We’re now just seven days away from the start of March Madness Poetry 2013!
Continuing my one-a-day posting of my Top Ten favorite poems from #MMPoetry 2012 … today we’ll tiptoe through Susan Taylor Brown’s poem prompted by her 16-seed word “nonconfrontational” in the first round:
16-nonconfrontationial
At 13, I Walk on Eggshells
by Susan Taylor Brown
More than the way your hands paint bruises the world can’t see
I fear your words, and the way they tattoo themselves in my brain
creating a chorus of put-downs that play in an endless loop,
reminding me of all I am not, in your eyes.
Your words are my only gift from you and I carry them close,
like the most precious of jewels. I can’t help myself.
In this house, nonconfrontational
is just another word for survival.
This poem captured 64% of the vote in its matchup and helped Susan reach the second round. Click here to see this poem as it originally appeared in #MMPoetry 2012.
