Sunday, July 19, 2009

A Poem From the Past

I've been sorting through my files lately and coming across lots of interesting, half-forgotten stuff - some that I found stashed inside boxes as we were cleaning out my mom's house a few years ago. Lately I've been trying to pull together some poetry for a critique. I believe this is one of the first poems I ever wrote. I was 12 at the time.

Life From A Lion's Point of View

Trapped in a world that's hardly all my own,
People look at me and I groan.
Through metal bars and over stone walls,
I get some very uninvited calls.
People gape and stare and look
At what they could see in an animal book.
I'm bombed with peanuts, which I hate,
And I got stuck with some dumpy, ugly mate.
I've never snored, for I've never slept.
You wouldn't either if you lived where I'm kept.
The water is scummy and filled with bacteria
And the apes next door drive me into hysteria.
Every night at twelve o'clock
The laughing hyena gives every beast a shock!
Oh how I wish I could be released
And then maybe - just maybe- I could get some peace.

3 comments:

derek said...

you wrote this when you were 12? mom, i'm impressed :-)

Stella said...

Well, thanks! I thought it was pretty good at the time - certainly better then "The cat sat on the mat". At least my English teacher liked it.

Danette Haworth said...

Stella,

I love this line:

I've never snored, for I've rarely slept.

Very insightful, especially for a twelve-year-old.