A Bitter Morning: Inspired by PSH Poetry Prompt 4-5-13

Staring out her mother's windshield,
stewing in disgust
for the throng of classmates
cluttered on the corner
in the cold,
she sits swimming
in resentment of her mother
moving here--
away from her father
and far from Society Hill.
Grunting a good-bye
as the battered bus arrives,
she slams the door and measures her gait
with intentional effort
to make others wait--
lifting her chin
for all
to behold her superiority.


The prompt for April 5, 2013 was submitted by Lori Williams from Brooklyn, New York: "We see many people in our day to day lives... while going to work, shopping or simply taking a walk. Often we just  pass them by without a glance. In your travels, find an interesting looking stranger.  Use your powers of observation – note their clothes, demeanor, gait, etc.  and  write a poem from their perspective about what is going on in their life."

I actually wrote the poem below first, then realized that I hadn't written "from their perspective" and wrote "A Bitter Morning" to follow the prompt.

High School Peacock

A crowded corner waits
for its daily trek to LHS.
Every ethnicity represented,
shivers together in the early Spring frost.
Finally, a yellow behemoth rumbles to a stop
and the stampede shoves on board
as one straggler--
much too delicate to stand with the rest,
steps from her mother's warm car with a swish of silky hair
and saunters to her seat
with an air much colder than the morning chill.