Allusion Poem (Journal 28)

“What I want to tell you is this: the story was so perfectly, flawlessly written that it wrought drastic change in my life” (from Walter Moers' The City of Dreaming Books, p. 19).

"Reflections On Why I Never Played Sports"

I never tried out for little league,

Or pee-wee gymnastics like my little sister,

I had too many other things on my mind,

Like wondering if mice could really skate on paperclips

Or what it would be like to sleep in an ancient art museum bed

I never participated in intra-murals,

Or even took dance lessons or karate,

I was far too busy hollowing out a tree for my new home,

Or making friends with spiders and giants,

Sometimes,  I was even too sad to go play outside,

Like when Billy told me what happened to Ann and Dan,

Or when I let Jess cry his heart out on my shoulder,

I certainly didn’t have any time left for field hockey,

I had to help Tim get his father’s gun back,

Or I was too busy on the spruce barrens with Emily and the gossamer-clad Wind Woman,

Obviously no one expected me to play basketball,

I’m honestly not tall enough, and besides,

I had to help Sara with her extra chores – no matter what Miss Minchin said,

And I could not possibly have been expected to miss Anne and Gilbert’s wedding,

I had waited far too long for that,

I never conceived of being a cheerleader, either,

I guess Karana had taught me too much about what an independent woman could do that I simply could not stand to be around those airheads,

I never tried fencing, either,

I just had to reuinte Josh and Joey,

And help Mary unlock the secrets of the forgotten garden,

Volleyball was out of the question,

I had to empty my mother’s china cabinet just to see

If it had the power to give life,

And I could never have practiced archery,

Not after learning the lesson of compassion from Beauty,

I was even too busy for bowling,

I was practicing with Louis and Sam Beaver,

And as far as the tennis team, well,

You would have to ask Meg or Calvin or Charles Wallace,

Because you certainly wouldn’t believe me.