Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Slice of Life - Memoir Poem

 

I love participating in Slice of Life, started by Two Writing Teachers and writing a story, reflection, or musing at least once a week.
 
Thank you Margaret Simon for encouraging us to link up poetry this month using the hashtag #digipoetry.  Also, thank you Leigh Anne Eck for creating a button for us to use.
 
     I said earlier this month that I was going to try out writing some memoir verse around photos or memorabilia since my class is immersed in a FAMILY/HOME unit right now and reading/writing memoirs in various formats (narrative, verse, graphic memoir).  This poem is inspired by a letter that my mom wrote on December 22nd, 1966, four days before I was born (I was due on Christmas day, but appeared a day late).   This letter was the only that I have (she recently gave me a bundle of letters she wrote to my grandparents during my first year) that she wrote before I was born.
 
WAITING
 
Mom about 5 months pregnant with me in 1966
It was only days
until December 25th, 1966,
the day
I was supposed to be born.
Festive lights twinkled                                       
on Baker Avenue,
festooning apartments
in Cincinnati.
I was waited for,
anticipated,
dreamt about.
The nursery
was decorated
with a clown lamp,
and my mother imagined
2:00 am feedings with
its 25 watt bulb,
dim and peaceful.
A scotch pine stood watch                                           
in the balcony window,
and unfallen snow
weighed heavy in the
steel gray clouds,
waiting
for a white Christmas
and a baby
to arrive.
 

9 comments:

  1. Wow! These images took my breath away!! I read it three times in a row!!! Memoir poem? I love this idea!!! Thank you!

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  2. Waiting, longing, anticipation, your poem is full of it. I feel it. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Holly, Your poem reveals how very much you feel loved by your mother. And your photo reveals an adorable woman waiting with happiness. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Morning Holly,
    I love the clarity of the "25 watt bulb dim and peacful". It shows a woman who knows what is coming. Although I didn't do well with sleep deprivation, I loved those nights. Sitting in the chair with a warm, calm baby, rocking and looking at the changing trees through the window. It was a beautiful time! It sounds like you loved it too!

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  5. Holly, your memories are illuminated in your poem. "I was waited for, anticipated" is what you are now doing for Libby's wedding. I can see a memoir poem ready to spring forth in the months to come. Thank you for the idea of writing a poem in the form of a memoir. (BTW, your Mom is stunning while she waited for her Christmas Holly.

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  6. So many specific details give this poem its power. I love that it was developed from a letter your mother wrote.

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  7. That's just lovely, Holly - as Michelle has noted, you've crafted powerful images.

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  8. What a treasure! To read your mom's words from that time in her life and your life!
    What a beautiful poem you have written.

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  9. What a wonderful poem. Such a great idea to use a piece of history for writing inspiration.

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