Poemtober: volume 2 issue 3

Jennifer Prewitt
4 min readOct 18, 2021

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October is halfway over and thus, so is Poemtober. If you’re new here, welcome. Poemtober is where I take Inktober prompts and write little goober “poems” for fame and acclaim! Just kidding, it’s for fun, and illustrations accompany some of the poems. Thank you for reading or at the very least, for clicking on this link, scrolling a little, then exiting out to go look at Instagram stories.

Sour

tingle left on your tongue

the culprit

you’ll never talk to them again

it’s not you it’s them

so you’ve realized

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they looked down on you

they were better and you were worse

in your black nonslip shoes

hair pulled back

legs tired but willing to keep going

to keep working

Not Interested

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Unspoken, this is the last time

the kiss on your cheek citric acid

close your eyes

pucker up

they’re gone

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Stuck

rolling side to side

hopeful desperation

you may think it’s at random

but it’s anything but, planned

failing, but planned

an escape in progress, rolling

but escaping is harder than just rolling

side to side

clawing crying running doesn’t always work but worth a try

and yes, thank you for asking

this is about the Modelo can captured in the train car

Roof by Jennifer Prewitt

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Roof

the dark skies open

giving permission to the patient droplets

allowing them to fall, a brave trek

to the tin roof

ugly, industrial

now a dancing percussion instrument

I sleep listening to the performance. safe. sound.

and then it stops

silence

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Tick

Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap

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Click Click Click Click Click

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Open Open Open Open Open

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Twitch! Will it happen aga- Twitch!

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Stop Stop Stop Stop Stop

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— No, stop.. I can’t .. No, you can

Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap

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— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Compass by Neena Kallookulangara

Helmet

Hey! I finally got one!

A helmet

My mom’s happier

I think I’m sadder

It’s not the helmet’s fault

I’m just going to blame it so

It’s not my fault

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Compass

will cardinal directions

lead me to peace to a place

I’ll call home and be satisfied settled

that town squeezed me. not suffocated but

gently nudged me outside its borders

this town swallows me, not its fault but mine

the warmth it surrounds me in feels

like home until I miss the tight squeeze and

when I’m squeezed I reach for the room the space

the number of people that reduce me to a dot

a digit, thinking about the home on the island

somewhere cold and dark until I need the light and I think

maybe the house in the sun in the valley

maybe not a house at all

maybe nowhere, no space no squeeze. welcoming void.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Collide

MyFirstSemesterOfCollegeIHadAProfessorWhoSaidWriteAndDontStopDontThinkDontWorryAboutPunctuationOrSpellingActuallyJustBarelyLiftYourPenOffThePageButProfessorWhatIfIKeepWritingAndThenICantStopAndThingsAreSaidThatCantBeTakenBackLikeWhatIfIWriteAboutMyClassCrushWhichIsSillyThereShouldBeNoFearForThatButWhatIfIWriteAboutMyRealFearsWhatIfIRealizeImAFraudIDontKnowWhyImHereThisWasTheOnlyOptionItHasAlwaysBeenTheOnlyOptionButWhatIfYoureNotGoodEnoughWhatHappensIfYouFailAtTheOnlyOptionIsItBetterToFailOrToQuitEveryoneHasTheirOwnAnswerAndInTheEndWeAreAllWrongBecauseWeThinkWeAreAllRightAndWhenYouAreWritingWithoutThinkingYouMightThinkThatsProfoundButJesusChristYouSoundLikeHoldenCaufieldAndYouRealizeYouDontMissHighSchoolInThisMomentWhichIsEnoughToLetYouRemainInCollegeForTheTimeBeingForTheNextFourYearsForTheNextFiveYearsAndThenWhenYouLiftThePenYouAsk

Was I ever supposed to be here at all?

Tick by Jennifer Prewitt

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Jennifer Prewitt

Chicago-based person. Follow me on Instagram (@radiantegg) where I post silly things that make me smile and serious things that make me smile.