she will change

NaPoWriMo Day 10, poem 12/30: Today's prompt was to start with a line from an existing poem. I went to my Yeats book, since one of his poems was the inspiration for this blog, and chose a poem (mostly) at random. This poem begins with the first line of "Young Man's Song," part IX of "Words for Music Perhaps."

This is actually the second poem I attempted. The first was written in a moment of rage and sadness this morning, but I now know that what I was so upset about was actually not true. So I kept the first few lines and rewrote a poem based on today's mistakes.

she will change

"She will change," I cried
but I speak mistakes
fluently.
For a flicker
she's different
but can't unravel
the days and years
of story.
Her naivete has lost
its adolescence
yet it just won't grow
up yet.
She believes
invisible ink promises
and secondhand
hearsay.
She wishes for a small
alteration, just
one,
a miniature heart
tattooed on the blue-white
of her wrist
but she is too afraid
of hurting.