Welcome to Poetically Yours. Poetically Yours showcases poems by northern Illinois poets. This week features Susan Goldberg.
Goldberg lives in Rockford, but she grew up on a small farm near a town in Indiana. Goldberg’s sister Jane taught her to read in a tiny school classroom--also known as their bedroom--before she started kindergarten. Goldberg said she briefly directed a grade school play, but that venture came to an abrupt halt when the actors complained that she was too bossy.
Here's her poem “Adaptation.”
First day of kindergarten:
Small pink backpack stretched across small shoulders.
First day of high school:
Battered black backpack flung over one shoulder.
First day of a summer job:
Canvas bag clutched with both hands.
First day of college:
Olive green backpack bulging with heavy books,
A water bottle jangling alongside.
First day of a real job:
Shiny black briefcase swinging to match each stride
On black high heels.
First day as a new mother:
Sleeping baby draped across one shoulder.
First day of kindergarten:
My child’s small hand lets loose of mine,
She dashes off, turns back to wave goodbye.
My hands feel empty.
- Yvonne Boose is a current corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. It's a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms like WNIJ. You can learn more about Report for America at wnij.org.