PAPER PEOPLE
If there was a paper me
And there was a paper you,
We would be paper people
With a new point of view.
Paper people would be fragile
A wrong grasp would cause a tear.
Paper people would be so light
The breeze could blow them anywhere.
Paper people would be simple
Their skin plain and white
But paper people would give paper cuts
That wouldn’t bleed quite right.
Money would be paper too
It would still be thin and green
But somehow more important
Than the paper people’s needs.
The paper people
Need a paper economy
And with the paper empire
Comes paper poverty.
Paper people would always find a way
To fold into paper airplanes
In order to escape
From the paper people’s brains.
Even in a paper world
Paper people are ripped apart
The only way to love people
Is to love a paper person’s heart.
—from 2021 Rattle Young Poets Anthology
__________
Why do you like to write poetry?
Natalie Friis: “I enjoy poetry because it is another art form to read and write. Like music, dancing, and painting, it can almost be considered performing and I love how so much of poetry can be left to interpretation.”
