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P.O. Box 2574 This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine.

By
Dear Life,
Thanks a lot.
Thanks for computer crashes and plane crashes,
for dirty feet and dirty minds, for cold weather and
cold mothers. Thanks for protein bars that taste like s--t.
But thanks as well for small talk with strangers in the
Express lane at Ralph’s, thank you for pomegranate
chapstick and cherry sarcasm. Thanks for being
a dime short of my favorite brand of chips at the
vending machine, thanks for loud chewers.
Thank you for obnoxious relatives who ask where
you’re going to college or what career you’ve picked
when all you want to do is lie in bed and watch
reruns of “Full House” and “I Love Lucy.” Thanks for
the last seat free on the subway. Thanks for cheap
knockoffs of designer jeans. But most of all, Life,
thank you for the 1:1 ratio of real thanks and no thanks.
Thanks a lot.

This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. This piece has been published in Teen Ink’s monthly print magazine.




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This article has 125 comments. Post your own!

laurensoccerThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. said...
Jan. 28 at 7:49 am:
I love your humor and I think it fits well with this poem. This is agreat piece of work ,and your light humor really shines through.
 
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soldierx said...
Jan. 17 at 1:23 pm:
Haha, i like this! This made me laugh. It's very true though. Nice sense of humor :))
 
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BillyMay said...
Jan. 6 at 11:34 am:
I like the humor and slightly sarcastic tone of this poem. However, as the reader, I did not feel that it was very organized. I think it would have been better if it had been organized with all of the things that you dont like about life together, followed by all of the things that you do like about life, instead of them being mingled together and constantly going back and forth between the two.
 
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OceanFey This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. said...
Nov. 23, 2011 at 11:26 am:
I love the colloquial tone of this poem. It fits well with the title!
 
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Lexie96This teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Oct. 23, 2011 at 7:08 pm:
Great job! You turned something really simple into something very beautiful that read amazingly as the person below me stated. If you or anyone else could check out some of my work that would be great! Please?
 
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clunt13 said...
Oct. 10, 2011 at 10:58 pm:
bravo, i REALLY like something about this but just can't put my finger on it. I realllllly enjoyed your near paragraph form of consistently long lines, i find it unsual but thats what i liked most about this, it reads smoothly
 
clunt13 replied...
Oct. 10, 2011 at 10:59 pm :
which lord knows what the difficult and laborious task it is to get a poem to read fluidly
 
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xxtennis13xxThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Oct. 10, 2011 at 3:13 pm:
It's awesome that simple everyday things like chapstick and protein bars can be made into something beautiful. Great Job!
 
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CourteneyTOXICITY said...
Oct. 10, 2011 at 7:51 am:
Fantastic! Keep writing!!
 
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Lola_BlackThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Aug. 16, 2011 at 5:08 pm:
I love it! It's so emotional, not holding anything back. Keep writing!
 
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bEllAhOPeThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Aug. 5, 2011 at 7:52 pm:
Reminding us all to be thankful people- I admire that. I was expecting a mystic piece, given the unique title. I did enjoy it. Nice work.
 
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TAR11This teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Jul. 14, 2011 at 8:41 pm:
I like it.  Please check out my poems From the Hilltop and Anonymous' Inferno. 
 
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yousaypotato...This teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Jul. 14, 2011 at 12:45 pm:
wow. that really good. what does the title mean?
 
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MidnightSolThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Jul. 4, 2011 at 10:57 am:
Keep writing!  Please!
 
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MendTheBrokenx3This teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
May 20, 2011 at 11:16 am:

Very Relatable.

I Love It. c:

Keep Up The Good Work! :D

 
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Reigyn said...
May 12, 2011 at 5:19 pm:
amazing piece. I love how relateable it is. Good job!
 
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colette.omeletteThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. said...
May 9, 2011 at 10:15 pm:
I like how candid this is :)
 
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AnimalGirlThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
May 9, 2011 at 11:33 am:
this is so true and so well writen, i love it! good job!
 
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kaykay101 said...
May 9, 2011 at 11:04 am:
This is amazing and so true! Great job:)
 
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jocyLOL said...
May 7, 2011 at 10:22 pm:
I love it :D it is so honest that it's kinda funny "protein bars that taste like s--t"
 
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lafontainebr said...
Apr. 17, 2011 at 3:34 pm:
WRITE MOREE
 
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marissa87 said...
Apr. 6, 2011 at 8:17 pm:
wooooww u did a really niice job... i really like thatt
 
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gabzter12 said...
Mar. 28, 2011 at 1:48 pm:
this is very interesting
 
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SwishAndFlick63 said...
Mar. 26, 2011 at 9:58 pm:

This explains it all

This is awesome

 
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daija said...
Mar. 19, 2011 at 1:37 pm:
i love it =)
 
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ShelbyMarie93This teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Mar. 7, 2011 at 8:19 am:
I really like it!
 
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alekstymura said...
Mar. 4, 2011 at 1:19 pm:
this made me analyze it. really nice :)
 
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Lari19This teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Mar. 4, 2011 at 10:54 am:
Wow. That was just amazing!
 
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Angel_17 said...
Feb. 21, 2011 at 11:52 pm:
This really made me think:D
 
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mmfdg623This teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Feb. 10, 2011 at 10:52 pm:
Amazing poem, I really enjoyed it.
 
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WillowFalls This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. said...
Feb. 10, 2011 at 8:11 am:
L<3VE IT! Thanks for this poem hahaha :)
 
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remembermeplzThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Jan. 30, 2011 at 10:44 am:
Woww! this is so amazing!I love♥ it! =]
 
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AlyBugThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. said...
Jan. 19, 2011 at 5:54 pm:
love this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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joshbd7 said...
Jan. 19, 2011 at 8:14 am:
nice..........
 
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Hazel-daisyThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. said...
Dec. 29, 2010 at 6:24 pm:
Love it!! especially the what career you've picked part!! 
 
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theMidnightSonnet said...
Dec. 28, 2010 at 3:22 am:
i love the idea of someone just highlighting what really gets them and express it cleverly. in my heart i was nodding along and giving to the finger to virtually everything you've listed. well done.
 
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PAC9311 said...
Dec. 6, 2010 at 1:12 pm:
Very creative. Young Fellow.
 
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kmarie14 said...
Nov. 14, 2010 at 2:33 pm:
I love this. enough said :) check out my work?
 
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bergert said...
Oct. 29, 2010 at 9:21 am:
This is so completely amazing that I can't even give you anything constructive. I really enjoyed reading this. (:
 
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BellelaVie said...
Oct. 23, 2010 at 11:32 pm:
Adorible! It is so true though! great job!
 
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xovanillatwilightxo This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. said...
Sept. 24, 2010 at 1:47 pm:

this spoke to me.

keep up the good work!

 
elmosoreoThis teenager is a 'regular' and has contributed a lot of work, comments and/or forum posts, and has received many votes and high ratings over a long period of time. replied...
Oct. 1, 2010 at 8:06 pm :
This was really goooood :)
 
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Emma.C.B said...
Sept. 12, 2010 at 12:36 pm:
i really like it. i can feel that you put a TON of work in it...and if u didnt well then you have a gift :) keep going.
 
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syed954 said...
Sept. 9, 2010 at 7:02 am:
amazing! this was so well thought out. Check out my work? I just got two poems up, let me know what you think.
 
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SnickerLover said...
Aug. 21, 2010 at 6:35 pm:
very clever
 
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olican16 said...
Aug. 18, 2010 at 5:39 pm:
well yea i do but i dont just think of everything in a negative way.
 
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possiblylindsey This work has been published in the Teen Ink monthly print magazine. said...
Aug. 18, 2010 at 4:09 pm:
ahhh. i love this beyond words[=
 
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olican16 said...
Aug. 18, 2010 at 12:14 pm:

Here is what i think of this poem...

You should be happy for what you do have and what God gave you.

You should be glad you have a computer because some people dont.And you should be happy that you have a family,even if they are obnoxious. Be happy you have a seat on the subway, some have to walk. And that you have clothes. It doesnt matter what kind cuz in other countries they wear sacks form vegetables. All im saying is you should be happy with what God gave you, some of which... (more »)

 
olican16 replied...
Aug. 18, 2010 at 12:19 pm :
even if it is sarcastic i still think it is kinda the wrong way of looking at things
 
Babylufin replied...
Aug. 18, 2010 at 2:49 pm :

I think you are looking at this the wrong way... Are you telling me that you NEVER get a little peeved that a misfortune in your life occurs?

 

Sarah-- I thought this was awesome: the approach, the vocabulary, the events that you compared. I loved it. :)

Please take a look at some of my work, if you have time, I'd like your opinion! :)

 
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