
one time i stood
under a flowering pear tree
in my wild backyard
and thought, this is good.
it was warm
and i’d just finished nursing my baby girl.
she heavy-slept in a sling
on my freckled chest.
her hair was red
and my feet were bare.
one time i stood
on a street in london
in my doc martens
and thought, this is good.
it was warm
and i’d just toured buckingham palace
pretending i belonged.
steaming tea, a double-decker bus.
my dress was red
and my socks were yellow.
one time i stood
all alone
in my choked bedroom—
the air was hot,
the bed unmade—
a shadow stretched
over drifts of laundry
left to fold.
my face was red,
the pen denting my thumb,
and i thought,
is this good?
5/100
For the next 100 days, I’ll be writing and posting a poem every day. I hope you’ll follow along.
Best wishes on this journey! Enjoyed the volta and how you prepared it.
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Thanks so much! I’m not new to writing poetry, but I am new to doing it daily. Usually a poem will come to me, almost all at once. Forcing myself to work through the uncomfortable place of not knowing what will come is a new place for me.
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What a beautiful and deeply evocative poem. I love how each moment captures a different season of life, yet all are connected by the simple question, “Is this good?” The contrast between joy, nostalgia, and quiet uncertainty feels so authentic and deeply human.
Your imagery is vivid and intimate—the flowering pear tree, the streets of London, and the unmade bedroom each become powerful snapshots of a life fully lived. Wishing you all the best with your 100-day poetry journey
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Thank you for reading and for your kind words. It’s a lot to write a poem every day, so many people do it here effortlessly, but it doesn’t come so easy for me. I’m hoping to flex the muscle more and more.
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Wonderful! I was in London along the Thames for a moment, love the photo! 🏴❤️🏴
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You were? Awesome! I wish I’d got to spend more than a few hours in London. It’s my dream city.
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I meant while reading your poem, I’d love to see the Thames too!
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Oh! I misread that. Sorry. We were lucky enough to spend a few days in Paris and I stood on so many little bridges watching the water, but it was London that stole my heart.
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Wow, lucky you, Bridgette! I think of England as home as my genetics are from there. 🏴❤️🏴
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Wonderful imagery
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I’m so glad you liked it. Thank you!
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Excellent movement through meaningful slices of life. I applaud your 100 days of poetry!
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Thanks. I’m super curious how this will go. It’s not getting any easier yet, but I do think some big emotions are starting to reveal themselves to me. It’s a bit uncomfortable at the moment.
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i wish the ending could have been “this is good”; that the twist came not on that line, but on a realization that the pen denting your thumb was good also. Sort of a surprise realization. Not saying it’s a better open that way, just…. wishing
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I think I was more struck by that last question, like is where I am right now good? Is this moment, this place in my life, an okay place. It feels different and I’m trying to come to terms with those feelings. I wonder if those other memories feel so good because I have space from them.
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Will happily be following along and glad for this one!
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Thank you! 😊
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