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attackfishWhen I was twelve, I went to Young Writer's Camp and the teachers passed around a poem "Things to Think About While Getting a Spinal Tap" written by kids our age about being stoic under miserable circumstance. Unfortunately, I can't find the "spinal tap" poem text. The bright lime green paper has been sucked into nothingness, and when I search for it on Google, all I get is stuff about the movie and the band, but I did find the poem I was assigned to write on the same theme. The teachers said to us, that they knew none of us were chronically ill, but surely we had some nasty experience for which we had to be brave, and then everyone turned to me and laughed.
I like this much better than I did when I was twelve, when I was too irritated that I had to write in free verse. The only thing I've changed is to shorten the title from "Things to Think About While Becoming a Pincushion" to:
Pincushion
She has movies, hundreds of movies, every movie Disney ever made
These shots don’t hurt, she says, they just go under the skin
Needle goes in
Skin puffs around the fluid
I kick, scream, bite
I still have a white spot there
Little scar
I’ll get you a toy after this, Mom says
It’s always the first toy I see in the store, too tired to go further in
A little older, Mom says I’ll get you books
I like books
Soon my bookcase is so full I have to double and triple shelve
Ugh, Mom, I’m drugged, I’m sick, let’s go get a book tomorrow
Next time, we get one before the shots
Read it slowly, make it last all weekend, through shots on Saturday and being sick on Sunday
On Monday, there’s the library
Journals and pencils, Mom, I want to write
But lead smears, I’ve lost those stories
No great loss
When the shots come, mind’s the first thing to go, I don’t write
Watch Disney movies instead
I like this much better than I did when I was twelve, when I was too irritated that I had to write in free verse. The only thing I've changed is to shorten the title from "Things to Think About While Becoming a Pincushion" to:
Pincushion
She has movies, hundreds of movies, every movie Disney ever made
These shots don’t hurt, she says, they just go under the skin
Needle goes in
Skin puffs around the fluid
I kick, scream, bite
I still have a white spot there
Little scar
I’ll get you a toy after this, Mom says
It’s always the first toy I see in the store, too tired to go further in
A little older, Mom says I’ll get you books
I like books
Soon my bookcase is so full I have to double and triple shelve
Ugh, Mom, I’m drugged, I’m sick, let’s go get a book tomorrow
Next time, we get one before the shots
Read it slowly, make it last all weekend, through shots on Saturday and being sick on Sunday
On Monday, there’s the library
Journals and pencils, Mom, I want to write
But lead smears, I’ve lost those stories
No great loss
When the shots come, mind’s the first thing to go, I don’t write
Watch Disney movies instead
