I took a class that had us write such things--but also suggested that one way to get to a poem was to write it based on prose. I'm happy with this version of it, cut down to bare bones. Maybe happier than I am with the original. I'm turning this in for Lili's birthday contest. I don't think it's cheating--it's new work. I'm sure she'll let me know if it doesn't fit.

Lili's 29th Birthday Contest!
THERE ARE ONLY NINE DAYS LEFT! Where my b-day presents at???  
Hello DeviantArt!  
My birthday is on November 18th. It is the last birthday I'll have in my 20s as I am turning 29 years old. I like to do a contest here on DA for my birthday in order to cheer myself up about my impending middle-agedness make you all give me pretty presents!  
This year's contest will be open to Literature Only. The details are as follows:
The Theme
We humans are a conglomeration of memory, instinct, conditioning, and philosophy. Our childhood influences shape us initially, but our choices as we age determine who we ultimately become. For this contest, I want you to think about one event that stands out as a catalyst for who you have grown to be. 
It could be

11-21-2016.

Here's the prose piece, if you're interested:


Grief and Loss and Children's HospitalIt changed everything. I couldn’t have predicted it, and I didn’t see it coming. I should have, maybe. But I’ve never been good with “should haves,” don’t even like the “should” word. I’m allergic to it, like I am anything that dictates what my purpose and intentions are. Might be. Could be.
I don’t know, I’ve always been upset easily. But that wasn’t the case, here. Well, I was upset, but there was a reason for it. I want to veer away from the cause, in this case. Not even sure what it was. But the ground under me shifted, that’s all I can say.
Maybe it was the last day of work, or the first day of July. Maybe it was bigger than that, my kid almost dying. Or my mother dying. There’s a ton of things that turn your life around on a dime, a quick shift, whiplash even.
So let’s be brave, here, and talk about one of them. I was reading in the Hugo House catalog about a woman who is teaching a “g