THE GIRLS WHO LOVED THE WORLD

BLUE COTTON SHIRT
Familiar walls of the room
Like a similar cadence of the heart
Things rolled up in a box
Stuff me in and send me far.
Far
-like the tides, the winds to blow me east
Where one thing means another
And everything isn’t what it seems
Tearing my skin to the seams
And strewn out shreds
Don’t forget my blanket of fleece
Please include in it
And if you please put it first
My one and only blue cotton shirt
The blue cotton shirt of my previous years
The blue cotton shirt that caught all my tears
Fears bundled inn its fabric like a dream catcher
If you’re to send me away at least stuff in it my
Little fleece blanket
But put in first my blue cotton shirt
The blue cotton shirt so often has been my shield
The blue cotton shirt, I see it’s shrunken to bits
Poor darling you’ve grown too tall
The blue cotton shirt doesn’t squeeze you in at all
Well I guess it’s time to drive
The boxes stuffed far on the other side
Now that you’re sending me truly away
Let my blanket of fleece please rest and stay
But keep in with me my blue cotton shirt
That though it no longer seems to fit
I know I can still stuff my whole heart in it.

WET BLANKET
It goes deeper but I don’t want it to go very, very far
Keeping quiet underneath the waves of a badly shattered heart
Everyone wants to go to places, I don’t even understand
All I wanna do is have an adventure in my head
The currents are too strong, it rains aggressively
Who wants to get wet, I’d rather stay dry in the sheets
I would rather stay dry in the sheets
Better than begging out in cold and rainy streets
Better than going on roads that lead to hell
Better than reaching for the bottom of the well
I’d rather stay safe and dry on the surface
I’d rather stay in the four corners of my place
No, no this sweater will not do
No, no I would rather hang up my shoes
Keep me locked up in my basement with my toys
I don’t wanna stare at buildings filled with little boys
Lions-overlooking, prowling waiting for you to turn
Cause they know the smell of a little girl
Let me stay underneath the mounds of fleece
If they call my name, tell them I’ve gone and died, please
It’s better than being hounded by men
It’s better than being bound in a den
It’s better than being the fool in the bitter end
No, leave me with my blanket
I’ve more tears in me to stuff in it
And make sure it wraps me, keeps me warm
Shelters me from the blistering deluge
The world has in store
No, leave me with my blanket
So that I might stain it with my tears
Leave me with my wet blanket
To cocoon me from my fears
DEPARTMENT GIRL
There’s a lot of them that have come and gone
But she’s the one who latched herself on to my
Mind and now it seems she won’t break free, won’t cut loose
But to tell you the truth this clinginess that I was never used to
Has got me hooked, but before I continue let me tell you about her
In the most poetic way I could never that she could
She’s the kind who’s not so uptight but shrivels up in uncertain situations
Crumpled and crushed into a little fetal ball of adorable, feigned security
While slowly doing her task
At her most enchanting when clumsy and shaking
Knife in her hand she’s palpitating afraid to be cut and terrified of blood
No, she’s not soft in the head she’s actually vast and deep
But don’t bring her to a hospital floor, she’s sure to lose her way and confuse wing from wing
Instead, tell her stories about Hawaii
Or how frustrating and aggravating it is that your favorite team didn’t win.
Yes, she hates math and deplores medicine to the highest degree but she makes literature her bitch
Talk to her about history and humanities
And observe as she twitches her enthusiastic, fluent lips
While yes, I have been strictly superior and meticulous
Many times I have told her to lower her tone
But honestly I’d give anything to hear that mellifluous voice at its loudest
And now you’re probably wondering why I called this poem “department girl”
Cause that’s where I see her, that’s where she belongs
And her entire being is a balladic song.