Attack!
Editor’s note: this poem was written during the NWP Writing-and-Technology Writing Retreat in July 2006 after Lindsay had eaten a positively huge salad at Lied Lodge, the location of the WAT Retreat.
Attack! A Poem for Two Voices
by Lindsay Sorben, Ellis Middle School , Austin, Minnesota (formerly at Bennett County in South Dakota); DWP Regional Liaison
| I’d like to attend the WAT Retreat | ||
| I think I’ll order the Salad! | ||
| How healthy it would be to eat! | ||
| I have a lot to say, Michelle said. | ||
| So away I went | My order’s to stay | |
| Appetizer? No way! | ||
| I traveled the distance | ||
| I’m much too bloated for that! | ||
| Lied Lodge. Can’t wait. | ||
| Yes, I’m a “lightweight.” | ||
| A salad is all I will need. | ||
| My thoughts all danced | My salad’s a giant | |
| Around and around in my head | Made from a whole head of lettuce | |
| This is it?! | This is it?! | |
| I say to myself | ||
| I say to my table. | ||
| You’ve got to be kidding! | You’ve got to be kidding! | |
| I cry | ||
| I weep. | ||
| Finding it hard to say | Finding it hard to say | |
| All that I’m feeling | ||
| Little by little | ||
| Leaf by leaf | ||
| I write and write | I eat and eat | |
| Each frustrating bite | ||
| Needing coaching and so much support | Needing a bib and elastic shorts. | |
| I had no idea | ||
| This would be so much work | This would be so much work | |
| My grilled chicken is lost in the greens. | ||
| How did I get myself into this? | ||
| I should have ordered the fish | ||
| And now others are starting the stare? | ||
| Will she finish it? | Will she finish it? | |
| I can just hear them now | ||
| Mocking my perseverance and waist. | ||
| Just give me time! | Just give me time! | |
| I’ll find my way there. | ||
| It’s becoming a love affair. | ||
| And then they’ll all see | And then they’ll all see | |
| Just want I can do | Just want I can do | |
| With a fork and salad | ||
| When I’m motivated to | ||
| Write from the heart to the hand. | ||
| I’ll pick out the bad | I’ll pick out the bad | |
| And keep the good | And eat the good | |
| Enjoying each delicious bite | ||
| And move some things around | And move some things around. | |
| Then I’ll edit and revise | ||
| It won’t matter my size. | ||
| Cuz I’ll do it. | Cuz I’ll do it. | |
| With a smile. | ||
| And ask for dessert. | ||
| Because your best draft is always the last. |
