Prompt:

List your hard work

cookie-cut altruism

perfection

or

all your grief, disadvantaged

sob story

hardship

Am I the shiniest penny,

or the one you’re surprised to find in rotation

on your palm, your world,

what being worth it looks like

-ejb

I wrote this poem to capture the general feeing I have going into writing essays for scholarships for next year. Trying to brainstorm just leaves my skull feeling sticky and weird.