My room as a child: NaPoWriMo Day 28

NaPoWriMo Day 28:

Today’s (optional) prompt is brought to us by the Emily Dickinson Museum. First, read this brief reminiscence of Emily Dickinson, written by her niece. And now, here is the prompt that the museum suggests:

Martha Dickinson Bianchi’s description of her aunt’s cozy room, scented with hyacinths and a crackling stove, warmly recalls the setting decades later. Describe a bedroom from your past in a series of descriptive paragraphs or a poem. It could be your childhood room, your grandmother’s room, a college dormitory or another significant space from your life.

Todays’ prompt is quite significant to me. One, because I’m an ardent lover of Emily Dickinson’s work and secondly, because the prompt made me reminiscent of my childhood bedroom, which holds a special place in my heart 🙂

My room as a child

A double occupancy bed, right next to the door

The door that opened in the lounge room

A window that peeked into the driveway

And another door that faced the porch

My father would check every night if this door was bolted

For his two adorable daughters occupied this room

A study table with heaps of books

Some lying on bed too, to which my dad often remarked,

“The bed would soon be conferred a Ph. D,

the amount of study, you make him do,”

I would smilingly collect all the books- course books, Sherlock Holmes, some Nancy Drew

And place them neatly in the overloaded shelf of books

A creamy white closet that I shared with my sister

A drawer that quartered my personal possessions-

Pocket money, birthday cards, some perfumes and gifts,

My collection of stationery, some nail color, some clips

A full size mirror adorned the door of the closet

Where I would style myself and check if I looked perfect

The walls painted in pink blazed with inspiration

“Those who dream the most, do the most,” preached a poster,

Another one that spelt the impelling poem, “Don’t Quit”

“When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill…”

The words of twenty two line poem, still embossed on my soul

The room and its décor

Probably, the source of my resilience and optimism,

From then till today

Probably,

Which instigated my love for poetry,

To an extent that I’m blessed to pen it myself today!

                                                                                    ©Vandana Bhasin

                                                                                                28.04.2020

Here’s the poem “Don’t Quit” that has been my inspiration my entire life.