301. The Middle School Poet’s Department

Nora shares some of her middle school poetry and it’s quite unhinged.

Transcripts may not appear in their final version and are subject to change.

If you happened to be at a suburban Minneapolis Starbucks tucked into a Barnes & Noble in the fanciest mall in in the mid-90s during Open Mic Night (a real thing that really happened, at least at that specific Starbucks tucked into a Barnes & Noble at the fanciest mall in the Minneapolis Suburbs), you might have seen a 6th grade girl, just 5’10”, dressed in business casual, take to the mic to read some of her ~*poetry*~.

An entire notebook of it.

To a room of disinterested adults tapping their feet, checking their watches, and waiting for their turn to read their poetry.

That girl…was me (wow you did not see that twist coming did you).

There are no recordings of these readings, but worry not: this was an industrious girl who saved her work for the sake of future generations.

How They Kill the Turkey

Gobbling, Gobbling,

Unsuspecting, is the Turkey, brown & red.

Up behind him sneaks the farmer.

A CHOP! Off with

his head.

Gut it, feather it,

cut off it’s feet.

Put it in the over and it’s ready to eat.

OKAY THEN! What other gems should be read aloud in a Starbucks within a Barnes & Noble?

Humpty Dumpty

Long ago and far away Actually, down the block, yesterday Humpty Dumpty, My good friend, had his life tragically end. He was sitting on a wall, when he had a horrid fall. His shell was cracked, the yolk gushed out. The people began, to scream and shout. Then came all of the kings brave men, who tried to put Humpty together again. Everything was broken, even his legs, so for breakfast the whole town had eggs.

The crowd, I’m sure, went wild for this one. How could they not?

They had probably waited their whole lives to hone their craft before standing up before a group of strangers in a Starbucks tucked into a Barnes & Noble in a suburb in Minnesota, and I had decided that 6th grade was plenty old enough to get up there and put my art into the world! I hadn’t yet been beaten down by the world and my own inner critic. I was free to get up and try, as long as I was waiting outside by the front door when my mom or dad pulled up at the agreed-upon pick-up time.

May we all channel this audacious, delusional energy this week, and the next, and the one after that. May we all approach life like a metaphorical open mic night, step up to the front of the room, and put ourselves and our best metaphorical poetry out there at the metaphorical Barnes & Noble.

Credits

I’m Nora Mcinerny, this is It’s going to be ok, and we are here every weekday to bring you the opposite of a doom scroll. We also love hearing your OK things, which you can share with us by emailing us at [email protected] or calling 612.568.4441.

We’re an independent podcast, so thanks for being here and sharing with your friends. Our company is called Feelings & Co, purveyor of fine feelings since 1982. This episode was produced by Claire McInerny, written by me, Nora McInerny. And engineered by Amanda Romani. The rest of our team is Marcel Malekbu and Grace Barry, and our theme music is by secret audio.