NaPoWriMo - Day 8: Palinode

Today's prompt is to write a palinode which is, apparently, a poem that retracts a statement in a previous poem. If we don't have a statement in a poem we'd like to retract, Maureen (Ms. Thorson) suggests that we write about why we changed our mind about something instead. I think that is what I'm going to do.


There is much debate about why
I decided the summer after high school
To go here, instead of there.
My sister insists that it is because of a boy
(who later broke my heart);
She is still bitter about it
(Notice I said she, not I)
And, I suppose that is part.
But I was also scared
To be so far away from home
And I didn't have a car to make the trek
Whenever I wanted to
I would have been stuck there,
All alone,
Until a holiday
When my parents would've come to get me.
There is also the fact that they told me
That they had nowhere for me to live
But I was required to live on campus -
NO getting around it.
Where would I sleep?
I wondered.
Where would all my things go?
But here,
Is just down the road from home
I could commute
(Just 30 minutes).
There is much debate about why
I decided to go to Texas State
Instead of Texas A&M - Galveston
Even though things have worked out well
I've been on the Dean's List a few times
I joined an honor society
A Christian sorority
A Christian fellowship
I've made friends
I've gotten jobs
I've grown closer to God
I've become slightly more independent
Sometimes I'm really happy here
(When I'm not I'm usually tired, hungry, stressed, burned out).
And now I feel more confident to spread my wings
And wander further from my parents.
So really things have worked out quite well.
But all of these benefits are wiped away
When my sister says
"You should have gone to A&M Galveston"
And she blames it all on that boy, maybe unjustly.
Maybe she should thank him,
But she refuses to see
That maybe
(Just maybe)
Going to Texas State
Was the best thing
For me.



Not really sure if this qualifies as the suggested variation of a palinode, but this is my attempt for today's prompt! What do you think? Please tell, I won't bite!

Sometimes what we think is best for someone else, isn't,

Sharon