The humming of the sound machine
Sounds like the beach of my childhood.
Where we walked along tree trunks,
And dipped our toes in the ocean.
The water, from a glacier, stung like
A pinch to my mind.
Freedom was my name.
Freedom in spirit, but no control
Of my own autonomy.
A prisoner in my home
That never felt like a home.
All of our hearts were dead.
I sit here in the middle of the night,
Remembering the sand and the shells.
Maybe I was the girl who
sold them at the seashore.
A shell for a smile was all she wanted.
But my mother never showed me warmth,
Younger me thought she must have
Been birthed in the ocean.
Her head full of salt.
And so I sit in stillness and silence.
And remember the little girl I was
At the beach of my childhood.
Shush, shush, shush.
Sleep welcomes me.
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125,027 Literary Works • 672,768 Reviews
Hey Ellie Mae,
Dropping in here for a quick review of your poem. I would like to say that I found the gradual twist interesting, it is something I look forward to implementing in my future poems. This poem gave me goosebumps. I think it is brave and takes a lot of courage to publish a piece based of your personal life. I agree with PEL you truly have such an amazing gift for writing poems. I also wanted to add that I will never forgive you for rick rolling me. I Am A Rickroller.
I wish you a great day/night.
Sincerely, Tambo
Hi Ellie Mae,
I really enjoyed reading your poem. Your descriptions of your childhood are very vivid and colourful. I think the lines : "Freedom was my name.
Freedom in spirit, but no control over my own autonomy. " are so apt. You have poetically described the stolen moments many children love, when they are free and for a short time are not being controlled by adults. That special freedom that only a child can experience. The freedom to explore the world, unencumbered by any rules or expectations. You capture that freedom beautifully.
" A shell for a smile was all she wanted." I love that line, it says it all.
Children are not that complicated. They want to be seen, they want to be loved, they want to be accepted as they are. I think your poem has wide appeal. I'm sure many people look back on the moments of freedom in their childhood in the way you beautifuul describe in your poem. You have a gift. PEL.
Wow Ellie I love your poems so much, they’re always beautiful and unique in their own way and sad and meaningful too. I love how it shows the comparison of the girl’s compassion and her mother’s cold response. It shows the characters backstory but also gives the character a sense of mystery and makes the reader question more about the character-who they are as a person, what led them to be this…broken and why they have their life led up to this one moment. Overall, lovely poem and if you really wrote it in the night, I must say nothing gets your creative juices flowing than writing in the dead of night with suitable music!!;)