The Other Me

2013 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 9

For today’s prompt, take the phrase “The Other (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. Some possible titles may include: “The Other Side of the Story,” “The Other Brother,” “The Other Hand,” or whatever else you concoct. And remember: I really don’t care if you bend or break the prompt in your favor. My prompts are just a starting place.

 

Darling,

The me you see

Is quite ordinary

Not shy, not bold

Somewhere in between

What I once was

And the dream I hold

Where the curves of my skin

Are all you can see

And I wish I could show you

The other me

We all conceal

‘The other me’

Within ourselves

Its poetry

Withheld, it seems

But ever the pulse

Within our dreams

As we strive toward

Who we hope to be

Living in the curves our skin

With

‘The other me’

Darling, it is no good

I will never be

Anything

But

Me

And we

For all the air-brushing of poetry

Are mumbling, stumbling

Fumbling mortality

And if we could see

‘the other me’

And touch her face

I fear

There would be

‘another other me’

To take her place

© Janet Martin