Pride in Myself, A Poem

~Note from Kelly~

This is an assignment I had in my Literature of the American Renaissance class. We had to write a poem that was inspired by Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself." Personally, I hate Walt Whitman and I especially hate "Song of Myself." But I made a go at it and it turned out quite nicely.


Pride in Myself


I sing of myself
and only myself

I've been years in the making
and have only recently started liking
the results

The bitter taste of betrayal
launched me into myself

I trust myself, I rely on myself
and I know myself.

For the first time I can remember,
I've been falling in love with myself.
It's strange & foreign
but exciting with
new possibilities.
It's a new way to live.

It may be called sinful
(or at least in bad taste),
to have an honest and unadulterated love of myself.
But it's taken me so long to get here
and I'd rather deal with gossiping acquaintances
than with an existence of misery.

The love of myself
and only myself
will one day
be evidenced
with the Hawthornian Scarlet Letter P
tattooed on my back shoulder
just in case I forget again.