Under the Bed Box
A hand-painted photo of your mother and father
A picture of you feeding the ducks at Edgemont Pond
A Polaroid of you with your brothers
A memory of the dress your grandmother brought back from Sweden
The ribbon you wore in your hair on your fourth birthday
(The day you passed your hand through the candle flame
The way you had seen your brotherdo before you
But your mother hadn’t yelled at him, only at you)
Your first piano lesson
Or more importantly, your second piano lesson
When your teacher dropped her jaw
To let your mother knowshe thought you were talented
The day you learned to macramé
And the day you learned to braid your own hair
So that when it unraveled
Everyone might think you had natural curls
The way you wanted
To be like the other girls
The time you wona big award for playing the piano
The secret garden of story and sound in your bedroom
The first suitcase you ever packed
The first time you traveled to another city
With your boyfriend
The home you had to leave and thought you lost
But foundagain
Hearing your son play
By Julie Flanders
Photo by Annie Spratt
#octoberprojectmusic
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APRIL IS POETRY MONTH, Day 15
October Process 