Chapter 20
At the hotel pool, I’m laying on my sunbed, my towel draped over me to prevent the breeze stroking my bare skin.
All I can think about is how Nora has gone to live up to her dream, and how maybe I should be too.
Maybe that can be my good thing after Nora? I decide to scroll through the documents on my phone and read my work, then I find one poem about Coco.
The hurt is fresh, and it shows in my writing.
It’s raw and emotional, and I can remember exactly how I felt six months ago.
I decide to add a follow up line below it, showing things don’t stay so sore forever.
It tells the roller coaster of feelings when dealing with grief.
This is it, this is the one.
I open up the internet and search for a local poetry magazine in London and send this poem out to every email that pops up.
A couple hours later, my phone pings, I open it up and a magazine has already emailed back. I sit up and read it carefully.
From - londonpoetsmagazine
Dear Ophelia,
*
Thank you for kindly sending us your work.
I can tell this poem means a lot to you, and it is indeed beautiful and well written.
We would love to include this on our ‘Upcoming Poets’ spread.
If you are happy to please send us your full name and the name of the poem.
Kind regards
London Poets Magazine.
I sit there in shock.
Although this is just an independent magazine, it’s still out in the world.
These people liked my poem so much that they want to put it in their magazine.
I frantically type back, expressing my gratitude, but I freeze when it comes to the title.
The poem was about losing Coco but now it’s about how things get better after all this pain.
Dear London Poets Magazine
BEYOND THE BLUES
Thank you for your speedy response! I’d be delighted to be included in your magazine. My name is Ophelia Greene, and the poem is called ‘Beyond the Blues’.
Many thanks
Ophelia.
I press send, and for once, it feels like I’m not behind in life.
Whenever I saw people my age, I couldn’t help but feel I was behind in life.
I didn’t have my dream job, a partner, and I still lived with my parents.
But when you realise everyone’s life is different, there’s a weight lifted off your shoulders.
Some people have simpler paths than others, and that’s okay. Everything works out in the end.