i’m proud and grateful to have this poem, storybook childhood, included in The Rumpus‘s Enough series today among some smart, courageous writers.
@therumpus http://therumpus.net/2018/02/enough-i-am-never-the-same-girl-again/ …
curious george said,
“good night, moon”
(the lights were out)
papa bear got into
goldilocks’ bed
no one was asking
“have you seen my duckling?”
(i felt like the ugly one
sure that was why
no one came looking)
i wondered
‘why are you my mother?’
(couldn’t god see i needed more
one who had time for me
one who could be enough
one not spread as thin
as the oxygen i feel
so guilty breathing?)
i was one of those three little pigs
trying to outsmart
the big bad wolf
determined to overcome me
old mother hubbard’s
cupboards barren
clifford (the big red dog)
came to me for his bone
as if i were a doghouse
made himself right at home
didn’t notice didn’t care
he was violating fire code
shooting. off. fireworks.
into my body
my body
my brain
exploding into nothingness
like chicken little
my sky came falling
the whenever poetess 