how i met rachel
"Heads down," and Mrs. Tew
turned out the lights.
Full of the righteous ire of
the falsely accused six year old
I want to cry.
20 little girls sitting with their heads
on their desks.
The room is quiet.
I look at the desk next to me.
The new girl sits there.
She has very curly hair
in ponytails.
She is smiling at me and
she waves at me.
I don't want to be nice.
I don't want to make friends.
I want to be angry.
I want to be out of heads down.
I frown and turn my head the other way.
Not knowing
how soon we'd be friends
or just how much
I would love her.
heidi
written 2/7/13 for http://dversepoets.com/2013/02/07/mining-the-memory-dverse-poets-meeting-the-bar/
I realized as I wrote this that I never fully appreciate the people who will become the most important to me when I first meet them. I always seem to meet them grumpy. I have been wanting to write a poem about my friend Rachel and decided to use this prompt to give it a try. I am not sure what I think about it yet and welcome all (kind) constructive comments. Thanks for reading!
smiles...i like that she didn't give up and the two of you became friends in the end... some of my own good friendships had also not-so-promising starts... friendship sometimes need time to develop..like a good wine..
ReplyDeleteThanks Claudia. Rachel is awesome and I am also very glad that she did not give up on me.
Deletesmiles...dont you love how life puts us in these moments just to make that happen...to notice...and then later become great friends....pretty cool capture....
ReplyDeleteOut of the negative comes a positive. Thats conveyed so well at the end.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I had some trouble finding the right words at the end, but I think it works. Thanks for commenting!
DeleteSometimes it is hard to know what kind of relationship we will develop with someone when we first meet them. Sometimes those first impressions deceive. I am glad that this meeting turned out to be a positive one for you.
ReplyDeleteAww. I can imagine the pout on your faces. Time outs are never fun!
ReplyDelete36 years later and I still remember how mad I was, although I have no clue what we were in trouble for. Thanks for reading and commenting!
DeleteThis is a lovely share, the turning from a stranger or someone we want to hate, into a good friend ~ I do so remember those times I was reprimanded by the teacher ~ Good one ~
ReplyDeleteSo much to like here--powerful, honest feelings, very well written.
ReplyDeleteThank you Nico for stopping by and for the kind comments.
DeleteWhat a great account of a moment in time that is attached to a gift that would endure. I'm glad you became friends. It's so hard to be the new kid in a class. Been there, done that.
ReplyDeleteThank you Victoria. A gift is a lovely way to describe my friendship with Rachel.
Deletewhen we meet someone, we just can't se the future
ReplyDeletefor the thousandth time
Verification makes it really hard to comment, takes a few times sometimes. you'd probably get more comments if you turned it off.
Thanks for the visit and the comments. I think I was able to turn off the verification.
Deletewell remembered. a vivid beginning. it sounds like a cheeky great friendship.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I love this comment, and I am very tempted to steal the phrase "a cheeky great friendship" and write something from it.
DeleteWe moved several times when I was a child and I was a new girl more often than I liked.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult for friendships to become established when friendships are already solid before you join a class.
But then (luckily) there was always someone like prepared to give me a chance.
Anna :o]
Hi Anna, thank you for stopping in and commenting. I love how this poem has been bringing up memories for folks.
DeleteAww... cherished childhood friends... thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, thanks for reaing and commenting.
DeleteOh, how well I remember those school days of being unjustly punished. So glad for you that out of it all came a good friend. What wouldn't we endure to have one good and trusted friend? Nice. Peace
ReplyDeleteI think that I may have actually have fallen asleep during that heads down, so there were many levels to my grumpy. Thank you for reading and commenting.
DeleteYour reaction to her is a common defense mechanism employed by children (adults too, sometimes). We tend to not want to show interest in others until we are certain who they "might" be. Wonderful poem!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm so glad you came by and I appreciate the comments. I still tend to hold back when meeting new people, maybe I'll grow out of it in the next 30 odd years.
Delete