Childhood secret | Teen Ink

Childhood secret

January 5, 2015
By nightlightwriter SILVER, West Des Moine, Iowa
nightlightwriter SILVER, West Des Moine, Iowa
6 articles 0 photos 11 comments

Favorite Quote:
Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.


When I was a Child of four of five,
At night, my toys would come alive.
They would play in the night where no one could see,
and no one one ever saw except for me.
I never told  Mama or anyone I knew,
The only one I've ever told, my child, is you.

I would watch my toys and I would take great pains,
Not to move or alarm them and spoil their games.
I would stay and keep still and quiet as a mouse,
Even when the noise would have woken the house.
And why I was tired at brunch I could never explain,
So the nurse thought i’d been up all night, playing a game.

The toys, that thought no one was about,
would jump and play and laugh and shout.
My tumblers would tumble and wallop around,
My toy soldiers would march in straight rows on the ground.
My dolls would gossip while they had tea,
My teddy's would play tag in groups of three.

My baby dolls would laugh and chortle,
My drums would drum and my rattles would rattle.
I had toys for girls and toys for boys,
But being a tomboy, toys were toys.
I had porcelain dolls, and wooden dolls and Russian nesting dolls,
And a China princess who sat on the mantle and ruled them all.

I’d sit and watch them with big blue eyes,
And why they were moving didn't occur as a surprise.
Than one day I grew up and went away,
And seven years later came back to stay.
And the only part of growing up I’ll ever regret,
Is my toys are as lifeless as an old marionette.


The author's comments:

This poem is about a woman of fifty telling her grandchild about a childhood secret she hadn't told to anyone else.


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This article has 3 comments.


Izzy777 SILVER said...
on Jun. 29 2015 at 6:35 pm
Izzy777 SILVER, Tampa, Florida
9 articles 0 photos 63 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I always wonder why birds stay in one place when they can fly anywhere around the world. But then I ask myself the same question."

this is beautifully written, I love the tone!! keep writing honey!

Beila BRONZE said...
on May. 18 2015 at 9:18 pm
Beila BRONZE, Palo Alto, California
3 articles 0 photos 516 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." -Mark Twain

I like the concept of this poem and the tone is a lovely shade of nostalgia. I think you could work a little on improving flow just by reading it aloud and cutting extra syllables here and there. My favorite lines: "I had toys for girls and toys for boys,/ But being a tomboy, toys were toys." You've captured this wonderful kind of childhood innocence right there.

on May. 18 2015 at 4:46 am
Ray--yo PLATINUM, Kathmandu, Other
43 articles 2 photos 581 comments

Favorite Quote:
God Makes No Mistakes. (Gaga?)
"I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right." -Liesel Meminger via Markus Zusac, "The Book Thief"

This is extremely beautiful, a bit sad, but yet just beautiful. A perfect example of how rhyming goes with story-telling, well done!