polaroid

This was an assignment for creative writing... we were supposed to write a poem emulating the style of another poet that we were assigned. I was assigned Laura Kasischke, who I had never heard of but quickly fell in love with. I called this one "Polaroid."

It was cold outside and I
was driving with the windows open,
singing that I’ve

never been to heaven
but I’ve been to Oklahoma.

Yellow lines travel by
on the Jersey Turnpike.
And I don’t know

where I’m going
or why.
or how to get home.

This is youth, this
is freedom, this is
stupidity to the extreme.

I was eleven and my best friend
cried when I told her
my parents were divorcing.

My hamster died that day.

This is childhood.

This is repression.

This is everything I’ve ever wanted,
and everything I can never have.

Once, I left for school
in the morning
without saying goodbye

to my mom.

She was angrier than I’d ever seen her.