The Open Write over at Ethical ELA was happening this week. I participated for a few days. On Saturday, Denise Krebs offered this writing prompt: write an ode to a childhood love. I thought about my diary from 1975 which I still have tucked away in my closet. It’s something of a miracle that I still have it because my childhood home was flooded in 1979. I’m not sure how this diary escaped.
Time was that when I looked at my diary, all I could see was the struggling teenager, flip-flopping from I like Robby to I like Bobby. I had tucked slips of paper into the diary, notes from friends and poems. Yes, poems.
Today I’m trying a different perspective of my younger self. I am thinking more kindly toward her. She was developing, in the process of becoming. No one is perfect when they are 14. Actually, I am not perfect now. We are constantly in a period of discovery about who we are, who and what we love. I think this diary may hold a precious girl, one in need of love.
“One Year Diary”
Golden pages
wrapped in a keyless lock,
you locked away all my dreams
and screams for truth and understanding.I was standing at the threshold of who I am.
You honored the me I was
with timeless sanctity.Notes and poems tucked in
like folds of a blanket, nestling
moments I wanted to keep (and forget.)Cursive swirls and exaggerated tittles,
Margaret Simon, draft
my fourteen year old soul remains
buried here.
Reflections on the Teche 
I love this stanza Margaret, you tenderly carry us right there into your thoughts,
“Notes and poems tucked in
like folds of a blanket, nestling
moments I wanted to keep (and forget.)”
Thanks for sharing!
What a treasure you have there! I love the line “standing at the threshold of who I am. “ Thanks for the glimpse into your teenage years, Margaret.
It’s lovely to write to your diary, your 14-year-old self, Margaret. I don’t have my younger ones anymore but do have my college diary and enjoy the person I see there, remember some of the struggles & heartbreak, too. I like the idea of “You honored the me I was”. I am nearly finished with the latest Anne Frank graphic novel of her diary & see her emotions, hoping she would believe that of her “Kitty”, too.
Love this! What a treasure to still have it!
Look at that beautiful diary–I know that with the wisdom you’ve acquired, you will find the gold for poems and stories. And now, you have grandchildren to share it with. The Ethical ELA prompts are such a gift to the rest of us. I love writing alongside you with them. Those words, “fourteen year old soul–” how tender that soul must have been. How kind you can be to her now. Can’t wait to see what you share out from this.
Margaret, the beauty of the cover of your diary must have brought you inspiration back then. Your poem is sensitive and introspective. Oh, what thoughts are remembered: tucked in
like folds of a blanket, nestling
moments.
May your nestling moments bring you additional recollections and peace.
Oh Margaret! I love that you wrote an ode to your diary; so perfectly captures the person-in-progress that 14 represents. I cringe at some of my scribbles from that time; but I also laugh. I suppose that, too, doesn’t change. Thank you!
Margaret, you have transformed this diary into a treasure by preciously caring for it across time- ‘the timeless sanctity’ you referred to in your poem. You have been further rewarded with the emergence of this quite special ode. Like Michelle, I was struck by the words – ‘Notes and poems tucked in like folds of a blanket, nestling moments I wanted to keep (and forget.)’
This is why we must continue to encourage developing young writers and poets to value their written efforts, and keep them safe. They are the footprints of their respective lives. Your post stands as testimony to this important understanding.
Thanks for transferring my experience to what we do with kids. I keep their notebooks year to year but we rarely go back to them. Their words are “footprints of their lives.”
Oh, gosh, this makes my heart ache for your 14-year-old self. Yes, we should all look more kindly on our own past selves and give them the love they needed.
This is beautiful, and I’m glad you’re holding your young self with more compassion. Interestingly, I think of the diary as her fingerprints, but she’s still in you, right now. Maybe it’s almost like a growth chart. Hmm…I’m going to think about this some more. Thank you, Margaret!