My mother said that out of all five of her children's
I think what she meant was that I hardly cried,
And was generally asleep
Which I guess was a good thing, for her
As the fourth of five, she had a lot to deal with before she could get to me
So I made it easier for her,
I kept doing it as I grew up
If one of my siblings dropped their ice cream,
I’d give them mine; so they’d stop making a scene
When someone had to sit in a middle seat
You can bet that’s where my car seat would be strapped
In fifth grade, when Clara Gomez stole my cookie from my lunch box
I just shrugged, and ate my carrot sticks
My nickname was 'Montana', little mountain
Because I was never moved, never bothered, always calm
In seventh grade, I broke my leg
But I didn’t tell anyone for three days
I just gritted my teeth and hopped along
Until my father found me crying on the bathroom floor
He took me to the hospital, and bought me a cast we couldn’t afford
And when the kids at school called me a cripple
Well, you can guess what I did
In high school, my little sister Sofia was getting picked on by some boys
I pretended I didn’t see it happen
But that night, I switched out her too-small uniform skirt for mine
She stopped getting teased,
And I wore pants for the rest of the year
When my college Algebra professor lost my test and made me retake it, I just nodded and did it
When I got catcalled walking across campus,
I just looked down at the ground
"And you"
The first day, you came up to me and offered to buy me coffee
I was sure you were making fun of me too
So I stayed quiet
Eventually, you flashed me that blinding smile and told me, “Guess I’ll take that as a yes, then.”
I think I said about three words to you that first day, But I gave you my number
And answered when you called-- The Odyssey, Homer’s epic poem of the 8th Century BC, topped our poll. Why was it the first choice? According to writer and broadcaster Natalie Haynes: “Because it is one of the great foundational myths of western culture; because it asks what it means to be a hero; because it has great female characters in it, as well as men; because it is full of gods and monsters and is properly epic and because it forces us to question the assumptions we might have about quests, war, and the ever-current issue of what it means to return home.” Lisa Appignanesi, novelist and critic, picks out its influence on all that followed, arguing “It’s a basic story template – of the journey which is also a return”. Kenneth W Warren, Professor of English at the University of Chicago, agrees. “There’s no getting around how foundational Homer’s epic has been for storytelling in the West. The Odyssey has provided the architecture for the quest narrative and the template for characterizing male and female virtue in ways that shape, enable, and limit our storytelling habits into the present.” David Var no, literary critic, highlights the ingenuity woven through the epic poem: “The many triumphs of wit and grit on the part of Odysseus and Penelope must have counted for something over the millennia.” Meanwhile, Bethany Patrick, Contributing Editor of Lit Hub, picks out another strand. “I believe the journey of Odysseus defined a streak of individualism particular to Western culture that has led to much change in the world – good and bad.” And the novelist Beverley Naidoo hones in on the ways it has become embedded in wider culture: “The multiple stories within Odysseus’ 10-year journey home after the Trojan war, while faithful Penelope waits for him and son Telemachus seeks him, have seeped deep into our cultural consciousness. The human elements within this myriad of stories continue to resonate down the centuries, allowing endless reinterpretation.” (Credit: Howard Timberlake)--
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