Advice to a boy (who isn't really a boy)
-after Sara Teasdale's "Advice To A Girl"

The days are passing faster now
and more people are leaving you.
To sit and wait for a girl to
pass into her womanhood is a waste of time.
Your nights are restless,
the worry of middle age is enough.
Do not let a girl who hides behind
anonymous pictures burden you more.
She is a broken down car,
a dollar bill with too much tape
that needs to be taken out of circulation.
You cannot possess a shadow.
Let her go.



So we decided to part

the way most lovers do when things
simply aren't working out.
We didn't have a lot to split between us,
though I'm sure there were a few things
that are still at his apartment,
like my blue sweater,
a few of my earrings,
a couple of cd's
and mostly, my broken spirit
that should be used to things not working out.

We left it without a formal goodbye.
simply an embrace in a dark doorway on
a rainy October night.


Natalie Carpentieri was born in Washington, DC, raised in New Jersey and now calls California home. She has written from her teen years on, but only started taking poetry seriously in her twenties. Her poems have appeared in online journals such as Thick With Conviction, Baker’s Dozen Literary Review, Sunken Lines, Drown In My Own Fears, Decompression and Gold Wake Press. Natalie is a technophile, whose area of expertise is computers. She also enjoys music, rollerblading, photography, drawing, yoga, the beach and hiking. She is also a big fan of Panera Bread.