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Jun 24
poem
Worlds.Within.Words

Ode to Memory

Humans are a puzzle
Without a picture on the box
Designed to look finished
After every piece
Never able to find the next hole
Until it is filled
But as soon as the jigsaw edges snap
Into place
We exclaim, "there!
How much better that looks"
Forgetting immediately what we're comparing
The new and improved version to
What it is improved on.


Or sometimes we spend years
Searching for one cardboard shape
But as soon as we find it
We realize it's part of the background
An edge or even a
Corner, perhaps,
Yet so much less interesting
Than the pieces
We picked up along the way.


I cannot believe that humans stop growing
For then
Where do all the new experiences fit
Snap into place
If not a longer leg
A broader chest?
Do we just keep shoving them in
Squeezing them tighter and tighter so that
Death
Is really an explosion of memory?

But then
How will I ever shrink when I grow old?
  • Worlds.Within.Words's blog
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Posted: 06.24.18
About the Author: Worlds.Within.Words
"I say I want to save the world but really/I want to write poems all day" -Dorothea Lasky
MSG / CONTACT
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Discussion

Comments

  1. ShanRippWriting
    Jun 25, 2018

    Your imagery is amazing here. I love how you wove the image of the puzzle and cardboard through the entire piece and used general yet also specific details to make this relatable. Great job, Shannon :)

    Shannon Ripp

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  1. Worlds.Within.Words
    Jun 25, 2018

    Thank you, Shannon! I'm glad you liked it and that the puzzle image worked for you.

    "I say I want to save the world but really/I want to write poems all day"
    -Dorothea Lasky

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YWP is a creative, online community of teen writers and visual artists. We're based in Burlington, VT, and we welcome young creators from anywhere!
Young Writers Project | 47 Maple St., Suite 216 | Burlington, VT 05401
501(c)(3) nonprofit established in 2006
Contact: Susan Reid, Executive Director: [email protected]; (802) 324-9538