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Yet another poem in
a female voice (see “Where Were You” and “Be”),
“Pick Me!” was inspired by a scene
from the ABC-TV drama Grey’s Anatomy.
Protagonist Meredith Grey is a new surgical
intern at Seattle Grace Hospital who quickly falls into bed (and,
eventually, falls in love) with surgical resident Derek Shepherd. Derek
has a past, however, that only comes to light when his wife, Addison,
shows up in Seattle. Derek had found Addison in bed with his best
friend. He left New York to begin a new life on the West Coast. The
Addison Shepherd who follows Derek to Seattle is contrite, wants her
husband back, and is, under the circumstances, comparatively civil to
Derek’s new mistress. If necessary, she is willing to grant Derek a
divorce, but Derek is surprisingly reluctant to end his marriage. This
creates a competition between Addison and Meredith for Derek’s
affections.
It is in this context that the scene in
question occurs. In it, Meredith declares here love to Derek, and, in a
moment both touching and pathetic, she pleads, “Pick me! Choose
me! Love me!” I saw this scene for a second time in a
retrospective show aired April 19, 2007. (Such shows are seemingly
becoming popular with ABC, since they cost next to nothing but can still
be advertised as “new.”) Meredith’s pleas seemed like good material
around which to build a poem.
The first lines I wrote were in iambic
tetrameter, a meter I fall into easily. I found some ideas hard to
express naturally in such short lines, however, so I converted what I
had written into 10-syllable lines and completed the poem.
I began writing the poem in my head during a
five-hour car ride on April 21. I completed it on April 24, 2007.
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