LESSONS LEARNED
For a while, Teresa was my best friend
and we played at her house after school
because her mom didn’t have a job.
We drank grape Kool-Aid
and ate pink and white animal crackers
sitting on the teeter-totter
in her backyard.
Teresa said her dad
was the best dad because
he taught her how to whistle
with a piece of grass between her fingers,
how to ride her bike with no hands,
and how to throw a curve ball
better than Brucie Gilbert
who lived across the street.
I let her think she had the best dad
but I knew better.
My dad gave me a super power —
he taught me how to be invisible.
@copyright Susan Taylor Brown 2010
All Rights Reserved
For once I am speechless!!
Invisible is one thing you are not. Your dad forced you to make your own way in the world. He did not make you the person you are you did.
I know in more ways than one you have made quite an impact on a lot of peoples lives and I don’t even personally know you. All I know is that you have taught me a great deal and for that I will be forever grateful.
Yes he did indeed give you a super power YOU.
A person no one else can be no matter what, a journey no one else can take, where ever that may be.
– Anne McKenna
You, speechless? :)Thank you, Anne. I really appreciate your support.
Wow. That last line packs a wallop! I like that duality — there are times when kids want to be invisible, times when feeling so breaks them apart. Still, with a superpower, it is up to the child to decide when to use it. Brilliant poem.
Thank you. I don’t think I realized it was a super power as a kid but now, maybe it was a good gift.
LOVE the details of the second stanza!!!
Thank you!
tanita says:
Is it a superpower? Is it a gift? I hope that’s what you truly believed.
It’s a superpower that definitely came from him, if that’s what it was…
Re: tanita says:
I don’t think I thought of it as a gift at the time but now, yes, I think so.