And once I got pushed in

towel included

I saw campers setting up a bed

In the middle of the cabin area

For no apparent reason

They even brought out the broom and garbage can

Turns out that it was their counselors’

I got a picture of him jumping onto it

Telling my coaches I was quitting

Was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done

Tears and heartbreak

Not only for me, but for them

I would have been moving up a level

This is what I used to know

(my prof really liked this poem that i put in my portfolio, so I thought I'd share. i took the idea from Julia Nunes song This is What I Used To Know, but made the stories my own (with a slight exception to the third stanza))

Scoop Me Up

I wish we fell asleep.

The lights had been turned out

But our paranoia of being seen laying on the couch

Prevented us from doing so.

My self deprecation is lessened by your laughter

until I remember I’m not photogenic and I feel

like I should’ve smashed your phone for that picture

I still wanted you to scoop me up, however.

Naturally, I assumed I’d live through.

I deserved to know one thing: ‘did you know.’

Looking up at the stars hoping that the shattered trust

wont be outweighed by the chemistry I believe we have.

The forgiveness I want, isn’t going to happen, is it?

This goddamn circumstance.

I’m convinced she is jealous,

but I must contemplate the truth.

assignment: come up with a constraint, create a poem. 

my constraint: pick 5 songs, take 5 words from each song, and incorporate those words into the poem

i used words from the songs on Julia Nunes' I Think You Know EP