I Remember – Day 29 of National Poetry Writing Month #NaPoWri
The penultimate day is here! Woohoo! I AM going to make this! Today I am following the prompt from over on the NaPoWriMo site. They challenged us to write a poem based on things you remember. They have asked us to focus on specific details, and don’t worry about whether the memories are of important events, or are connected to each other. Funnily enough, mine are connected and I have also made it rhyme. Most of my memories come from when I was between the age of 7 and 10 years old. The photo is of me, my brother and my sister. I believe I was around the age of 7 when this was taken.
I Remember
I remember the climbing frame slide and splinters in my legs
I remember the silver jubilee, homemade crown upon my head
I remember watching Jaws 2 and how the video jumped
I remember when the car broke down and getting a brand new pump
I remember Humwicks and the sweets that we bought there
I remember my brother being naughty, despite angelic blonde hair
I remember Mrs Stephenson and how she threw us sweets
I remember only being allowed as far as the lamp post in the street
I remember the day my grandma crashed the car through our gate
I remember my father being annoyed whilst she was in a state
I remember the Wombles records and dancing in my room
I remember the paddling pool and spending days in my costume
I remember the long yellow dress that I wore to my birthday party
I remember my mums big stews, full of dumplings, oh so very hearty
I remember my space hopper, it was a horse that I called Candy
I remember my brothers and sisters ones – Shandy and also Tandy
I remember the rockery and riding my bike round and round
I remember running away but it wasn’t long before I was found
I remember so very much from very far back when
And yes, if you asked me if I would, I’d do it all again!
Victoria Welton 29th April 2016
AW – I remember lots of those things too and now I am trying to remember if my spacehopper had a name or not – I can remember my sister’s was called Jump for Joy who was, I think, a well known show jumper then but I can’t for the life of me remember if mine had a name. I also wonder what ever happened to them! A very late catch up with#Prose4T
Fantastic! I am so glad that we weren’t the only ones to name them!! 🙂
Aw this is so lovely Vic! The joy emanates from it. Love how you and your siblings named your space hoppers! proseforthought xx
Thank you so much Leigh 🙂 xx
This is fantastic, I truely love it. Partly because I have similar memories, but also because such warm nostalgia would bring a smile to anyone’s face.
Thank you so much Lucy – I am glad it conjured up memories for you too 🙂 x
LOVE this Vicky! The flow, the wonderful memories that you retell with such fondness and that brilliant rhymes that are natural. I think I may join in with this next time around. Thanks for hosting #prose4t
Thank you so much Carol 🙂 I hope you do – it would be great to see what you write x
Love it! And love your outfits in the picture, and your sisters hand clamped on your brothers arm, to make sure he wasn’t naughty for the photo. I suspect those dresses were shop bought. The nearest I got to that was clothkits! My Mum had a penchant for matching outfits. I still shudder to think. However, she could knock up a mean mermaid costume at short notice (with lots of green milk bottle tops from the unpasturised milk. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Thank you Cara – it sounds like you know my brother well there! I am not sure on the dresses – I must ask my mum! 🙂 x
Oh I love this! Such a lovely snapshot. I can hardly remember a thing from my childhood – what a lovely way to refresh your memory. I’m also seriously impressed that you’ve almost managed 30 poems in 30 days – fantastic!x #Prose4T
Thank you so much Katie 🙂 x
Candy, Shandy and Tandy. Love it. I bet you haven’t thought about half of that stuff for years. I love the way poetry prompts can prod memories from long ago..
I know! And you are right – I hadn’t but they are such fond memories. Poetry does do wonderful things!
This is so lovely, so evocative and full of wonderful references which share an insight into your younger years. There is a real sense of happy memories in the words. I love the fact you had a space hopper called Candy! The bit about your grandma crashing the car really made me chuckle. This poem is bursting with life. x #Prose4T
Thank you so much Michelle. You are right, there are lots of happy memories there. Yes – my poor Grandma! I felt really sorry for her!! xx
Oh this is so lovely, Victoria. It really gives us a glimpse into your childhood. Thank you for sharing these beautiful memories with us and for hosting us this week on #prose4t! It’s always such a pleasure to read your work!
Aww, thank you Maria. Thank you for linking as well 🙂 x