Slide Girl
This poem is written from the following exchange with a stranger on Instagram:
Saturday, January 28, 2023, 8:09 pm
Helen: Hi there! I was hoping you could write a birthday poem for my daughter … willing to pay $150, is that okay?
Saturday 10:43 pm
Me: Hello. I appreciate you reaching out. I’d be happy to consider and see if I can offer you what you’d like. What did you have in mind for the birthday poem? How old will your daughter be? And when is her birthday, or your deadline for the piece?
Sunday 2:03 am
Helen: My daughter will actually be 13. Her birthday is February 14th. Can u get it done before then?
Sunday 2:23 pm
Me: Yeah, I should be able to do that. Let me know more about your daughter. What things she likes, what’s important to her. Anything specific you are thinking you’d like in the poem.
Sunday 2:44 pm
Helen: So she really loves going to the park.
Helen: And her greatest moment in the park is going down the slide
Helen: ?
Monday 4:48 pm
Me: Did you want the poem focused on her at the park? Are there other things about her? What do you love about her? Your favorite parts of her personality? Your favorite memories?
Monday 8:36 pm
Helen: ?
Tuesday 12:02 am
Me: You want me to write a poem about your daughter knowing only that she will be 13 and likes the slide at the park?
Tuesday 1:11 am
Helen: yes
Tuesday, shortly after her last reply:
Oh, unnamed girl
About to turn thirteen
Your life has already brought you so much
like the park
and the slide inside that park
and I’m sure other things
but mostly just the park
and the slide
and that slide will wait
for your fourteen year-old self to return
and slide again
until you grow too old
to care about the slide
or you grow too self-conscious
of what others will think of a grown woman
who likes slides
so you leave the playground
and do other things
maybe you have children
who take you back to the playground
as you watch them slide
like you used to enjoy
maybe your child
will turn thirteen
and you will ask a stranger
to write a poem for them
anyway, enjoy the cake,
if you like cake
I don’t even know
I only know you like slides
Written January 31, 2023