Window Friend

By Gretchen-Ann Verbenski

Originally published in The CFIDS Chronicle, May/June 1998

Gretchen-Ann Verbenski of Boston, Mass., a 14-year-old PWC, won a poetry contest sponsored by Etch-a-Sketch. Gretchen-Ann said the poem is "about how I use my Etch-a-Sketch to take me places in my imagination because, when I’m not feeling too good, I can’t go there with my actual body."

Congratulations, Gretchen-Ann!

Window Friend

Good morning, window friend.

Let me shake you awake.

How are you today?

Me, I’m not so great.

I’m feeling kind of sore,

but I have you, so I don’t care.

Let’s sketch a window and a door,

and then we’ll go there.

 

With my window friend

I can be "Supergirl"

and change the channel of my world.

I can run and I can fly

on swings a mile high

It's so easy to do,

as long as I have you.

 

Hello again my friend

Let's sketch a monster today

that won't make us too afraid.

He could be ugly and hairy

but if he gets too scary,

we'll sketch some monster-melting rain,

another window, and a drain.

 

Good night, window friend.

How will I fall asleep tonight?

With you right by my side.

When I close my eyes,

I can float and I can fly

where no monster stays alive.

That's what window friends are for!

They give us wings to soar

and we can shake away the scares

and make a window and a door,

and then we go there.