There were a couple of memories I have from The Summer I Was Five. I remember having the ice cream truck come by the apartment we were living in. I don’t really remember eating the ice cream. I just remember hearing the music and knowing I might get some ice cream.
When I think about the memory, it’s more a memory of loss. You see, we lived in that apartment for only a few months. Dad had just gotten a job, and my parents were looking for a home to buy. I remember very clearly my disappointment when we moved to our “new” home and there was no ice cream truck.
It was years before I heard one again. When it did start coming to our neighborhood, it never came down our busy street, only the street on the other side of the block. So I never had an opportunity to buy from an ice-cream truck again while I was growing up.
It was hard to make a story from this memory. It was so short and more a memory of my emotions. Then I realized I could write a poem expressing some of the emotions I felt. Unlike most of my poems, this one does not focus on rhyme. Instead, it focuses on repetition and rhythm.
Write a poem about one of your memories. You can make it rhyme or just have a rhythm to it.