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))

Silver

Eloquence, Grace, Beauty,

Strength

I stand making sweaty footprints

Hoping

That I have these qualities

Waiting

Wiping my palms on my leo,

assigning a smile to my face

The green flag goes up

stepping forward I raise my arms

making sure my fingers are proper

Present

Run, jump on the board, land on the beam on one leg.

Wobble

On The Way There

the boat ride
up, down, up, down
that feeling in your stomach
when you feel like falling

sunglasses on
the sun gleaming off the water
makes it shiny
mesmerizing

an 's' shape takes us
into the bay
the land and water
becoming all the more familiar

we get closer
more and more excited
the boat slows
and we know its mere minutes

nothing ever really changes
but maybe that's the best part

Broken

It’s possible I was going slightly insane

The heat, the hill, the island

All possible contributions

To this ridiculous mental state

Now that I’m home

I don’t know what to think.

Is this just part of ‘the rule’?

Or is it just another exception?

‘The Rule’.

5 to start, 9 in the middle, 3 to end,

We rate you.

It rarely fails me.

I think it has for the second time ever.

I sit here with butterflies in my stomach

While glancing over to make sure

You’re real

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

I Remember

I remember when our Counselor, Crystal, said to our cabin "poopy serious", her phrase for having a serious talk. we thought we were in trouble, but instead she took us down to the dock and we hung out there before going to bed.

I remember watching Kristi break her ankle. i was on the upstairs tumble track.

I remember joking about Reindeer right before i broke my own ankle.

I remember that it was Thanksgiving Sunday and my dad had to make all of the dinner. We didnt eat until 8pm, when i got home with a plaster cast on my foot.

I remember what the gym looked like when i went to Calgary.

I remember the first video I watched that got me hooked on the vlogbrothers. it was 'people who love giraffes who love giraffes'. I though John was funny.

I remember watching the Quest videos in theme sessions one year at Camp.

I remember when I switched from cabin 14 to cabin 13.

I remember my dad letting me help him vacuum. I got to do under the couch cushions.

I remember the playground at Kilarney Center. The red slide was my favourite.

I remember the saying my 8th grade socials teacher had, "you can only use the word 'almost' in horseshoes, and hand grenades."



(i am again in a creative writing course, so i'll be posting more stuff YAY!
the above work is an activity we did in class based on Joe Brainards book I Remember, a book that i happened to read for a different english course last semester. the book is written only in I Remember statements, and my prof had us do the exercise as a way to introduce ourselves)

Inside

Sometimes I hate this

bottling up my feelings

keeping them inside

I pretend to be happy

showing the world I can handle

what it has thrown my way

Inside, my brain stews

thinking things over

more than is necessary

Tears welling, I run,

my bed and room provide the

comfort I need to express my feelings