FOOD.  MUSIC.  MEMORY.
She says: Cupcakes.  Brownies.  Pies.  She says:
Remember this.  Bread.  Stew.  Sauce.  She says:
All that time.  She says: singing.  All I taught
you.  She says: Crayon.  Alligator.  By Scouts.
She says: Baseball.  Soccer.  Track.  She says:
I was there.  Remember?
I say: Shouting. Silence.  Shouting.  I say:
Remember this.  Scotch.  Vodka. Kahlua.  I say:
Cupcake.  Meatloaf.  Sauce.  I say: Singing.  All
you would not tell me.  I say: Crayon.  Dancing.
Guitar.  I say: Belt.  Hairbrush.  Hand.  I say:
I was there.  Remember?
    Susan Marie Scavo
Susan Marie Scavo is a Certified Archetypal Therapist and Teacher of Teacher of Archetypal dreamwork.  To hear her read several of her poems visit http://www.northofeden.com/videos/susan-marie-scavo-reads-poetry
TRY YOUR HAND AT A POEM
Think about a relationship in your life that creates conflict because you and that person disagree about the way things really were.  It might be a parent, a former friend, boy/girl friend, teacher.  Choose two things that particularly characterize your disagreement (comparable to Scavo's food and music). Jot down a list of things that the other person says or remembers about those things, then create a list of your own memories that contradicts them. Use Scavo's poem as a model, using fragments and repetitions to write a poem that captures the essence of your own conflicted relationship.  
(NOTE: It is not plagiarizing to use another poet's work as a model for your own. It would be plagiarism to publish it without acknowledging the other work, unless the work takes a leap from the model poem and becomes something completely new.)
I love this poem and have used it to spur conversation about meaning/understanding in a lot of my classes. However, there's a typo here: "Boy Scouts," not "By Scouts." Crucial!
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