My Suitcase
My suitcase looks like a massacre:
dresses and gym shorts
khakis and cut offs
a shirt from my mother,
the one with hand drawn, bedazzled flowers.
It’s all poured out at my father’s house.
He says I can stay as long as I want.
Shoulder leaning on the doorframe,
he doesn’t look at my suitcase.
When your parents said I had to leave,
I know it’s because I was being pretty
wearing dresses in the garage,
and a part of me understands why.
They had built a world being filled by another
And everything they had hoped
became a man in a shirt that was made for his mother.
About the Creator
Tom D'Agustino
Tom D'Agustino is a poet, singer-songwriter, and actor living in New York City. Identity, upbringing, and the messiness of daily life infuse his work. He hopes that with his poems he can get a bit closer to what is true in a given moment.
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Outstanding
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Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
Compelling and original writing
Creative use of language & vocab
Masterful proofreading
Zero grammar & spelling mistakes
On-point and relevant
Writing reflected the title & theme
Eye opening
Niche topic & fresh perspectives
Easy to read and follow
Well-structured & engaging content
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More stories from Tom D'Agustino and writers in Poets and other communities.
Instructions Included Challenge Winners
For the Instructions Included challenge, we asked writers to tell a story through instructions and to trust the form to carry what could not be said outright. Across the top entries, that trust paid off in many different ways.
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Comments (9)
last line really hit me. Amazing work ✨
Absolutely beautiful, while the soil may have scorched there will always be the possibility of flowers growing through the cracks of devastation and in this piece, Tom is both the garden and the gardener.
Striking imagery, thank you for sharing Tom 💞
Love this!
This is beautiful Tom. The rhyme at the end really emphasizes the message... I felt the impact.
Gorgeous, Tom ❤️
Lovey lovely lovely
This really moved me. Super well-crafted. The last line wrecked me.
This poem perfectly encapsulates the quiet moments in the aftermath of an unforeseen upheaval. Thrust into a liminal space between support and suspicion, Tom uses the imagery and implications of his immediate surroundings to delivery a powerful message. I will exist as myself everywhere and anywhere. This is an excellent submission to the poetry contest.