Diana Raab
It must have been sixth grade
when I wrote my first essay,
subject details no longer crisp,
but it was surely before grandma
killed herself in her bedroom beside mine
and about the time she taught me
to type on the Remington typewriter
perched on her vanity.
All twenty of us in that classroom
seated at those old birch desks
with chairs attached
where you carefully lifted the top
so not to jam your fingers
to see inside all your
favorite writing instruments
and papers.
Outside, the large schoolyard with the
maypole signaling my birthday,
the class quietly writing,
and Mr. Lopez, my English teacher
who sometimes did the calypso
on our desks,
roamed the room peeking over
some shoulders, when suddenly
I realized he was over mine,
as he whispered into my ear
“that’s great writing, you’ll
be a writer one day.”
Only years later did his comment
stop me in my tracks and impact me,
on how childhood passions and words
live with us forever
and how what we remember
is always surprising.
Diana Raab, MFA, PhD, is a memoirist, poet, speaker, and award-winning author of fourteen books of poetry and nonfiction. Her writings have been published and anthologized worldwide. Her latest book is HUMMINGBIRD: MESSAGES FROM MY ANCESTORS. (Modern History Press, January 2024). She writes for Psychology Today, The Wisdom Daily, Thrive Global, and is a guest writer for many others. Visit her at: dianaraab.com.