Page 13 (1/2)

Chapter One

Caroline

“As a part of your midterm, you have been asked to write a new poem in the style of your choice and will be asked to share it with the class,” Professor Mitchell tells us as he paces back and forth in front of the white board at the front of the rooh this has been e career, I’m not exactly an extrovert, let alone a performance artist

Still, I’ve putinto this poe (I peeked ahead on the syllabus and knew I’d want to get a ju to read it aloud for everyone to hear in such a way that conveys all the pain and hurt and iery I’ve transcribed into it

It’s about my mom, Diana, who until recently was the closest person I had in my life

Only last year, she died of brain cancer after a long, tuainst it It was the most difficult day of e and that I couldn’t be by her side My dad, God love him, didn’t want to worry me too much or interrupt my studies So it wasn’t until two days before she passed that I was even able to fly hoot there, and we spent a few quiet hours together in the hospital room I cried, she cried, she slept, I couldn’t

And then she was gone

Reading the poem to the class, I feel all of those ele line through the entire thing, and I’e at the others ine more vulnerable than I’ve ever been in before anybody

I hesitate to look up after I’ everyone’s expressions is al Only, just before I do, I hear a sniffle come from not too far away and then another on the other side of the room

I look up to find that people are wiping their eyes, and a slow, quiet, yet ful applause comes fro of the semester never to snap for poetry in his class

“I find it pretentious andApplaud the work thatpop ballad or a celebrity guest on a sitcoh, Professor Mitchell doesn’t seeht now That or, I don’t know Maybe he just isn’t moved

Not only is he not clapping with everyone else, he’s looking down at the ground, propped up against his desk by his hands, and digging his toes into the thin, University carpet like a board third baseame

“That’s enough,” he sort of snaps as if the applause is lasting too long He then rounds his desk without ever looking up at any of us and says, “Class is dismissed early today We will resume our poems on Wednesday”

He then snaps his briefcase closed, snatches it off the desk, andof the poem’s applause