TMP Prompt #297 - “If I Die Young”
Prompt: Applejack falls.
-
A Bumper Crop of Crumpled Paper
If I was with you,
I could carry the world on my shoulders,
And smile like it was nothing
No, wait! The universe!
I could carry the universe,
If
Oh, forget it.
***
Every day with you feels like summer,
Bright and shining
Like
Like
Every day with you feels like a cool summer day
Does that make sense? Hang on. Maybe if
You’re a cool breeze in summer?
And I
Shoot, I hate this.
***
You’re like an apple, because
When I look at apples I think of you because
Because
You’re filling and nutritious? You have a hard skin? I can overlook your rotten spots?
Oh, for Celestia’s sake!
***
I checked out every poetry book in the library for you, and I lied about why.
I hate that.
All that lying, and for what? It’s no good. The only thing I learned was that I don’t have to rhyme, thank Celestia. This is hard enough as it is.
I wish more than anything I could tell you to your face, but I can’t say it. I can’t be honest with you. Me, of all ponies! Applejack, loyalest of friends and most dependable of ponies, scared of three little words!
But you’re just so
I can’t
Before I met you, “plain” felt like a good word to me. It was honest, and fair and strong.
You make me want to be different. You make me want to be bright, and beautiful and
And
And better. I wish I was graceful, or smart, or sweet, or charming, or brave. I wish I had something, anything, to offer but myself.
Before I met you
***
An apple tree stood, alone and proud,
All the misfortune it had weathered only made it stronger
It never expected a feeling like
Apple trees don’t feel things!
***
It has to be perfect.
We’re not foals in school, I can’t just write you some note and ask you to circle “yes” or “no“. You’re better than a stupid love letter, better than all the plain words I can come up with. Plain words won’t do in a million years.
It’s gotta be poetry, nothing else will cut it.
Poetry.
I never thought I’d feel
It hurts, but it also feels good. I
***
Even if I lose everything
Even if I was a million miles away from everyone else
As long as you were by my side
As long as I had this feeling
That’s kinda creepy, isn’t it?
***
I’ve been up all night writing. I’m gonna be out of it all day, and I have chores.
You’d better appreciate that.
Who am I kidding? You’ll never see this.
I should just take a picture of all this wasted paper and give it to you and never explain it.
Wasted.
Well, I may be plain, but I’m also stubborn, and I’m gonna keep at this until I’m good at it.
Because you’re worth it.
And
***
The light in your eyes,
The warmth of your touch,
One day I’ll
One day you’ll
Oh, well.