It started when he drove me in
and the teacher couldn't help.
After that, four years passed
like water sliding into a gutter.
What a shame the last days
are remembered the best.
A page, written on a whim,
given to her by my friend.
That was long ago.
The new wave came, swept me up
in a chilly embrace.
Thursdays, a corridor,
a newspaper for the bus.
It would never have worked.
How could it have worked?
One-sided, the colours didn't mix.
Two seasons later,
a new shade in the light.
I stumbled down invisible steps,
almost said your name wrong.
Meant to leave
but still you stick around.
I went to the new place, grey place,
new names, stories to stick
to my tongue.
A challenge in itself.
Now words I use
are used for a reason.
The waves don't shatter my ribs,
drown my lungs as much.
This phase, this pinch of time
is almost complete
but as for the rest I don't know when it
Written: October 2013.
Explanation: A poem written in my own time about growing-up. The title is Latin for 'to grow up.' This piece was written in collaboration with a friend of mine named Sarina, whose poem ('the big dipper') can be found on her page here:
http://hellopoetry.com/-sarina/Although our pieces are very different, we both agreed to write about the same theme, to produce poems that focus on growing-up from two different perspectives.