2nd Quarter Poetry Journal Reflection

Wild Geese Response (12/1/15)
Here, everyone belongs, no matter how lonely. No one is intentionally left out, but never try to back out of kitchen duty because somebody (most likely Camille) will find out you're not doing the dishes. The lights in the house are bright, seldom replaced and seldom remembered to be flicked off. There are more bodies than beds and more blankets than legs. The tree in the living room is a colorful pine, dozens of candles shimmer bright in the dull window in the dining room, and there isn't a lot of food in the kitchen fridge, all the holidays addressed. Pots and pans bang as Camille decides to make dinner again, more paint and ink finds itself on the surface of the kitchen table due to Henry and Willem and dirt is streaked in patterns by all doors that lead outside because Alice and Lee don't know how to clean up after themselves.
But all that's okay It's not like their parents ever imagined living in a mansion, with immaculate floors and furniture. It's not like they dreamed of dressing up their kids in designer jeans and shirts. It's not like they got a job with just enough money to hire a maid. That was never their parents' plan.
Henry, Willem, Alice, Camille and Lee, the five adopted children that live under the roof of Dreamers. Henry, adopted at five and dreaming of becoming the next Stephen Hawking. Willem, adopted at three, with big dreams of travelling the whole wide world, not a city untouched. Alice, adopted at seven but dreaming since five to find the perfect family for everyone who needed one. Camille, adopted when she was ten, her destiny to make great food. And Lee, the new kid in the house (certainly not the last), the one who decided to follow his adoptive-father's path, to become an artist with pieces displayed all over the city.
A house full of scientists and artists and travelers, people working for the greater good and cooking for them, too, can only mean a house full of clutter and love, ideas and broken pens, stacks of paper with algebraic scrawls and hope. That was one thing their household held, and that was hope. Hope for a new beginning. Hope for a better ending. Hope for a great journey.

Reflection:
I chose this piece because I felt like it was the best one to add to. I also liked it more than the other pieces I wrote because I felt like I was a lot more descriptive while writing this one. While I revised it, I added characters. Henry, Willem, Alice, Camille and Lee were not originally in my journal, but when I added to it, I wanted readers to believe this was an actual house and to believe that, I thought readers might need to see characters. All of them are adopted and they live in this house where their adoptive parents let them explore whatever they want. I thought this might be pretty interesting and I liked how I (tried) to explain the characters through explaining the house. I hope that makes sense. But anyway, I liked this piece and overall think it accurately reflects my journaling for this quarter.