Birthdays | Teen Ink

Birthdays MAG

December 10, 2008
By Jilybeanrb SILVER, Prentiss, Mississippi
Jilybeanrb SILVER, Prentiss, Mississippi
6 articles 0 photos 32 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl." ~Paper Towns


I met you at Jessica’s fourteenth birthday party,
where we stayed up all night on the couch.
I don’t remember a word of what we talked about
but I can still see you there, with the blanket on your lap,
and you were laughing. Always laughing.
I’m glad we became best friends.

I was there for your fifteenth birthday –
we watched “Flushed Away” at the Grand.
We laughed about it as we ate cake
in the glass party room where everyone could see us.
I’m sure that if they noticed you, what they saw was that
you were so alive.

You were there when I turned fifteen, and we ate at Friday’s.
I took a picture of you there.
Your dad has it now, he keeps it with him.
And I haven’t eaten there since.

Jessica didn’t celebrate her fifteenth birthday the same –
by then, you were gone.

For your sixteenth birthday, all your friends gathered
at your grave, and we wrote you notes.
We rolled them up tight and put them in balloons.
We sent the balloons away and pretended
you would get them.

I turned sixteen.
I lit a candle; I wished you were there.

Saturday is your seventeenth birthday.
And it’s hard to believe.
This year, I think we will try to forget.
But your impact, it’s still here.
It’s like tiny craters in my skin.
And I will always remember you,
through all the years.
Through all the
birthdays.



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This article has 98 comments.


Aderes47 GOLD said...
on Mar. 31 2011 at 2:24 pm
Aderes47 GOLD, Cambridge, Massachusetts
11 articles 0 photos 897 comments

Favorite Quote:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
Henry Drummond

So Sad! :( 

And my birthday's coming up too!!!


taracottle4 said...
on Mar. 20 2011 at 11:28 pm
this is beautiful. i can't imagine what you are going through. losing a best friend would be the hardest thing. you are so strong. i don't think i would be able to publish this. thank you so much!

ferosa45 said...
on Feb. 15 2011 at 5:17 pm
hmmmm. the pathos is undeniably gripping alond with academic genius. the continuance of a life that is gone...gone with the wind, but the fragrance lingers on.

on Feb. 15 2011 at 5:01 pm
carilloony GOLD, Sterling, Virginia
12 articles 2 photos 94 comments

Favorite Quote:
"To love another person is to see the face of God."

This was absolutely beautiful. One of my best friend died this past September and it was so so sad. Thank you so much for sharing this. 

on Jan. 24 2011 at 6:59 pm
Gracious PLATINUM, Go Away, Kansas
22 articles 0 photos 66 comments

Favorite Quote:
"life sucks and then you die, yeah, i should be so lucky"



-Jacob, Twilight

I’m still that girl who falls when she runs, Getting back up, because falling is fun.

My little brother died. On his birthday, we went to the beach, wrote messages on a balloon, and pretend he gets them. i still pretend he got them.

on Jan. 8 2011 at 5:29 pm
Jessie-Mo SILVER, Mo. City, Texas
6 articles 0 photos 14 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

This poem brought out such raw emotion that my eyes started to water. It is amazing how this poem has such an influence on mere strangers. You have a great talent and should continue writing. This was an excellent poem.

JatiaE. BRONZE said...
on Dec. 24 2010 at 12:25 pm
JatiaE. BRONZE, Hampton, Virginia
3 articles 0 photos 6 comments
I almost felt like crying, but this poem was so real and raw and beautiful (:

on Nov. 11 2010 at 9:22 am
bluegirl440 DIAMOND, Park City, Utah
84 articles 0 photos 48 comments

Favorite Quote:
Everybody lies. -House

This is such a beautiful poem and it almost made me cry....

on Aug. 1 2010 at 11:29 pm
christin.bass SILVER, Eagle River, Alaska
8 articles 0 photos 45 comments

Favorite Quote:
you will never make it big if you dream small. youll never learn if your living in the past and youll never understand if you were to fast forward, just press play and live!

Gosh this was beautiful. I agree this has sucha maturity about it. You are sucha strong person and it is easily picked up through your writing. AMAZING JOB!

on Jul. 26 2010 at 10:15 pm
choirchic101 SILVER, Norwalk, California
9 articles 0 photos 196 comments

Favorite Quote:
in order for God to use all of you you have to be completely broken

This poem is a tearjerker. I was soooooo touched. It doesn't seem like a teenager wrote this. I wonder if this really happened to you because it seems so true and real. I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!

on Jul. 10 2010 at 9:19 am
Smileyky108 BRONZE, Venetia, Pennsylvania
2 articles 0 photos 20 comments
Beautiful. I love it, it's so touching. Great job!

on Jun. 30 2010 at 12:26 pm
addicted2writing SILVER, Chesapeake, Virginia
5 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
Don't break to fit in, bend to stand out.

I love this poem. It is very touching and reminds you that you should not take simple things like friends for granted because once they are gone they are gone forever. 

Jordyn SILVER said...
on Jun. 21 2010 at 1:27 pm
Jordyn SILVER, Sandy, Utah
7 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Sometimes when you love someone, you have to let them go."
"Don't let the fear of striking out, keep you from playing the game."

reading this made me tingle. it was spectacular. i felt every single emotion. i loved it.  

LOVED IT!!!!!! amazing


on Jun. 1 2010 at 6:48 pm
olympian-queen, Charleston, South Carolina
0 articles 0 photos 39 comments

Favorite Quote:
Yesterday is history. Tommorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift that's why they call it the present.

well i do apologize for the "concept" part. and no apologies necessary. if i were in the same position as you i would have probably said the same things that you did if not WORSE.

on May. 31 2010 at 8:00 pm
Jilybeanrb SILVER, Prentiss, Mississippi
6 articles 0 photos 32 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl." ~Paper Towns

I apologize hon. I realize that I overacted. That was not nice of me, I took it so far out of context. It wasn't the criticism at all though, I know you meant well by that. It was just the "concept" thing that upset  me :( I'm sorry.

on May. 31 2010 at 8:00 pm
Jilybeanrb SILVER, Prentiss, Mississippi
6 articles 0 photos 32 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl." ~Paper Towns

Goodness I fail so much at clicking the right button. I wish I could delete posts ha, once again ignore this, it's supposed to be a reply.

on May. 31 2010 at 7:59 pm
Jilybeanrb SILVER, Prentiss, Mississippi
6 articles 0 photos 32 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl." ~Paper Towns

I apologize hon. I realize that I overacted. That was not nice of me, I took it so far out of context. It wasn't the criticism at all though, I know you meant well by that. It was just the "concept" thing that upset  me :( I'm sorry.

on May. 31 2010 at 7:43 pm
olympian-queen, Charleston, South Carolina
0 articles 0 photos 39 comments

Favorite Quote:
Yesterday is history. Tommorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift that's why they call it the present.

i really am sorry but i just didn't really get it! i mean please don't be mad but i just read it and it confused me a little. i guess if i took my time it would have made more sense but i don't know what to say. believe me i understood what was going on but some of the words didn't go through my mind correctly.

on May. 27 2010 at 7:53 pm
Jilybeanrb SILVER, Prentiss, Mississippi
6 articles 0 photos 32 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl." ~Paper Towns

Thank you, I appreciate it very much. I hope you enjoy being fifteen! It's a good age.

on May. 27 2010 at 7:52 pm
Jilybeanrb SILVER, Prentiss, Mississippi
6 articles 0 photos 32 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl." ~Paper Towns

I apologize if I overreacted. It's just that I personally would not write a poem about someone dying if I did not know what it was like. I didn't sit around and come up with this story-- these are my memories and they are close to me.