I'm Just a Spiral Notebook You See...

I'm a  small spiral notebook kept on the kitchen counter.
Full of phone numbers, notes, grocery lists and drawings.

I'm just a spiral notebook you see..
But I was there the day they rushed him to the ER.

In me are notes of what the doctors were saying
and questions to ask them...
Collections of phone numbers from people who visited
and lists of thing to do.

Written on my pages are now phone numbers for
the lung doctor, the heart doctor,
The cancer doctor and cancer center.

I hold notes of conversations with the Social Security Office,
the insurance agent and the funeral home.

My owner doesn't  NEED these things anymore.
She doesn't WANT them anymore.
But she can't bring herself to throw me out.

So I sit here on the counter.  I have no blank pages left.
A grim ghost that mocks her everyday life.
Written documentation of a life she never wanted to lose,
and of a life she never wanted to have.

There's a  new spiral beside me now,
 Serene and faded purple; its blank pages are waiting
 to have entered the quotidian bits of information needed to carry forward.
 
Here we sit side by side on the counter,
one missing pages and cluttered with writing and drawings,
the other sparkling and pristine. Side by side, we are waiting.

I'm just a spiral notebook you see....

Reviews

[Jet Lag]

this made me sad, which is a good sign of powerfully crafted pieces. it moved me. i own several spiral notebooks and binders... some contain information on how to manage crisis, and others how to organize chaos, and still others how to wait for enlightenment. what a wonderful theme and how well you designed this. thank you for sending it to me.

[Heaven]

Very good use of a metaphor. It's funny how similar your situation sounds to mine.... The person doesn't truly want you but can't let you go. It sucks. Waiting while others fill the place you had, and you still have to wait there... and then you have to help them with their problems.... Too much irony to count in there! I hate the stupid games people play. Nowadays it seems like nobody is true with how they feel!!! Well, I'm ranting, sorry!! It is a great poem. Lots of really good phrases and it flows. Good job! ;)

[Author1975]

A very good poem. It drew me in and I liked the way it was written.

[Floating on the feather..]

This is absolutely amazing.... Great work.
The notebook has depicted agony, frustration and desperation very well.

All the best for the contest.

Cheers,
Shinjini

[Andromeda]

very powerful and sad, especially since it's through the point of view of a notebook. amazing poem!

[Chloe..Across the Unive..]

This spiral notebook, i have one.. my ex bf.. had to talk with many of the same people for him..
I really like this ,, you brought the notebook to life.. i felt sadness too.. very nice poem, Brenda.

Chloe
xoxo

[Kip]

I own this spiral notebook. I never thought of it as a poem/poetry - but in retrospect, there is no stronger image of my experience in my head. I borrowed it from my brother when he drugged himself into a coma, used it through his multiple overdoses, and kept it after he passed away.

My spiral notebook had my brother's notes to himself - slowly changing from the sober writing of a lucid individual to the unmistakeable scrawlings of a drug addict.

I also used the spiral notebook to talk to doctors. To call his friends, to keep his companies running. And in the end to plan his funeral.

Now it just serves as a reminder of what happened. The writing is Jekyl and Hyde; the confident, cognizant writing of a chief scientist, and inventor with 11 patents, contrasted with the shaky scrawlings of the addict desperately needing a fix to steady is hand. And finally, the incoherent babbling of one who has finally lost himself to the addiction.

I wish I hadn't seen this - I'm still to close to the material - but it is an excellent write. '100'

[Carole]

A unique and creative write from the notebooks perspective. I would have had to do the same with my memory growing shorter by the day. How long has it been since you lost your love? I think you may have told me but I forgot...sorry.

[SweetPeachesAlways]

Now, I understand why you liked My Eyes! I think most people take spiral notebooks for granted but they see all that you mentioned and a whole world more...police reports, gambling debts, taxi runs, karaoke singers, etc. etc. etc. Very good writing. I loved it!

[Emily B]

Was this for a contest? It's just amazing. I loved the voice of the one who has seen it all. Absolutely lovely.