I miss the days when girls
would giggle in my presence
as I flushed, embarrassed;
I miss how my intestines wriggled;
when mortified I searched.
for pimples, or an open fly.
I stumbled, hid and wondered
how easily (and why)
a confidence can crumble.
Field Of Spring Wheat At Sunrise by Vincent van Gogh
Today it’s time for a Quadrille again at dVerse. It’s hosted by De and the word is giggle. If you want to join the pub opens at 9 PM CET and your poem has to b 44 word including giggle.
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February 26, 2017
I hadn’t thought of “giggle” in terms of how it can crumble confidence, but I can relate to it crumbling.
I lke your take on this. I also veered way off center with mine as well. I had a friend who was just like you. I’d always poke him in the side so he would calm down.
Butterflies in the tummy, or nervous knots,
This is sweet and brings back memories. Back then I didn’t know a girl’s power yet. If I knew what we could do to a guy I might have tried harder..
I like this real tale of adolescent confusion…teen giggles can be so ambiguous…and whether intended or not I like the sound of your internal rhymes (my, fly, I, why). The artwork grounds it all…very nice 🙂
I read this as if the speaker is also a girl, nervous around the other girls in the bathroom. I think “confidence” refers to a secret shared, or a trust, that doesn’t feel protected anymore. I think she knows she’s alone, while they have each other.
Nice take..all that crazy adolescent uncertainty! Giggle is actually a tough prompt… here’s mine: https://thotpurge.wordpress.com/2017/02/27/disonnance/
A delightful step back. Looking forward to Quadrille Monday!
Would you kindly edit my reply? Thank you.
Done 🙂
Thank you. I guess I can’t use the gmail app for replying. 😕
oh smiling I am….we’ve all had these moments, that’s for sure! You capture the wriggling, mortifying embarassment well!
Great vignette – and weird that I had someone giggling girlishly in my blog post this week!
can’t say that I really miss those days of utter non-confidence! Does take me back a few years though!!
I don’t miss those awkward years but it was fun to giggle over something or someone cute, smiles ~
Love your words, but don’t miss those days Björn. Your words brought back memories of teenage years full of angst.
I am grateful for your clue and have been busy scribing – can’t wait for the bar to open tonight!
Kind regards
Anna :o]
A lovely look back – so descriptive and evocative of those past times and emotions.
Such naked introspection; once on a Junior High school bus, two girls asked me if I thought of them when I “jerked off”–I tried red, but later dug it.
Love this, B. The internal rhyme is wonderful. My kids are at this age now, and I was just commenting last night that it seems so much less awkward than I remember it. I think awkward might have been better. 😉
A warm look back to the boy within, those giggles hopefully didn’t anchor your confidence :o)
Oh I love this! I too was faced with teen problems incessant blushing with guys and girls betting (earning money on my expense too) 😛
Ah those days of standing on the edge of dance floors .. rooted to the spot with embarrassment. Great sideways take on the prompt!
I’m sure they were giggling for other reasons!
Regardless, it’s a great take on the prompt, and a reminder that giggles aren’t always fun.
Yes, the bashful and the shy can easily be demolished by a giggle. I tend to giggle when I’m worried or scared, and my intestines wriggle. You’ve conveyed it so well,.Björn, I want to pat that pimply boy on the arm and tell him it’ll all be fine.
Goodness but wasn’t that the most embarrassing of moments, an open fly…we giggle after the event not at the time I found….
Ah, puberty, nothing like it, to build and tear down one’s confidence, especially, when one gets to experience it, for the second time, when transitioning, from one gender to another. Least, you do have a horde of butterflies inside of you, Bjorn, like I do.
It’s so refreshing to read from a man’s perspective. Cute even. Haha.
Really recalls the adolescent years! Well done.
You are so transparent here 😄
I so relate – back then I was so self conscious I had no idea what I had going for me…….I guess it’s good to be humble, lol.
The awkward years. I don’t miss them one bit.
Oh those teenage years when everything was to the nth degree. Yes, those giggles can cut through confidence, like a hot blade through butter.
Giggling with or at – makes all the difference. Well put.
a very innocent memory…smiles!
Oh, goodness, those growing pains! Yikes. Would not like to relive those days!
You have put it so well in these few lines… ahh, those days were fun! Nice work 🙂
Oh those embarrassing teenage years! You capture them well.
Oh my…memories come rushing back like a blushing face.
How wonderful that you can recall the embarrassment of the teen years with such fondness.
Loved the way you pinned this piece to a giggle – a giggle, after all, is a lot more complicated than we are led to believe.
Teenage years were difficult all those hormones raging through the body, one never knew what was going on.