Natalie Schriefer
“Questions I Should’ve Asked My Middle School Friends”
&
“career aspirations, 21”
Questions I Should’ve Asked My Middle School Friends
Remember the sleepover?
The one where you told us
about the boy from camp,
how you kissed by the lake,
shaded by the pines where
the counselors wouldn’t see?
How did it feel?
No, not the kiss—the want.
How did you know you liked him?
Please don’t roll your eyes.
How else am I supposed
to learn? Aren’t I asking
the right questions?
career aspirations, 21
i want to write a book i’m not an athlete
not anymore but i want my protagonist
to play a sport something solitary
like singles but not tennis never tennis
so maybe running instead cross country
just her alone in her head struggling
with gender or sexuality or both
it’ll be the book i wish i had at 14
or maybe the book i would’ve avoided
the description on the back cover
too close to the things i wanted to hide
my book will be young adult fiction
i don’t write memoir or anything else
that requires me to tell the truth
Natalie Schriefer often writes about sexuality, shame, and the outdoors. Her work has appeared in print or online at The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, jmww, Room, and MTV, among others. She received her MFA from Southern Connecticut State University, and works as a freelance writer and editor. Home base: www.natalieschriefer.com