poetry

Poem #781b – the three me’s

~ Georgia Tell ~ 1 Comment

the normal one
you see her the most
she’s got her shit together
she goes to work every day
she invests
she smiles when she should
she impresses your mom
she thinks the right thing
she says the right thing
she does the right thing

the depressed one
you hear of her occasionally
she sleeps right after work
she stares at her phone for hours
she cries
she doesn’t even feel like trying
she refuses your invitations
she can’t clean
she can’t survive without help
she hangs on for the other two

the manic one
you think you like this one
she laughs really loud
she is bigger than any room
she lives
she teeters on the edge
she gets on your nerves
she pushes buttons
she thinks the big thing
she says the wrong thing
she flirts with disappearing

Poem #781a – appraisal

~ Georgia Tell ~ 1 Comment

my value is not derived
from the small nose or small ears
that I got from my mom
or from the mostly straight teeth
that I got from my dad
or from the thin arms and waist
that I worked for myself

my value is derived
from the words I put together here
and from the perspective I bring
and from the mere fact of my existence

Poem #778 – fancy poems

~ Georgia Tell ~ 1 Comment

I want to write
poems that bookish girls trace into
Lisa Frank notebooks with sparkly gel pens
poems that scream from a human
need for words to capture nuance
poems that English PhD candidates recite
and analyze way more than necessary
poems that young women tattoo
onto their ribs to show their friends
not poems that end with
“and the bird dies”

Poem #777 – doing everything right

~ Georgia Tell ~ 1 Comment

the accountant does her research
she buys a specific mix of birdseed
from a niche birdseed website on the second google search page
she sets up a bird feeder in an ideal place
according to the species Wikipedia page
she marks down in careful lettering in her notebook
the amounts eaten each day and the water consumed
and the bird dies