Artifact #1 - Poem

My first artifact is a poem that I wrote in Senior English. I have never been much of a poet, but I felt like I could be after I wrote this. It is a memory poem, based on a event that happened in my childhood. My house burning down had a huge effect on my family and myself. I appreciated this project because it really allowed me to think about the effect it had on me as a child and a chance to explore my feelings around this event.


Still Standing

I can still feel the heat on my face

The skeletal ruins staring back at me

Charred beyond recognition

Where did my house go?

How did this happen?


I taste the ash in the air

Thankful that no one was inside

What would have happened? I wonder,

A small girl standing on the sidewalk


I reach for my stuffed animal,

Longing for the comfort I know she will bring

The part of me that still grasps at reality realizes

There was no way that she could have escaped

No matter how much I wish it,

She was still a stuffed animal


Tears fill my eyes, everything becomes blurred

I hear my parents calling, as if through a fog

Muffled, all I can think about is her

How I always kept her close.

Now she is gone


The smell of fire brings me back

The ruins are still standing

Waiting to be torn down

Everything lost but

Waiting to be built again