The Pyle Inside

 . . . Let me tell you the story about the day I tried to write a poem.

I was sitting at school, front row third desk from the left looking around, minding my own business when I heard my teacher say these 3 dreaded words: WRITE A POEM. Now as you may imagine I was shocked, I mean there she was teaching a class on a fine Thursday afternoon when she decided that she was simply going to throw that at us. Really that was just so disappointing and even after I was starting to like her . . . anyway after I managed to get myself together, I processed what those three words meant: write (as in do work) a (really, I skipped over processing this one) poem (as in something that takes a lot of creativity and effort to create). When the bell finally rang my teacher dismissed class acting like she hadn’t just stunned us by giving that assignment and I very slowly walked to my locker got my things and walked home. The minute I opened my front door, I dropped my things on the floor, went to the couch, and just let myself fall right on my face. Still, I couldn’t get over the fact I had to WRITE A POEM. So I decided to just get it over with (like when you rip of a band aid) and start working. I sat at my computer, watched it load for what seemed like 277 hours (but what was really like 27.7 seconds), opened word and started to think. Like, really think. I went through all the types of poems I knew about in my head. Limerick? No, too hard. Haiku? No, to easy yet challenging at the same time. Acrostic? No, can’t think about a topic. Cinquain? No, too much thinking. I think you can see where this is going, but the point was there was no hope of me finding a poem. When it hit me! Why not do a poem about me not wanting to do a poem!?! I sat and I sat until very late at night trying to make rhymes out of unrhymable words and honestly, I was too tired. After hours of thinking I decided that I wasn’t going to write a poem. I was going to go to school that next day and ask for an extension, so I could then ask you this question: If you were told to write a poem, what would you write about?