And if I’d forgotten my wallet,
as I am oh so prone to doing,
I’d dig through the crumpled receipts at the bottom of my bag,
past the fork I left in there
so I wouldn’t have to steal a spoon from a friend for pasta,
and the pop tabs I swear I’m going to make something with one of these days.
I’d find some loose change,
forgotten toonies and loonies
from buying chocolate with friends at the shop,
and press them into your hands,
hoping it was enough
to cover the paperback you pull from the stack and offer me.
I’d do anything,
as long as it meant I could take
a piece of your soul home with me.
Madelyn Hook
Grade: 12 / CEGEP I
Loyalist Collegiate & Vocational Institute
Kingston, ON
“My sister and I both write a lot of poetry and bounce ideas off each other, and she showed me a collection she had written for class. As I was trying to find the right words to compliment her and tell her how much I loved it, I ended up rambling about how I would buy her poetry if I didn't know her and just saw her one day, which then turned into the rough draft for this. I wanted it to be truly authentic to us, so all the details in it are taken from what's in my bag at any given moment and the theme of it was just me trying to capture in a couple of lines how much her poetry is worth to me. It's a real source of connection between us to be able to share thoughts and emotions through poetry so I wanted to explore that, and what better way than another poem.”
Bio
Madelyn Hook is a Grade 12 student from Kingston Ontario. She hopes to become an author someday and enjoys baking and playing in her youth orchestra. As a Third Culture Kid, she loves to explore the ideas of change and transience in her poetry.