Serena Malcolm

I wrote a poem about 12 years ago called ‘This Ain’t It‘ – It was a very short poem and, truthfully, an incomplete thought. My life felt wrong… but I couldn’t articulate it very well at the time. This is a more thought-out interpretation of how I felt then (and still feel now in all honesty).

Disclaimer: This is in no way an endorsement of Temu. In fact, it’s very much an anti-Temu poem 😆

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WAIT… DID I ORDER MY LIFE FROM TEMU?

Did I order my life from Temu?
It kinda looks like the life I picked
If you tilt your head and squint a bit
And from far away, it looks legit
But don’t get too close, or you’ll smell the bullshit
And returning it?
Well, therein lies the rub
Because it would take too long
And cost too much
So I’m left between a hard place that that darned rock
Do I send it back or make it work?
Now my mama, she didn’t raise no fool
I know my way around a needle and spool
I can mend and darn and patch and stitch
And Lord knows, I’ve tried to make this life fit
I’ve altered and resewn and bejewelled this shit
To the point where I’m not even sure I recognise it
A bit like Theseus gawking at his fabled ship
And would you believe it?
After all that work this wretched life still won’t fit
So maybe it’s me that needs to commit to change
Needs to stoop to Iitslevel and play it at its own game
And I’m so darn good at masking pain
I bet no-one will notice when my life strains
And strains until busts its seams
And scatters little Temu fragments
Dressed as little Reenie’s dreams
And just before the scene fades to black, I will ask myself…

Why oh why didn’t I just send it back?