Rachel's Beginnings Poem

As February started its end,

My life started its beginning.

Born fresh and new,

A Pennsylvanian baby at Abington Hospital.

Brought out by my dad on a cold night at 11:00

I came right on schedule,

easy and ready to meet the world.

Mom says I was the easiest of the three

And in many ways I still am.

They all thought I was going to be a boy,

But I came out a girl, the only one.

Dad joked the name Naomi,

But mom took it seriously.

Dad saved the day with the name Rachel,

The name meant for my older brother

if he were a girl.

They got a baby as bald as a pumpkin,

With chubby cheeks like Jell-O,

And glassy eyes rimmed with blue

And dotted with green.

Who couldn’t; when she grew teeth,

Get her hands off apple

And when she sprouted long fingers,

Couldn’t stop tapping away at the piano.

They all say I was a perfect toddler.

Mom would say, “Don’t touch that Rachel.”

And I would say “ok mommy.”

And then a few months later

I sprouted hair.

Almost overnight,

A jungle of grass, weeds and flowers

Sprouted from my bare head

Tangling and wrapping around each other

Growing like reeds

As thick as the amazon,

with curls as blonde as the shining sun.

From the earliest I remember

Being in an apartment

On Valentines Day

Receiving a box of chocolates

And jumping up and down on the couch

in joy and happiness.

I said to myself “I will remember this forever”

And it seems I did.

Two years after my birth came another one.

A chubby little boy

Named Joey.

He made me a jealous kid.

Turned me into a little monster.

I was no longer the little angel,

but a screaming kid 24-7.

But after a few years or so,

It got better and now I am an easy kid again.

I have many relatives.

I have aunts and uncles.

On my dad’s side,

I have Aunties Steph, Grace, Barbra, Pauline, Gillian, Cynthia and Joy

I have Uncles Stockly, Robert, Roy, Dexter and John.

On my Mom’s side,

I have Ants Erico, Judy and Jenna

And Uncles Bobby and Donald

I will be twelve on February 26, 2013

And it will be a good one.

Imagine: twelve years from the beginning.