poetry: Musings on the Letter M
Musings on the Letter M / poem by Tiffany Clark
Back then Tiffany was in her baby stage, always defined
as her making magnificent messes.
Back then Tiffany was in her childhood, always defined
as her many minority markings.
Back then Tiffany was in her early teens, always defined
as her most mundane memoirs.
Back then Tiffany was in her late teens, always defined
as her madly muffling motions.
Back then Tiffany was in her early 20s, always defined
as her monstrous missing memories.
Now, Tiffany is a multitude of friends, named Michael
who have almost always been love interests.
Now, Tiffany is a moment from her boyfriend, (nick)named muffins
what she did to earn this name was just to be herself.
Now, Tiffany is many mouth watering foods, named milkshakes, mangos, and muffins,
when she splurges on any or all of them for herself.
Now, Tiffany is a magnet to a whole category of activities, named mail this or mail that
where she pours her mind, body, heart, and soul to whomever is sent to.
Now, Tiffany is murring there is one subject she equally loves and loathes, named math
why loves? she always has great teachers. why loathes? super tough and difficult to do.
How did I get from then to now? I, do not
have a crystal ball, or magical powers-
maybe, just maybe, the future will have to tell me that.
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As I was working on this poem I noticed that I was using the letter M a lot. So I decided to base my poem on that (which was a massive overload of alliteration). I structured it so the first ten lines were together, using the “Back then Tiffany was in her ____ (period in her life), always defined / as her ____ (three words starting with m)” pattern. Then the second ten lines together, using the “Now, Tiffany is ___ (starting with letter m), named ____ (starting with letter m) / ___ (insert a question word here) and the rest of the line a free flow” pattern. For me, the repetition (rhyming) really helped me structure the poem. With this, I wasn’t feeling confined at all, and could focus on the CONTENT of the poem (the stuff that really matters). I used “as” in the first half of the poem to represent myself as a continuum of similes. I honestly knew about Michael and muffins and postal mail and whatnot, but never connected the letter M in any other capacity than that. It was nice that the letter M ended up being a symbol that I used throughout the entire poem to represent different aspects about myself/my life. While I don’t feel this is my best work (as a true representative of the best poetry I’ve ever written), this certainly is 100% me, and that is what the assignment was all about.