Friday, January 17, 2014

Excercise 8: Ghosts, Monsters, Bullies

Write a poem about one of your childhood fears.


I stared down at the white napkin and see
two round cookies waiting to be eaten.
They were the good kind, too,
with rainbow chips and chocolate;
Not too crunchy, not too soft.

Mom goes back to unpacking her bags,
the ocean roaring outside.
From inside it sounded more like a whisper,
sending chills down my spine
as I a wait out this feeling I just can't shake.

I look at my sister who has already eaten one.
The crumbles pitter patter on the floor
as she picks up the other one to devour.
I pick up mine and inspect it slowly,
sniffing the surface for some kind of sign.

I take my napkin and brush off the tops
of the cookies as hard as I can.
Hopefully if there was any poison left
It would not be enough to do any harm.
I throw the napkin away.

I look long and hard at Mom,
searching for signs of foul play or some signal
from the universe that I could proceed.
The ritual cleaning has helped and now my
desire for sweets trumps my fear and I take a bite.


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