Write a free verse reflection poem about a core memory.
A “core memory” (a phrase popularized in part by the 2015 movie Inside Out) is a significant moment or experience that stays with you and shapes you in some way. Core memories often connect to strong emotions — joy, fear, love, embarrassment, pride, belonging — and become experiences you can recall clearly even years later. They might be impactful conversations, milestones, turning points, once-in-a-lifetime adventures, difficult truths, important relationships, “firsts,” flashes of clarity, or life lessons.
Here is my poem:
The Tears that Shaped Me
The hallway glowed a bright yellow.
It was dark outside,
and I carried a faint excitement
that maybe it would be a good night for me.
My long dress — my favorite color — that exact shade of sky blue you see at noon on a cloudless June day with a soft, warm breeze.
Only then did I realize
I had no idea how to move in this space, how to belong here.
I walked into the lunchroom,
strange and unfamiliar in its new arrangement.
I missed my mom the moment she slipped away, leaving as quickly as she arrived.
Two hours, then three.
I watched, a puzzle piece that didn’t fit, a quiet spectator taking notes, seeing everything through a microscope.
I wasn’t “picked” that night.
Invisible.
A dance — a tiny stamp of approval — was nowhere for me.
This chapter of my life ended right then, ushering in a transition I didn’t ask for.
Was I even there?
Did it even happen?
Tears soaked the dress
until it became its own rainy day.
My chest tightened.
Regret and sadness painted my heart in black, burgundy, and navy blue. The sunny June afternoon turned into a December midnight storm —
cold and unwelcoming.
The unchosen.
A title I still carry,
a backpack glued to my shoulders.
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You can also find this post in the Mighty Poets group on The Mighty here.
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