a poem


im sorry i haven't been writing poems for you lately
i didnt score high enough on my iowa basic test to get into the smart kid program
but my teacher said she would get me in and she did
i made some friends there
but it was pretty worthless just an excuse to get out of class for one day
in 6th grade my school sent p much everyone in busses to some wild life refuge
or something but it was closed because of a government strike
nobody at the school thought abt checking ahead
so we saw some imax movie in iowa abt flight or hot air balloons
and there was one scene where you could see older girls skinny dipping
there were hot air balloon rides in the mall parking lot one summer
my parents took us too look at it
the hot air balloon went up and then came back down
my dad buys lottery tickets every week in hopes to become a millionaire
one time i read through some of his notebooks
where he details everything he will do after he wins
become a better father etc.
it made me sad and scared
he told me one time that his dad had his toe cut off because he got too close to a train
he told me my dog was hit by a truck when i was at college
he told me his only friend was hit by a drunk driver
because i was 17 and got arrested for being drunk
when i graduated highschool my mother said i should consider working in a factory
i told her i would rather kill myself
sometimes i think i am unlucky
but i dont know
the teacher who got me into the smart kid class
was one of the few people who ever encouraged me to do anything
in my life
she gave us a poetry assignment
and i had never written poetry before
she said i was great at it and should keep doing it
so here i am