Faded and Peeling

My old Kindle

safe in its case

A case holding more than the device

The red of the case

is peeling away

Where I scratched with excitement

at the climax of a book

And the magnet

from the cover

is gone,

Pushed out with my horrified finger

as my favorite character fell

The case is worn

By the battling warriors

Dueling magicians

Massive ships

that have raced across the screen

The case is as worn

As any aged veteran

Or old Mad-Eye Moody

From any of the stories

Now it is tucked away

Hidden behind my mattress

too precious to lose

The case and the Kindle 

Are made worth more

Than when they were new

Made valuable by

The memories

Tucked away,

the faded and peeling

This poem was inspired by one of the poetry lessons we had. During a typical poetry class, we read and discuss poems from a collection compiled by Nancie Atwell. Some of the poems are written by kids my age from Mrs. Atwell's middle school writing class. Each lesson makes a point. For example, we read a poem about McDonalds. It was a funny, yet queer poem. The lesson pointed out that you can write excellent poetry about anything, commonplace things included, as long as you are inspired. 

It is not always required, but usually one of us writes a poem inspired by the lesson. The last lesson was about writing about a space or object that holds some meaning for the author. The two poems in the lesson were about how much meaning a teenager's bedroom might hold. My old Kindle, the object that means the most to me, is far more important to my happiness and comfort than any room or place, so it follows that I would write about it. -Porter

 If you wanted to look for me on Sila in 2013, you would likely find this! Lying like that in my

cabin was one of my favorite reading spots.

 When heat drove me on deck, I would read in some low chairs we had. This photo was taken in

2013 while we were still in France.

 The sun could be hot enough to drive all of us into shady corners, where I was sure to be reading.

As you might expect, I have spent many hours reading late into the night. Sometimes I will be so 

sucked in to a book that when I look up it, will be eleven o'clock. Then I will be set on a battle of 

whether or not to keep reading. Usually, I settle with "one more chapter," even though I rarely

notice when that chapter is over. I often wake up with my light on and the kindle lying 

next to me. Here I clearly have been caught reading "one more chapter."

 Here I am in Chile, much older and still reading on the same device. If you look carefully, you 

can see how the red of the case has been scratched off in places.