Sarah Anne Stinnett’s poem For My Dear Doctor, Dr. Seuss, appeared here in August 2011.
When I Grow Up
By Sarah Anne Stinnett
By Sarah Anne Stinnett
I want to be a shaman
so when I touch a blind man’s fingertips
he sees my soul.
I want to smell like oranges
so tangerine and carmine explode
in his mind like fireworks illuminating darkness,
the friction between our fingertips
will ignite a transient electricity
pulsing through our grip.
But for now I am a sock lost in the wash
I am that song you can’t remember the name of
even though you know all the notes.
When I grow up
I want to be a dandelion so people will
pick me.
I want to be as beautiful as Helen
send a thousand ships across the sea,
I want to be as beautiful as Medusa
so you cannot look at me.
I am a lost toy on the island of misfits
I am a lost boy headed to the second star
Van Gogh never dreamed to paint.
I am the words you can’t seem to find
at the sight of something so lovely;
a sunset, ripples in bath water coming from your beating heart,
a note your lover left on the pillow.
When I grow up
I want to be
Cinderella’s slipper
so I may have a place in the world where I fit
perfectly.
Sarah Ann, I found many of your phrases achingly beautiful: “I want to smell like orangesvso tangerine and carmine explodein his mind like fireworks illuminating darkness…” is one, and contrasted with “sock lost in the wash” doubles its power. Thank you for this lovely poem.
This was a profoundly moving piece and I found it bringing tears to my eyes! Finding our place in this world is a universal need and the beautiful expressions of those hopes are all here in this poem! Especially LOVE the first two lines – “I want to be a shaman
so when I touch a blind man’s fingertips
he sees my soul.
I want to smell like oranges
so tangerine and carmine explode
in his mind like fireworks illuminating darkness,
the friction between our fingertips
will ignite a transient electricity
pulsing through our grip.” Magnificent!
Beautiful visual.
Really lovely.