My First Memory - The Chicago Poetry Center

My First Memory

For their seventh virtual poetry lesson Dubois students explored their earliest memories. They were asked, “Why are memories so important?” Students came up with interesting responses: negative memories help us not make the same mistakes again, while postive memories helps us remember happier times with family, friends, and remember those who have passed away.

Together we read Nikki Giovanni’s poem, “My First Memory of Librarians.” In her poem Giovanni uses sensory details, her five senses to describe her childhood memories of visiting a library. A big room with heavy wooden tables that sat on a creaky wood floor / On the right newspapers draped over what looked like a quilt rack/ The welcoming smile of my librarian/All those books—another world—just waiting/ At my fingertips. Although this was only a memory, through sensory details students felt as if they too, were in the library with Giovanni.

Inspired by Nikki Giovanni, students wrote poems about their own memories of experiencing something for the very first time. Please enjoy these memorable poems.

Ms. Dydo 8th Grade

My First Memory Of A Weird Dream Jayla J.

I remember when my grandma tried to cook me
It may have been a dream
But when I woke up I screamed
You can’t cook your grandkids even, if it never happened
I now wait for my grandma to leave the kitchen with my finger
tapping I still think of that dream
It was every extreme

My First Memory Of Six Flags Talia L.

My Memory:
A big ole amusement park filled with fun and laughter
A lot of rides we can go on
Food that we can eat
I can hear the people having fun
I can see the whole amusement park
I can smell the food at the food center
I can taste the food in my mouth
I can touch the prizes on my hands
The rides, some of them can be fun
Some of them can be scary
And some of them can be crazy
Going on rides can be adventurous
Maybe I can come back one day,
Me having flashbacks 3 years ago
Going there with friends and family
And all of us having fun
Maybe when’s the pandemic over,
I’ll get to see Six Flags again

Ms. Dydo 6th Grade

My First Memory Of driving w/ my brother Jamyla L.

The windows was cold from the speed he was going
I can just tell he was enjoying the breeze blowing .
I rarely can eat my McDonald’s. My burger kept dropping .
I let down my window and i thought I was popping .
Only thing I can smell is my 3 pound deluxe burger.
I can say that was a good big mac cheese burger .
The wind was washing and blowing hard .
I can actually tell I wasn’t going too far .
I barely had a burger .
My food was half the price.
I enjoyed being in that small white car.

My First Memory Of Great Wolf Lodge Deniyah L.

I remember the best day of my life
The sound of kids screaming and splashing
The sight of the giant water slides
I was so afraid when I saw the slides
When I went down I never wanted to do it ever again
I got to play basketball with my cousins and other family
The chlorine kept getting in my mouth and nose
It was so annoying but also funny
When it was night I was so disappointed
I wanted to keep playing But those hotel beds were so comfortable
I slept like a baby
And when we woke up we ate donuts for breakfast

Ms. Dydo 5th Grade

My First Memory Of Ding Dong Ditch Je'loni S.

My first memory was
When I was playing ding dong ditch
In ATL It was 12:00 ish O’clock at night
When my dad went to the store a few
Mins later he pulled up, then my friend
Walk up to my dad car.
The convo went like
Dad- What yall doing
Me- punches my friend
My friend- we was ding dong ditching
Me my dad and my brother all made
Eye contact I knew we was in trouble
So my dad told me and my brother to go back home
GIRRRRRRl–
Why my brother gone say it was Puddin idea
(Puddin my nickname)
I look at my dad and brother and start laughing
But we had to bring the food in that was it

My First Memory Of My First Day At School Marvin S.

This is my first memory :
A long trip
the bus smelled nice
The road was rough
it was a lot of traffic
The animals that we saw were very big
some of them were small
The chair in the bus was very soft
We got drinks
they were sweet