Thursday, December 2, 2010

The rest of Chapter 17

I've had a migraine all day, so I've been pretty useless instead of writing loads like I'd planned. I wrote this poem yesterday, so we're in luck--well blessed--I don't believe in luck--and I can get a post out today despite my overall uselessness. I took my last super-duper migraine pill, so I better call my doctor tomorrow.

I do need some help with this. I need a few Latin endearments that Gabriel would use for Alex. Suggestions?

And I wanted to tell you about a cool website I'm going to be a part of. It's called Dear Teen Me and just launched yesterday. They've signed up loads and loads of YA authors to write letters to their teenage selves and post them online for you to enjoy. There's a couple already up for you to check out. I'm scheduled in March--so that tells you how many authors are involved. That should be good timing. I hope to have CAYMAN SUMMER out by then. But that's not going to happen unless I scribble a lot more than I did today. No more headaches allowed.


LEESIE’S MOST PRIVATE CHAPBOOK
POEM #??,

Alex sobs curled in a fetal
ball on the bathroom floor.
Gabriel picks her up,
tucks her in bed,
wipes her face
with tissues. “Come on,
now, my [need a Latin endearment here]
enough.”

I relieve him of the box
of tissues. “Let her cry.”
His handsome face
shows doubt. “Are you sure?”
I nod and sniff, blinking
back my own tears that threaten
to break through the stone
I’ve buried my heart with.

Gabriel bends over and kisses
her forehead. “Goodnight, my Alex.”
He retreats elegantly, looking every bit
the millionaire playboy caught
in caring that’s morphing to love
with every tear Alex sheds.

Once he’s gone, she groans, hiccups.
“I can’t stop. I keep trying.
Gabriel saw me like this.
How hideous am I?”

I give her a fresh wad of
soft whiteness to staunch
the hot snot dripping down
her chin. “He loves you like this.”
“I wish.” She buries her face
in the tissues.

“Cry, Alex. Don’t stop.
Even I still believe
in the power of tears.”

She sobs and sobs,
mourning her hurt, her loss,
melting into new found
tenderness that tinges her tears
with sparks of joy,
flutters of hope
and the dawn of love.

In the morning, she meets
Dani with coolness, but doesn’t
tear all the hair out of her head
or stab her with the knife Alex
straps to her leg when she dives.
Gabriel whisks her away
for a day off in the sun, lazing
on beaches and sipping icy fruit froth.

Dani’s got double shifts
until hell freezes over
to make up for leaving
everybody high and dry.
Seth’s working with her.
The boys have the other boat—
which leaves me my Michael
to dote on all day long.
Bonus.

We leave the dishes undone
and the place a wreck,
drive down to the blow holes,
buy spicy grilled chicken
from a roadside stand,
eat it, sitting side by side
on the bare coral shore
as waves crash against the cliffs
and force water in the cracks
and up through the spouts
to spray white and pure
high into the air.

He picks up a drumstick.
“I’m sorry about last night.”
He bites and chews. “Good  thing
Alex needed you.”

Good thing?
Bad thing?
It used to be so easy
to spot which was which.
I’ve opened the door
to bad thing.
Crave it more and more
every day. Would it
be so bad? Or would
it be the best thing
that ever happened to me?

I lean my head against
his shoulder. “If we would
have gone down to
the beach—?”

His eyes move away
from the intensity of mine
and gather the spectacle
of the ocean’s purity.
“I don’t know, babe.
I don’t know.”

17 comments:

  1. Wonderful...thank you for posting this, even with a migraine:) I've been having bad headaches all week. Stress. Love the conversation between Michael and Leesie there at the end. Leaves questions lingering behind.

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  2. awww
    they are just so cute.
    i like that leesie let her cry because sometimes we need to just cry out to let everything out..
    I love that you ddi that

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  3. Umm Latin endearments.. Mi amor for 'my love,' querida/cariña for 'dear,' mi amado for 'my beloved,' novio for 'sweetheart,' mi hermosa for 'my beautiful one (?)', tesoro for 'treasure,' etc.. Hope that helped. Am no Spanish expert (my list of Spanish endearments is limited to what comes out of Enrique Iglesias' mouth) but I'm relatively sure these are accurate.

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  4. sana, im hispanic and i speak spanish, "mi amado" is "my love/beloved" but for a male. "novio" means boyfriend. "novia" means girlfriend, but i dont think they are anything. Angela, if you need help i'll be more that glad to help.

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  5. My treasure, is good though, Sana. I like how that sounds. Diana, do guys say that? What else do they say? I'll have Gabriel say it in English, but I want it to be something he'd say to a girl in Spanish. Does that make sense?

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  6. This was a great psot! Sorry about your migraine, Angela!

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  7. What about ángel which obviously means "angel" but is pronounced AHN-KHEL or AHN-HEL depending on where you're from. I also like mi tesoro for "my treasure" too.

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  8. this is my 5th time reading this :)


    “I don’t know, babe.
    I don’t know.” -this is my favorite line so far ..its is gettting really intense

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  9. yeah guys say that, something that is also very cute is princesa which means princess, "mi tesoro" is really cute too.

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  10. Oh, I really like princesa!!! Would they say mi princesa or just princesa? Or both? That is sooo romantic.

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  11. I loved this poem! Both sweet and a little bit sad. Michael's love for Leesie is so obvious, it's hard not to love him.

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  12. This poem went so deep, it broke my heart.
    Where Latin endearments are concerned, 'deliciae meae' directly translates to 'my darling/my sweetheart'. Hope that helped.

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  13. it is romantic! they actually say it both ways and it wont sound weird. yay im excited

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  14. I'm sorry you had a migraine. Glad others could help you with your terms of endearment b/c I'd be nothing more then an online translator which at times is wrong.

    I really loved this!

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