Wednesday, April 1, 2009

My first for the Writer's Digest challenge

The prompt: "Origins." Feel free to interpret the prompt loosely, they said. So I wrote the title and then all the rest of it in one go. Tinkered with line breaks. That's it.


Where Babies Come From

That was, in fact, a roll of dimes in his Haggar pocket
at the junior prom. They both came stag,
after talking it over at the youth group. He bruised her thigh
doing the bump to “Brick House.” She didn’t know for three days.

He tore her dress when the music changed
to “Shout” and his size 13 caught the hem. Apologized right then,
mid-hop, said it wouldn’t happen again. Hands flung high,
half-transported, half worried about the whitish stains
of stick deodorant, they knew themselves
to be making memories. They did not do the Gator.

By the punch bowl, sweating, sucking their ice
like a menthol balm, they talked about
Anderman’s pop quiz on Vietnam. Was it a war,
or just a criminal possession? Would they ever get out?
Would the horrors ever come east, to Oregon, to home?

In Eileen’s basement, a half-giddy impromptu party.
Spin the bottle. His lips did not open. She felt
the shock of tongue from Bobby, the guy in the science lab
who fed the snake, the golden hamsters, the fishes.

4 comments:

cheryl pearson said...

GORGEOUS. Really. I've been reading the PAD poems all night, and this is my joint favourite so far. It's beautiful.

cheryl pearson said...

I tried to post a comment on this already...gah.

It's BEAUTIFUL. Really. I've been reading through the PAD poems all night, and there are hundreds, and yours is my joint favourite. Beautifully constructed, and quick, and smart, and...well, it's lovely. Hope to read lots more from you soon X

cheryl pearson said...

Aaaah...it won't let me comment!!! This is my third attempt...I just wanted to say how beautiful and well-constructed and elegant your poem is. And that I hope to read lots more from you soon. (And I hope this comment posts...)

Pam said...

Whoops! Sorry, Cheryl; I've got it set up so that I'm moderating comments. I just posted yours...I hope posting all three of them isn't too self-serving of me. :^) (I know you meant it only the one time.) --Pam