This was the BEST semester I’ve had at Hollins yet. Here is a fun exercise from my memoir writing class. We wrote the ABCs of our life from our childhood point of view. This is a simple and easy writing prompt if you want to try your hand at it. Here is mine (ps this is the first time EVER that I’ve posted my creative writing):

A is for absent minded
toes digging in white sand.

B is for basketball talking,
playing,
watching—
my boyfriend’s mistress.

C is for “So, you’re a Clark,” said
by every school teacher.

D is for dandelions dancing down
my arm in a yellow streak.

E is for earth beneath
my back cool and soft, glowing
with bug’s ephemeral light.

F is for full-figured
raspberries picked
fresh from Uncle’s farm.

G is for grass flying
off cleats scoring
a GOAL!

H is for high on that rock. “Help!
I’m stuck” at the top
for fear
of the drop.

I is for my summer island. I dream
of bike rides
for bagels.
I want to go
back.

J is for jump, tuck and roll
from the roof at night.

K is for kayaking on the ocean with butterflies
fluttering towards
the shore.

L is “I like
like you.
I
love
you.”

M is for milk,
gagging you with
its ‘lk’ in your
throat.

N is for ‘nasty’ a fun
word to say.

O is for ‘ostracize’ my first
big word.

P is for “Pretty, what an unusual name.”
“No, I said Brittany.”

Q is for quizzical looks. Practice
like so: lift one eyebrow
or squeeze both together.

R is for rollered-hair. The worst
kind of sleep.

S is for the sacred word:
sisters.

T is for tunneling through
snow high
as my head.

U is for all those days
I called out ugly
from school.

V is for hand-sewn deep
red velvet doll made
from mother’s
wedding dress.

W is for wishies whisked up
and away on the wind.

X is for xeric Utah
I can’t
breathe out here.

Y is for “OOPS, AM I TALKING
TOO LOUD?”

Z is for the Zipper trapping
me inside
with my friend
who peed
and cried.