The Streets of Florence

2024 5th & 6th Grade Poetry Honorable Mention

Walking down the streets of Florence,
past the gelato shops and clothing stores,
my dog, my sister, my dad, my mom, and I

Going until we saw the gate,
the gate in which we would find our school

We walked through the towering arch,
our dog smiling and guiding the way,
my sister and I,
ready for a day of art and language,
of laughing and creating

My dad, ready to craft a story of words

My sister to build with wood and work on math

My mom to teach at the university

And me to draw and play and take care of the little ones

I would go in through the gate, walk past the pomegranate tree and see the yellow brick school
ready to mold clay and grind flour
ready to open the metal container I carried
and eat the delicious food my mom had made

My dad picking me up,
taking me to the bakery for a treat while we wrote a story, “Behind the Black Door,” I loved
working on
that I looked forward to all day

I look back at that time, and I think about the pomegranate tree,
the fresh food,
the smiles of my dog,
the story my dad and I wrote

The beautiful streets of Florence will never escape my memory
and neither will the memories we made there