Contributor Series 11: On Birthdays
After the Birthday
By Rae Spencer
Remember when you sometimes got
Exactly what you wanted
And it was what you wanted?
Remember when the things you wanted
Were gettable? And real?
Remember six? Or nine?
Never at twelve, never at anything teen
Twenty happened to discover
How wanting made the getting better
And less likely
Then thirty realized wanting
Was another form of leisure
A luxury for the young
Who sometimes got exactly
What they wanted, and knew
Want was all they needed
Enough want, enough true want
Innocent and pure, hard and honest
Wishes and prayers and tears
The knotted path of relentless
Scheme and plots, for that one thing
The only thing you wanted, ever
And sometimes it came
In a box or a bag, tromping
Through the frosted door
On some special day
With candles and lights and joy
When the knot slipped loose
In magician hands, and you got
Exactly what you wanted
And you would never want again
Remember when the things you wanted
Were gettable? And real?
Remember six? Or nine?
Never at twelve, never at anything teen
Twenty happened to discover
How wanting made the getting better
And less likely
Then thirty realized wanting
Was another form of leisure
A luxury for the young
Who sometimes got exactly
What they wanted, and knew
Want was all they needed
Enough want, enough true want
Innocent and pure, hard and honest
Wishes and prayers and tears
The knotted path of relentless
Scheme and plots, for that one thing
The only thing you wanted, ever
And sometimes it came
In a box or a bag, tromping
Through the frosted door
On some special day
With candles and lights and joy
When the knot slipped loose
In magician hands, and you got
Exactly what you wanted
And you would never want again
Rae Spencer’s most recent poem to appear here was The Congresswoman’s Brain (May 2012).
Remarkable, Rae. So much truth in one poem. And, yes, I do…”Remember when the things you wanted
Were gettable? And real?”
Thank you!
Jean
And sometimes it came
In a box or a bag, tromping
Through the frosted door
you’re a winter birthday. all summer to dream up new toys to want, all winter to wait til spring to try them out. seems like it would teach patience.
nice piece.
Karen :0)