Prompt: Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem in which the speaker expresses the desire to be someone or something else, and explains why. Two possible models for you: Natasha Rao’s “In my next life let me be a tomato,” and Randall Jarrell’s “The Woman at the Washington Zoo.”
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In My Next Life
In my next life I want to be
all the words you never said out loud,
all the comebacks
to all the arguments
you played out in your head.
In my next life I want to be
the clenched fist
in your chest,
the tight ball of pain
that no one knows exists,
the black dog
on your shoulder.
In my next life I want to be
the deep breath you
hold
the tentative footsteps you
tread
the salt-heavy tears that you don't
cry.
In my next life I want to be
all the things I couldn't be,
I want to be there
for you
I want you to be.
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