Poem for Myhre

Poem for Myhre

I want to write a poem
for Myhre,
to tell her the things that I’ve learned
since then.
Then, of course, being the day
she handed me the letter
saying: “God, Camp, I made you look better than Jesus.”
And my cheeks flushed red.
“I, I hope not” was all I could stammer
and secretly wonder
If we could pull the wool over their eyes
with a recommendation from a sharp-tongued lesbian
who believed I was better than Jesus.

I want to tell her about the year
my grandmother cried
about all those conservatives
who didn’t like her sister coming to church.
That day I wished I wasn’t one of them,
even as I let them restrict my words
only saying:
“It’s because they don’t know Aunt Sally and Carolyn like you do.”
But I probably didn’t know them either,
so I cried in my room.

It wasn’t until over a year later,
on that walk,
that I started to listen.
My ears growing taut in the cold
to the choked sounds of her voice
recalling the first time
she had ever felt fully a person.
And my response:
“have you ever felt that way since,
felt that way here?”
The silence stung with her simple
“No.”

I would tell her of the broken places I’ve seen.
How sometimes I wish I could hold that brokenness
and take a part of it as my own.
So She wouldn’t have to,
And She wouldn’t have to
And He wouldn’t have to always hold
those fragile pieces
with such strength and gentleness.

She must know how honored I am
to be their friends.
By them, of course,
I mean my roommates.
The women who have shown me
what it means
to love and fight and persevere.
The roots of our souls have gone down deep
And it is not odd;
It is beautiful and gracious.

Finally, I would say:
that if I could, I would write a letter
to Wheaton.
This time for her, instead of me.
Telling them how my dear teacher, Myhre,
has taught me to be more like Jesus.
Because she loved me,
even when I believed  she wasn’t real.
And she sought my best,
even when I negated hers.
And probably she is more like Jesus
than I could ever hope to be.

– Maggie ’09

6 Comments

  1. Rachael Burke

    Maggie,
    This made me cry, and I think we both know that for me that’s saying something. Your poem is beautiful and powerful, and it speaks loudly to who you are and who you’ve been to me and others. Thank you Mags.

  2. Laura Truax

    Beautiful Autumn. Thank you.

  3. Autumn

    Maggie, your words are gracious and beautiful. Thank you for writing this.

  4. Sara Elliott

    Thank you, Maggie for sharing this beautiful, brave, honest poem. (“ears growing taut in the cold”–what a great line)

    • Jess

      Wow. That was a real gift to read, Maggie.
      The truth is, in many ways, you really have “taken it as your own.” Miss you, friend.

  5. Beautiful. I love this, and I love and have learned so much from your heart. Thanks Mags.

Leave a Reply to Rachael Burke Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

CAPTCHA
Change the CAPTCHA codeSpeak the CAPTCHA code
 

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>