Erin Yabuki

Change


I worry for you
School's as easy as tying your shoe.
Why must you fail almost every class?
Can you at least pass?

As soon as you came back that one night
Seeing you again was a magnificent sight
But I knew they had kicked you out
I missed you, no doubt

There was so much to tell you
Different things that I have been through
Like the movie D.B is in
That's how I told you how things have been

The museum, do you recall?
Why like the museum when right down the street was a mall?
The Eskimos, the elephants, and things that are strange
You said that it was because museums never change.

Everyone's growing up, can't you see?
Even though you disagree
It's time to take some responsibility for your actions
So you can live with everyday satisfactions

Please don't hold me back
Youth is something I want to lack
Change is good can't you see
I think it's time you let your soul free

Analysis:

I wrote this poem pretending to be Phoebe writing to Holden. I imagined that she was trying to help him because they are so close. I think that Phoebe is his one tie to reality. She's in touch with what's real. She is willingly growing up, despite the fact that Holden is trying to hold her back.
For the first verse, Phoebe knows that Holden is failing. She knows that he has flunked out of four schools, and she is worried about him. She wants him to succeed.

"You did get kicked out! You did!" Old Phoebe said. Then she hit me on the leg with her fist. She gets very fisty when she feels like it. "You did, oh Holden!"
…"You did! You did!" she said. Then she smacked again with her fist. If you don't think that hurts, you're crazy. "Daddy'll kill you!" she said. Then she flopped on her stomach on the bed and put the goddam pillow over her head. (pg.165)

You can see how emotional she gets when she finds out that Holden got kicked out again. Not only is she worried about him; it also makes her sad that he's not doing well.
Then I wanted to write about the museum and how he likes it because things never change.
"The best thing though in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd moved. You could go there a hundred thousand times, and that Eskimo would still be there just catching those two fish, the birds would still be on their way south, the deers would still be drinking out of that water hole, with their pretty antlers, and their pretty, skinny legs, and that squaw with the naked bosom would still be weaving that same blanket. Nobody'd be different. (Pg. 121)
So as you can see, Holden really liked the fact that the museum never changed. I thought that was so interesting so I wanted to incorporate that into the poem.