Hairy Arms

carrie does poems- best poems raw
Carrie Does Poems
Carrie Does Poems
Hairy Arms
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Hi! This year (2023), I’m continuing my quest to share a poem on my blog and podcast and read it aloud. It’s all a part of my quest to be brave and apparently the things that I’m scared about still include:

  1. My spoken voice
  2. My raw poems.

Thanks for being here with me and cheering me on, and I hope that you can become braver this year, too!


For Anne & Maxine

Why is it that the dead

Never listen to my pillow talk?

I am tired, but can’t sleep

Again and again and again.

You snore next to me

And occasionally twitch

As the dog snuggles in between us,

Released from her crate

Because she cries so much.

Again and again and again,

Why is that my whines

Never wake anyone up?

Not even myself.



 "Hairy Arms"
for Sarah 

At McKelvie Middle School, my friend, complained about the dark hair on her arms, comparing her arms to mine and another friend's. 

We sat outside on the field in seventh grade, lined up, ready for our early man unit 
and she was almost crying. She hated her hairy arms, called them names. 

And when I told her 

how beautiful she was (easily the prettiest girl in our grade), 
she sighed and said, “You’ll never have to deal with arms like these.” 

And she was right.

***

DNA is a messy thing 
and so are family histories. 

Mine is just as messy 
as everyone else’s. 


My hairless arms
tell secrets

about paternity
my mom didn't

want anyone
to know. 

***

The poet 
is meant
to create
sense from
life, resonance.
Linkages. 

***
My poems
are messy
things. 
Black lines
and swoops
on white 
spaces.


But maybe
they can be
beautiful
like the hair
on Sarah's arms.



Hey, thanks for listening to Carrie Does Poems.

The music you hear is made available through the creative commons and it’s a bit of a shortened track from the fantastic Eric Van der Westen and the track is called “A Feather” and off the album The Crown Lobster Trilogy.

Author: carriejonesbooks

I am the NYT and internationally-bestselling author of children's books, which include the NEED series, FLYING series, TIME STOPPERS series, DEAR BULLY and other books. I like hedgehogs and puppies and warm places. I have none of these things in my life.

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