all he would have to say is remember the time I came home with a beard and Dad didn’t know me, and we would all laugh, Mom would say, just by your voice, I knew your voice, and my sister would say, the dog kept barking, and I would say, that was the summer I got a camera. it pulls around us like a drawstring, that time, when we come together, awkward and older, our frayed conversations trying to thread some memory of each other, one of us will only have to say, remember the time you came home from the bush with your beard, and we were all easy again with each other, someone will say how Mom knew his voice, someone will remember how the dog barked, I will remember my new camera, and we are a family again, young and laughing on the front porch. All Leona Gom

This poem is about family reunions and how everyone contributes to the memories of a family. “All” have a different take on the memory because they remember what they were doing or saying when a particular event happened. The second part of the poem is when the family is all older and they are thinking back to the event and different ones of the family are remembering what Mom did. It is almost like Mom needs to be reminded because she is older and has forgotten. Then even though they are all older they are “young and laughing” again. In the second part the Dad isn’t mentioned but the detail about the son coming home from the “bush” is added.

This poem uses no capital letters at the beginning of the lines except for “Mom” and “I” that need to be capitalized. There are only two periods. One after the event is mentioned the first time and then at the end. This punctuation adds to the mood of the poem because it is just like a family reunion where everyone is talking at the same time and not usually in full sentences, rambling on, adding their bits and pieces to the story. There is one simile comparing the memory to “a drawstring”. It is a very good simile because the memory pulls the family together no matter how far apart the family is – just like a drawstring on a loose pair of pants. Then there is the metaphor comparing the older family to frayed material that needs to be drawn together again by a thread. It is a good comparison because it adds to the simile.

I like this poem because I like family reunions. My Mom comes from a large family and this poem describes how we are when we are all together. I have heard some of the stories so many times that I think I was there!

1.Even though the memory recited is the same one are they identical? 2.Who do you think is the narrator of the poem? 3.Describe the simile used and why is it appropriate? 4.How many family members are in this family? 5.What do you think is the significance of the title?