Careful

I’m too careful until I’m not.

Slow to trust and even slower to love.

Forever the little girl,

Glasses and love letters

Written in crayon.

A daffodil in a sea of spears.

Throw me away and I’m lost

In the waves of steel.

Trained to hold a grudge.

I shield the band-aid heart

Of years past.

Too careful to see a good thing.

Always looking for a safety net

To catch me when you’re done.

Amanda Suarez is a Narrative Studies major and screenwriting minor at the University of Southern California. She graduates in the fall of 2017, and looks forward to chasing the life of a writer. Her love of poetry started when she made her own “Hallmark” cards for family members as she was growing up. Since then, she has loved every form of writing, including fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and screenwriting. She has love for digital media writing as well, and currently also writes for Annenberg Media and The Sack of Troy on campus. Some of her favorite poets are Edgar Allan Poe, Ellen Hopkins, and Gwendolyn Brooks.