Good Damage

kelly pushed me into the bathroom stall

in 6th grade

and - bear with me,

stop looking like that - 

it’s actually kind of funny

it’s like, what the hell am i?

some nerd in a teen movie?

it’s not so bad, though,

that kind of damage

the kind you can laugh about later

because if i can’t use it for a joke,

it’s really just sad

it’s like how the doctors sat on me when i got my mri ‘cause i

wouldn’t stop writhing

and now i use it in my speeches

because how else

is someone going to pay attention

if there isn’t some sort of shock factor?

and the thought of a doctor doing something

they shouldn’t

is funny in a sick kind of way

or like how my ex-boyfriend told me i walked like a t-rex

and i stayed with him for two months anyways -

because having a boyfriend

was pretty neat

and i used it in a zine because

good material can’t go to waste and

everyones monetizing their trauma, aren’t they?

and when we all talk about our exes i’ve got

some more stories to share

or like how I feel unlovable because of how i was made -

all knock - knees and muscle spasms - sex sells and that sure doesn’t -

so i use it in frantic poetry written at 3 am

because something good has to come out of this

and it’s really nice to feel talented

it’s not so bad, this kind of damage

because

if my damage isn’t good damage

it’s just damage

and there’s nothing useful about that

About the Author

Danita Mapes is Junior Media and Communication major with a concentration in Multimedia Publishing and a minor in Creative Writing. She enjoys writing prose and short stories most of all, but when she's not writing she's usually tending to her garden or reading.