Thank you! Thalia is an amazing friend, and we thought her story might show others that things really do get better. When experiencing rough times, it's hard to see that things get better and that there is hope for everyone, so I wrote this and got her consent to publish it here.
I'm so sorry that you had that experience. It must have been awful and neither you nor your friend deserved to go through that. The poem is great and sends a powerful message, there aren't many about this topic so I love the honesty and imagery you used.
The combination of colors you used is so unusual, but works so well together. I can't stop staring at this, I want to touch it or eat it as if it were candy!
There is such an immense depth to this eye, as if behind it resides a real personality, pain, secrets; I swear I can see it all. My favorite detail is the delicately gathered eyelashes, painted in reddish-brown, not black. Mine are just like that.
Ah, some think "seaside" and think "peaceful," but the ocean is a terrifying place, too: both a place and a being that can gobble you up whole. Without actually personifying the sea by name, you've made it a true character here, given it teeth. Your narrator's distress, with whatever the sea has "taken" from them in the past, is palpable.
I find your words deeply moving. This poem instills a great pride in me, to call Vermont my home, to claim I too am of the roots that extend outward toward a world that one day, we can hope, may know peace. Your wish for a more far-reaching celebration of diversity was an unexpected topic for me, and such a heartwarming thing to read; I suppose I expected to read about Vermont's future in the context of its physical environment, not its social one too. And yet writing from the perspective of an ancient, mighty tree could not be more fitting, more representative of both the land and the people too, somehow. Incredible work, it's obvious the amount of time and effort and HEART that went into this.
There is so much emotion coming through in such a short piece, wow. The opening lines on the phone set the tone for the entire piece exactly right. As the parent (I picture a mother) wanders the daughter's room, every detail orients us inside the very personal space and adds background and color to the relationship between them. My heart just kind of poured out at the end, how could it not, to read about her anguish at her loss but also her acceptance, too, and the hope she has for her daughter's future. This is a truly wholesome hug of a story.
There's so much I like about this story! Your similes definitely pop: the Canadian geese, the inchworm, and especially the teenage boy trying to pick up a girl with the grace of a newborn deer -- ha! Choosing ice cream as the end goal your character is trying to reach adds so much humor to the piece. Your ability to set up a kind of casual suspense -- we know something is the cause of the jam, and eventually that something will be revealed -- is superb as well! I think I would have loved a clue to that cause beforehand, maybe some musings about the sea or the environment or animals in general rather than the health care system, perhaps (although I totally agree with you on that!). I really enjoyed reading your work!
I so applaud you for taking a "taboo" topic like periods and turning it into something beautiful. There is such power and strength in this piece, which was a wonderful surprise (I originally read the line "It destroys us in every way" and thought the poem was going to take a different turn). I also love that you did not shy away from the word "blood" itself, without ever taking this in a graphic direction (although I feel that kind of angle in writing has merit too). You've shed off the ridiculous, unnecessary shame I felt when I was young and found pride instead, and for that, you have my greatest respect and appreciation!
Thank you! Thalia is an amazing friend, and we thought her story might show others that things really do get better. When experiencing rough times, it's hard to see that things get better and that there is hope for everyone, so I wrote this and got her consent to publish it here.
I'm so sorry that you had that experience. It must have been awful and neither you nor your friend deserved to go through that. The poem is great and sends a powerful message, there aren't many about this topic so I love the honesty and imagery you used.
Thank you! :)
The combination of colors you used is so unusual, but works so well together. I can't stop staring at this, I want to touch it or eat it as if it were candy!
There is such an immense depth to this eye, as if behind it resides a real personality, pain, secrets; I swear I can see it all. My favorite detail is the delicately gathered eyelashes, painted in reddish-brown, not black. Mine are just like that.
Ah, some think "seaside" and think "peaceful," but the ocean is a terrifying place, too: both a place and a being that can gobble you up whole. Without actually personifying the sea by name, you've made it a true character here, given it teeth. Your narrator's distress, with whatever the sea has "taken" from them in the past, is palpable.
I find your words deeply moving. This poem instills a great pride in me, to call Vermont my home, to claim I too am of the roots that extend outward toward a world that one day, we can hope, may know peace. Your wish for a more far-reaching celebration of diversity was an unexpected topic for me, and such a heartwarming thing to read; I suppose I expected to read about Vermont's future in the context of its physical environment, not its social one too. And yet writing from the perspective of an ancient, mighty tree could not be more fitting, more representative of both the land and the people too, somehow. Incredible work, it's obvious the amount of time and effort and HEART that went into this.
There is so much emotion coming through in such a short piece, wow. The opening lines on the phone set the tone for the entire piece exactly right. As the parent (I picture a mother) wanders the daughter's room, every detail orients us inside the very personal space and adds background and color to the relationship between them. My heart just kind of poured out at the end, how could it not, to read about her anguish at her loss but also her acceptance, too, and the hope she has for her daughter's future. This is a truly wholesome hug of a story.
There's so much I like about this story! Your similes definitely pop: the Canadian geese, the inchworm, and especially the teenage boy trying to pick up a girl with the grace of a newborn deer -- ha! Choosing ice cream as the end goal your character is trying to reach adds so much humor to the piece. Your ability to set up a kind of casual suspense -- we know something is the cause of the jam, and eventually that something will be revealed -- is superb as well! I think I would have loved a clue to that cause beforehand, maybe some musings about the sea or the environment or animals in general rather than the health care system, perhaps (although I totally agree with you on that!). I really enjoyed reading your work!
I so applaud you for taking a "taboo" topic like periods and turning it into something beautiful. There is such power and strength in this piece, which was a wonderful surprise (I originally read the line "It destroys us in every way" and thought the poem was going to take a different turn). I also love that you did not shy away from the word "blood" itself, without ever taking this in a graphic direction (although I feel that kind of angle in writing has merit too). You've shed off the ridiculous, unnecessary shame I felt when I was young and found pride instead, and for that, you have my greatest respect and appreciation!