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The first time I wrote a poem, 

the walls of my little Chinatown apartment were too thin. 

He had thrown plates in his anger

across the room just to make more noise 

and to stop hearing what she was saying. 

The second time I wrote a poem, 

a boy came into my life and took me by surprise.

He was blonde, smart, fun, and most of all prideful.

I saw the sun when I was with him and that spring,

I don't recall it ever raining. 

The third time I wrote a poem,

it was the most alone I've ever felt in my soul.

I carried the weight of secrets and it buried me under.

I stopped writing poetry for a long time;

there was nothing I wanted to rememeber.

Until I got better.

Then I wrote and wrote countless poems about love,

about happiness, about everything that had happened to me.

I couldn't stop writing because I didn't want to forget any of it.

I didn't want to forget losing my best friend.

I didn't want to forget the mistakes my dad made.

I didn't want to forget the man who disrespected me. 

I didn't want to forget my digits of my grades counting down.

I didnt want to forget coming home everyday to a home that was taken away from me. 

But I wanted to remember falling in love again,

I wanted to remember the new friends I made,

I wanted to remember the connection I felt with my mother.

I wanted to write poetry again. 

The world to me has always been a balance of the good and bad. 

I have taken poetry and defined it as both.

Poetry is like a camera

I've never seen anything as vivid as words. 

Through poetry, the moments never die;

I can relive it, feel how I felt, learn from it, grow from it. 

It has become a space that no one can take away; 

A section of my imagination that is truly beautiful.

I feel at home when there is poetry.