This poem comes from a prompt on Ethical ELA VerseLove by Joanne Emery. She asked us to read Jane Hirshfield’s poem My Life Was the Size of My Life and borrow a line to use in our own poem that expresses something about ourself. I used the line “I told my life I would like some time.”
I Told My Life
I would like some time.
I wanted to hit Pause,
rise
in another space–
maybe a vase of flowers
beautiful & scented
then tossed away.I told my life
to hold on
while I slept,
dreamt I was flying.What does it feel like to be free?
I told my life
Margaret Simon, draft
I would like some time
to get back a broken piece of me.
Reflections on the Teche 
This poem is deeply moving and gently painful – the voice that speaks to her life is tender and cautiously pleading. Really quite beautiful….
This poem is deeply moving and gently painful – the voice that speaks to her life is tender and cautiously pleading. Really quite beautiful….
This is so beautiful and poignant, Margaret. I love the internal rhyme and the idea of rising in another space. (On a side note, I chose the same line to write from in my notebook.)