This was going well

Your story surely did sell

It found its way into my hands

Outdid all my life’s other demands

Things were floating along swell

I saw myself

In your main character

21, a nurse

Fighting in a war that was cursed

Thrown to the dogs

Unbeknownst to her (I, as the reader, can see things she can’t), she got robbed

Somewhere along the way entered a barrier

Convenient social gatherings

And with undesirables, mingling

At 21!!!

Just dying for approval

Even if she kills herself

Maybe there will be people at her funeral

What did that poor girl not give away?

It agonized me to read about her days

Circling the drain, as the saying goes

I wish I could chime in and tell her what my 36-year-old self knows

These aren’t the best years

Don’t waste your tears

Don’t become part of the soap opera!

Read some Proverbs – and cling to them!

Though there’s an adulterous woman there’s also darkness in men

Guard your heart, girl

Death and destruction will make you twirl

But look for the good, seek it

Overcome!

Ahhh! The story unraveled

I see myself, my best friend – at the crossroads

At 21, baffled

To the end of the novel I can’t go

All the reviewers said they cried

Me? I just put the story aside

Have I become a stoic?

You’re still a great writer because you made me disturbed

You painted a picture of me at 21 with your own words