Poem: Happy Birthday to Me

A New Poem by Nicole Sealey

February 8, 2017  By Nicole Sealey
2


Happy Birthday to Me

…………………………
……………………….
……………………………
……………………
……………………….
…………………………
……………………….
……………………………
……………………
……………………….
…………………………
……………………….
……………………………
……………………
……………………….
…………………………
……………………….
……………………………
……………………
……………………….
…………………………
What was I saying?—
Oh, yes. I don’t mean
to be a bother, to burden
you with questions. But
did you know I wouldn’t
last? That I would lose?
Had you asked, I could’ve
told you I’m not doing
especially well at being alive.

 




Nicole Sealey
Nicole Sealey
Born in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. and raised in Apopka, Florida, Nicole Sealey is the author of Ordinary Beast, finalist for the PEN Open Book and Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards, and The Animal After Whom Other Animals Are Named, winner of the Drinking Gourd Chapbook Poetry Prize. Her other honors include a Rome Prize for Literature, a Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University, the Stanley Kunitz Memorial Prize from The American Poetry Review, the Poetry International Prize and a Daniel Varoujan Award, grants from the Elizabeth George and Jerome Foundations, as well as fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, CantoMundo, Cave Canem, MacDowell Colony and the Poetry Project. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times and elsewhere. Nicole holds an MLA in Africana studies from the University of South Florida and an MFA in creative writing from New York University. Formerly the Executive Director at Cave Canem Foundation, she is concurrently a Visiting Poet at City College of New York and Syracuse University.








More Story
LitHub Daily: February 7, 2017 Katie Kitamura considers ambition, morality, and the beauty of the ugly sentence. | Literary Hub Introducing Reading...

Become a Lit Hub Supporting Member: Because Books Matter

For the past decade, Literary Hub has brought you the best of the book world for free—no paywall. But our future relies on you. In return for a donation, you’ll get an ad-free reading experience, exclusive editors’ picks, book giveaways, and our coveted Joan Didion Lit Hub tote bag. Most importantly, you’ll keep independent book coverage alive and thriving on the internet.

x