Lauren Elicks

Poem Project

For my special object I chose my blanket that I have had since I was a week old. My grandfather who died when I was four gave the blanket to me. I have slept, played, and made amazing tents with this blanket, and have slept with it many, many nights. When I was very young I used to fall asleep stroking the little satin lamb in the middle and playing with its little flower bow. I have cried on this blanket when I was sad, screamed into it when I was mad and laughed into it when I was so happy I couldn’t contain myself. It has been everywhere that I have visited, and when I was little, to all of my friends’ houses to comfort me from being away from my house. It has become an object that I don not feel comfortable without it somewhere near me at night. I feel as if my past is rolled into this blanket and without it everything would be lost.

I chose the song I Swear because it is an important song to me. My mother and my aunt both have gorgeous voices. I could listen to them sing for hours and never get bored. My mom and aunt were asked to sing at wedding one year when I was about eight years old. My sister and I would go with my mom every weekend to my aunt’s house, and as my sister played with my cousin I would lay down underneath the piano and listen to them practice. The song I Swear was one of the songs that they would sing. One day at a birthday party for my grandmother my mom and aunt were asked to sing that song. As I prepared myself to listen to them someone suggested that I get up and sing with them. It was the first time that I ever sang with my mom and aunt and it made me feel so privileged to be able to sing with the people who’s voices I always adored.

I chose the poem Squirting Rainbows by Shirley Hughes because it was a poem that was special in my childhood. The poem comes from a book called Out and About by Shirley Hughes, and I got it from my aunt for my birthday one year. I especially liked this poem. In the summer I would read this poem before I went out to play in my backyard. It reminded my of how much fun I would be having once I got outside, and would get me excited to go play in the water and in the sun with my sister and cousin.

I chose the poem Sunshine at Bedtime because my mother used to recite it to me when I was little. The poem also came from the book Out and About. In the summer I always wondered why I had to go to bed when there was still light in the sky. When I would ask my mom why I had to go to bed she would always recite this poem to me and then tuck me in to go to sleep. Every night I would ask the same question and every night she would recite the poem as an answer, and soon it became a tradition that every summer of my childhood, my mom would recite the poem to me and then tuck me in.

The song Papa’s Gonna Make It All Right written by Peter Udell, was sung to me when I was little which is why I chose it. When I went to sleep and I was upset or restless about something my mom would sing me this song. It was so melodic and tranquil and the sound of my mom’s voice would calm me down and put me to sleep right away.

The song Over the Hill, which is also written by Peter Udell, was a song that I used to sing when I was little, that’s why it is special. When family parties would be thrown my mom used to sit down at the piano and everyone would gather around and listen to me sing. The song is about a girl who is complaining that by the time her and her boyfriend kiss or hold hands that she will be an old woman. At the time I didn’t understand what was so funny, but as I got older I realized that it must have been funny to see a five-year-old singing about how by the time she kisses a boy she’ll be an old woman.

I chose the poem Wet and Misty both by Shirley Hughes because they were both two of my favorite poems. Whenever it rained or there was a storm I would run up to the loft in our house sit on the desk by the window and look out the window and read these poems to myself and then go play outside in the wind or the rain.

I chose the poem Seaside, also from the Out and About book, because I loved and still do love the beach, and in the summer the beach was one of my favorite places to be. I loved to play in the sand and near the water and the poem always reminded me of my favorite days down at the beach.