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))
