When I was 15 years old, I volunteered as a C.I.T. (Counselor In Training) at a sleepaway camp for children with special needs due to a disability or illness. It was an amazing experience & to this day, one I’ll never forget. And so here’s a little, short, simple poem I had written about it once I arrived back home.
Originally Written: 08/25/96
The summer of ’96 is one I’ll never forget.
From Sarah to Gabby to Taja and Annette.
This was the summer I was a C.I.T.
At a camp site called Hidden Valley.
I milked a cow and drove a golf cart,
But that doesn’t compare to the love I felt in my heart –
The love I felt for the children I cared for.
If I can, I wanna do it at least once more.
On the last day, I shed a tear
When the children were no longer near.
I miss tucking them into bed at night
Even though they didn’t go to sleep without a fight.
Believe it or not, I miss the children’s cries
Because it was me who wiped their eyes.
I’ll never forget the children of cabins 1B & 1A.
They were all very special in a different way.
I’ll try not to shed another tear
‘Cause hopefully, I’ll be back again next year.
About missj9580
I used to write a lot of poetry back when I was a teenager & had a real passion for it. For some reason or another, it slowly phased out. I still enjoy writing though because I find the process of putting my thoughts down on paper highly therapeutic. Not only do I find it beneficial in enabling me to organize my feelings & thoughts, but it also gives me the freedom to express those feelings & thoughts, which is something I greatly enjoy doing.
Although I've still been expressing myself through non-poetic writing, the urge to write poetry has been weighing on me, but for some reason, I just haven't had it in me. I would find myself at the keyboard just staring at the screen, my mind drawing a blank.
Until now.
A recent change in my life has awoken the poet in me & I now find myself with a constant multitude of ideas of poems I want to write, with no shortage of thoughts flowing from my mind everyday, to where I can't jot down the words fast enough in order to keep them from escaping my memory.
This is why I'm starting this blog, to use as a platform to express myself, through both poetic & non-poetic writing. The catharsis that, digging deep down inside myself & translating whatever I find into words & putting those words down on paper, brings to me is a feeling unlike any other. And I would like to share this poetic artform of self-expression of mine with the world. I'm also going to be posting some old poetry I've written way back when. I hope everyone who visits this blog enjoys reading whatever it is that I post just as much as I enjoy writing it. :-)
--Janet
Contact Info: janetpedersen9580@gmail.com
missj9580 