Wattpad's Got Talent (Entries)

Memories

This my poetry entry for competition no. 4 revolving around family and togetherness.
Apologies for the length - I had a lot of memories to fit in :)

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The memories we make as a family are precious
Now that you're gone, they're all that I've got
We had some weird but wonderful times
The six of us doing things just on the spot

Back in 2000
When I was still just a kid
The Norfolk river life called us
And that towel went and slid
Right off the end and into the water
We had to try and fish it out
It wasn't an easy job
But we had a laugh no doubt
Crisp packets as eyeballs
Putting Monkey back in the wild
Losing my sunglasses in the water
One of the greatest times I had as a child
There was the Pot Noodle cupboard
Which we still reminisce about all over the place
Breaking my new pair of sunglasses
And sticking yellow dots to my brother's face
That day when we were stopped
From going back to our boat
Being asked for what sounded like a 'boot pass'
The one thing that we never fail to quote
My brother and I had the roles all sorted
He studied the map while I worked on my tan
It was a holiday to remember
And I will do for as long as I can

Then as I grew older
Our holidays in France began
We had some strange times there too
But it's always more fun if things don't go to plan
The highlight of our time back in 2006
Was trying out the little submarine in the pool
Which we quickly realised was a bad idea
When it sunk to the bottom, what a fool!
"Let's put in the just turned off oven"
Was the brilliant idea that came to my uncle's mind
It could dry out in there
We all thought it would be fine
Then when dinner started to cook
And the oven was on once more
We noticed a funny smell
And remembered what that reason was for
We all rushed to the kitchen
And opened it up
To find a small yellow blob
What had we done to poor little sub?
With that toy gone
We decided we had to improvise
So with a few bottles and some tape
Our own boat had been devised
We also sat and watched Team America
We just had to use some quotes from it
As we filmed a closing ceremony of the pool
We do have some random memories, I have to admit

The year after that we headed over to Cognac
There are two main memories from this trip
They get mentioned all the time
And are never things we fail to skip
Firstly, doing a little dress up in a castle
And setting up our own fashion shoots
My brother dancing as a jester
My uncle ruining the authenticity with his jeans and boots
As they stuck out under his costume
They weren't exactly from that time
The camera slipped off that small stone post
Luckily it managed to stay alive
So that we could capture
The weirdest memory of all
Using those left over marshmallows
A piece of art was born
Why we were compelled to do it
I really cannot say for sure
But that marshmallow dog lives on
In our holiday album forever more
Lastly we come
To our time spent in the pool
Playing volleyball with the inflatable net
But that really wasn't all
My brother and uncle thought they could float on it
Each sitting behind a red post, it was a sight
But then when my brother stood up
It really didn't look quite right

The following year was another weird one
Heading back to France in 2008
The six of us founds more ways
To create crazy memories at any rate
We'll start with those mirrors
That made us look short and fat
We had a big laugh
Taking several pictures of that
Spending time in a pool again
Handstand competitions became the theme
For my brother and uncle
It was really quite the scene
One day we found that dragon statue
So of course funny photos ensued
The subjects of those pictures you ask
Surely you can guess who?
Yes, my brother and uncle again
Playing the fools as they do so well
Sitting on the dragon and pretending to be eaten by it
There was never a dull moment with them
Before this, we sat on three seat bicycles
You, me and Dad on one
My brother, uncle and aunt on the other
It was very hot that day for that kind of fun
You and Dad did all the pedalling
So I did as I do best
While you cycled the whole way
I took all that time to rest
My brother and uncle took turns
To hang off the front of their frame
Taking selfies of their team
Holding up a cup of tea along the way
Lastly was that game Formula Nasty
That we definitely played over again
Cars racing around the board
But one day we realised they were just too plain
So off to a toy shop we went
To buy some little pots of paint
We took them home and started our makeover
We didn't have time to waste
Sweet wrappers cut for windows
Propping up the cars on cocktail sticks
We secured them in marshmallows to dry
It was definitely one of our better tricks

Lastly, was our holiday for Dad's 50th
Which took us all the way to Italy
To go and watch the Grand Prix
Everyone was full of glee
But getting there was the biggest challenge
We thought we had all the time in the world, so
As we drove up and over mountains
We took a break to look at all the snow
Ready for the next leg of the journey
We got back into the car
It was then my brother realised
We may have driven a bit too far
"I think we've driven up the wrong mountain" he said
You were really not amused
He tried make light of the situation
But your annoyance couldn't be diffused
When we finally arrived at our destination
We had one last obstacle to beat
We just had to make it up that steep hill
But with the weight in the car, it wasn't going to be that sweet
So back down the hill we went
And parked the car on the side
We had to empty out what we could
Walking it all up to the top wasn't an easy ride
Halfway up, I was running out of breath
So I stopped for a tiny break
Dad turned to check I was okay
Once I was ready, another step I did take
I grabbed hold of my suitcase
And pulled on the handle once more
Out it came into my hand
That really was the last straw
With nothing else to do we burst out laughing
As it was just one damned thing after another
And the only consolation that night
Was my aunt and uncle waiting with a cuppa
But that wasn't all for that holiday
As we stood in the above ground pool
We discussed being synchronised swimmers
Once again we were playing the fool
With our routine set and rehearsed
We were ready for a run
Dad was behind the camera
Pressing record for take one
But my aunt burst out laughing
Ruining the entire show
So we had to start over
How we ever got through it, I'll never really know
Then my brother decided we should make a video
Using the hill as a rally track
You counted us off
Now there was no turning back
I filmed through the windscreen
While Dad drove at top speed
My brother filmed from outside
It maybe wasn't our safest idea indeed

Although that wasn't our last holiday together
These were by far the best ones
While you aren't here to remember them with us
We can use them to help your memory live on