Guest Poet Meredith Rappaport
A TASTE OF REALITY
Life is just like getting beat up, right?
Never give in without a fight
Do what it takes
Deal with the pain
Keep a clear mind
Just try and stay sane
In all the years you were around
In all the years you put me down
You gave something to me
And that something was
a taste of Reality
Held a fist just below my chin
death grip on my shirt
Threatening to whack me good
Don't care how much it hurt
Called me a bitch
for no reason at all
Grabbed my arm
threw me into the wall
What I am is too young
to be this old
The consequence
of the lies you told
In all the years you were around
In all the years you put me down
You gave something to me
And that something was
a taste of Reality
Just one small taste
of Reality
September 1997
Meredith Rappaport's Questions:
Do you think that the rhyme scheme takes away from the meaning/power of the poem?
Correspond with Meredith Rappaport at
blparsons@srnet.com
with your ideas about this poem.
The Albany Poetry Workshop