Remembering Helena

Posted on by

12

I remember throwing my first punch into Robbie Johnson’s third grade nose.
Blood and tears.
He started it.

I remember marching around the block.
Scott led the way in one of mom’s shag wigs,
a yellow polka dot bikini, and high heels.
We used sticks for scepters.

I remember when Davey Jones broke up with my Barbie after she cut her hair.
She knew things would never be the same and spent the rest of her days hiding in the garage.

I remember Trixie Belden books under the covers
with flashlights becoming a cross round my neck
to finger while reading Salem’s Lot.

I remember Hash jeans with a crescent moon on one back pocket,
and bells so big they could ring.

I remember Cheryl M, mean girl. Snake.

I remember loving Kirk until his fists hit my face
while his friends did bong hits in the other room
ignoring my pleas.

That’s what I get for punching Robbie Johnson.

Brenda Warren 2016

Notes: The prompt at NaPoWriMo today suggested we write a based on things we remember. An excerpt from a memoir piece, “I Remember,” by Joe Brainard was provided there as an example. I liked the excerpt and tried to follow suit.

12 thoughts on “Remembering Helena”

  2. Trixie Belden! ‘Salem’s Lot! We were book buddies! 🙂
    I LOVE the way this comes full circle in a funny way, completely belie-ing the terrible story at its center. And that “He started it.” is wonderful.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thank you, De. Book buddies, yes! I’ve been contemplating rereading some of King’s early books. Salem’s Lot and The Stand were my favorites. And for the record, Robbie Johnson did start it. He ripped my brand new winter coat.

      Like

      Reply

      • That savage!

        I went back and read some of King’s short stories fairly recently, starting with ‘Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption,’ because somebody had talked about the movie (one of my favorites…when we still had cable, we called that thing where you sit down to just watch a few minutes of a movie you’ve seen a zillion times while eating lunch, folding a load of laundry, etc…then getting so sucked in you have to watch it all the way to the end…we called that getting “Shawshanked.” 😉

        King’s 11/22/63 is exquisitely worth the time, if you haven’t read it yet.

        Liked by 1 person

share your thoughts