Author’s Note: Hi! Thanks for reading my writing. For full understanding of the poetry and my life experiences I would like to clarify I do not have a speech impediment and rather a tendency to stutter when nervous.
Bio: Eve Robin Kaplan is a rising ninth grader at Cate School. She is a Co Editor in Chief of GirlTalk Magazine. Eve's work has been featured in Spearhead Magazine, Teen Ink, Fem Magazine and Bindweed Magazine. She lives in Los Angeles, California, plays beach volleyball, sews and debates politics with everyone she meets. My favorite soda is LaCroix. Website: https://www.everobinkaplan.com
EVE ROBIN KAPLAN
STUTTERS
Wh-When I was trying to
Ex-ex-explain why
She laughed.
I know you don’t
No-notice.
You don’t notice.
Wh-When my words don’t simple come out
Rather,
They br-break apart as I speak
It’s because,
Rather than justifying,
I-I ignore it
Ta-talk louder
Laugh over-over the mistakes
So they don’t notice,
The in-inconsistent texture of my speech
So they don’t se-see
The notes app
Trying to help me speak.
The notes app
Telling me how to vocalize
With-without interrupting myself
I-I know I undermine my thoughts
Sometimes I write what I need-need to say
Before I say it
That makes it easier to hide
How ev-everyone else can talk without
Road bumps
But me.