Since this is my site, I am going to post any and all Stuff I Wrote for all of you to read, and no publisher or editor can do a damn thing about it. So there. (Yes, as a matter of fact, you do detect a note of bitterness there.) Actually, I haven’t been rejected so much as I haven’t tried. I have a real hatred of rejection letters. (I once sent one back, writing in the margin, ‘Dear Editor, We appreciate the rejection letter you sent. Unfortunately, it is not of the caliber that we are used to receiving. Therefore we regret to inform you that we cannot accept your rejection letter at this time. Please feel free to send any substantially improved efforts to us in the future.)

Anyway, here is a poem about a woman who feels stifled in her relationship and is realizing that she has lost her true self along the way…

Hardened lumps of sugar

Splash into tepid coffee

I stir it placidly.

Reflections of the fluorescent lights above

Weave into the motions of my spoon.

Your voice drones on

Empty as the clinking of forks

the hum of lights

Small and lost

In this glaring sterility.

I smile at my reflection

In the dingy Formica table

You might fall in

I was more than this,

once.

Eyes endless pools of possibility

Soul on fire

Lounging on baby grands

All velvet and mystery

Voice soaring above swirls of smoke

Conquering the night

Polished oak boardrooms

Three button suits and I

Changing policy

With a well flung remark.

I even joined a circus, once.
Bearded woman, monkey man

Make room for the

Most Fearless Girl in the World.

You wouldn’t know that,

Of course.

The only me you’ve known

Sits here in grey sweatpants

Stirring my coffee and swallowing your words

As if they were mine.

You don’t ask for more

I’ve forgotten how to be more,

now.

The spoon clinks against my cup

As I stir

My Formica smile

Looking up at me

knowingly.