Beta Lumna-3

Introducer: "Okay, for our firzt prezenter, we have Mizz Beta Lumna,
12 yearz. Thiz iz her firzt poetry reading. So, pleaze, Beta, just come
up on ztage, tell uz a little about yourzelf, and then recite your
poem: The title, and your name firzt. A rabbit'z foot to you, my
dear."

(Beta walks up the stairs to get on stage. She's small, blond, and
blue-eyed. She looks scared, but her voice doesn't show it.)

"Hi, I wrote this poem
about my momma.
She died when
I still liked ice
cream.
I used to eat
strawberry ice cream,
but now I don't eat
any ice cream
at all.

'Momma's Gone'
By Beta Lumna

I ran outside,
because I heard the ice cream truck.
I was happy,
and I ran up to it.

I bought my favorite, strawberry
And then one for momma.
I thought momma would like it,
because it was something nice.

When I got home,
there were cars with flashing lights
all around my neighborhood,
but mostly around my house.

I yelled "momma!",
because I couldn't see her anywhere,
but then men in blue outfits came
up to me.

They told me there'd been an accident.
Momma was the only one home,
I didn't see her anywhere,
Then I saw a black bag come out of the house.

I didn't know what it was.
But the men in blue outfits said there was
an accident, and that momma
wasn't coming back.

When I went inside,
there was red paint everywhere,
weird red paint,
like the kind that happens when I'd cut my knee.

My Aunt Rosie took me home with her,
and told me Momma wasn't coming back,
I cried for a long time,
but I wouldn't believe it.

Then she told me momma was in heaven,
I knew only dead people went to heaven.
I cried for a real long time,
because I finally knew, that momma was gone."

~

The Audience Reaction

10/10
The Audience was quiet as she walked off stage, but once she had
resumed her seat, the applause began. It wasn't a very large amount of
applause, since there wasn't too many in the audience to begin with,
but since all audience members were clapping, it was something to be
proud of. It wasn't that her poem was great. It was just about the fact
that she was strong enough to write it and say it, and had written
about something sad that had happened to her.

She blushed quietly, as some audience members stood up to give her
their private 'Good Jobs' and shook her hand.