When I was Little

This is a poem I wrote in fifth grade:


When I was little, I had a big bush of hair.

When I was little, my first word was “uh oh!”

When I was little, I was always smiling. 

When I was little, I was usually bare-foot.

When I was little, I had a very special

stuffed animal.

When I was little, I wasn’t very good at walking.

                                                                 

When I was little, I was very cooperative.

When I was little, I had my own room.

Now, I’m not any of those things!

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.

My Beginnings Poem

FYI--this was for school.

Beginnings--April 2001

As spring came, so did I

Born three weeks early at Melrose Wakefield hospital—
not early enough to make a difference,
but early enough to come as a shock.
Mom named me Madeline,
After an old children’s book series that my sister loved,
about a little girl in France who was braver than the other girls in her orphanage
We have nothing in common but our name and that were both “the smallest one”.
I was a happy baby, and easygoing.
Everything back then seems fuzzy now,
but I do remember one thing:
I was crawling down the hallway
and someone,
maybe Grandma,
swooped me up in her arms,
crooned over me and my toddler adorableness,
and I was struggling
because I wanted to be down again so badly.
There are lots of relatives besides the five of us:
Cousins Asher and Nina—
Asher’s adopted, and quieter,
while Nina’s energetic and such a tomboy that some can’t believe she’s a girl
Grandparents—Grandma Alla and Deda, down in Florida,
but Russian and quiet, both of them
Grandma Leone, just getting over cancer,
and very kind though she’s far away in Minnesota and I don’t see her much.
Then there’s the five of us—Mom, leader of the house,
always embarrassing,
quirky,
but nice to talk to
Dad, who’s more easygoing but just as powerful
Amanda, seventeen, with her fierceness and small stature
Josh, thirteen, with his terribly annoying personality,
impossible to live with or without.
Then there’s me—
happy as a butterfly,
cheeks red as roses,
skinny as a stick,
with chocolate-brown eyes and curly, frizzy dirt-brown hair,
always in the way.
With a weakness for chocolate,
a love of music, writing and reading
and a smile that lights up the world—
someone said I was born for smiling—
The youngest but the tallest of us three kids.
January 2013

Alex's Beginnings Poem Because She Doesn't Have Permission To Post With Her Own Account Yet (Hint Hint Rachel)

Beginnings--July 2001

Born into the world on a hot, sweaty summer afternoon,
born in Boston's Mass General Hospital,
\born into my mother's loving, caring arms.

I was born a month late,
snuggled deep into my mom's belly,
as she had an emergency operation
to get us out of her stomach.
There was no rush to the hospital,
only a rush to have me born.

As my mom says when I ask her,
I was a cranky baby,
always wailing and crying
like a dying animal all alone in the forest.

Mom named me Alexindra
because a lady who helped her
was named Indra,
so as a way to thanks her
Mom named me Alexindra.

I may have been a screaming baby
but, now I am a beautiful girl
with brown eyes as deep and dark
as rich soil from the ground
And soft, raspberry lips.
My reddish, blondish, brownish hair
is like thick caramel made in a factory
ans skin that is as light
as a white mocha latte from Starbucks.

I born to swim,
in the clear, aqua pool water,
to read,
as I dive into a good book,
and to love my friends
as we play, laugh, and have fun together.

Seeing the world for the first time,
I don't remember a lot
but, I do remember one thing
the time that my babysitter,
a young, fun woman,
took me to a water park for my first time
where I splashed, played, and enjoyed myself the entire day.

In my family there is four of us--
Mom, who even though she yells at me a lot,
I know that she loves me.
Chris, my twin brother, who is annoying
but, we share a special bond.
Jenni, my cute nine year old sister,
with her golden hair and bubbly personality.
I don't have many relatives,
only my aunt and my grandma
who love and care for me in an unspeakable way.

January 2013

Cat

I love my cool cat

She's fun and always active

Cute and cuddly!

HAIKU

I do love haikus

Even though they restrict your

Poetic freedom.

Here I'm Safe

I can feel it whirling outside
Floorboards creak
And the mighty power surrounds me
But even when the lights are gone
And candles are our only light
I know I'm safe here.
Safe here, baking cookies
Fire in the hearth
Wind whirls outside,
hurls branches at us,
tries to blow us down like the big bad wolf (bad simile, I know, but it's funny and it's true).
But here I'm safe
Safe as I read poems,
listen to music,
drink hot cocoa.
Oh, outside there is a battle raging
Wind chimes clatter
Branches snap
Leaves scatter.
But here I'm safe.