All Nonfiction
- Bullying
- Books
- Academic
- Author Interviews
- Celebrity interviews
- College Articles
- College Essays
- Educator of the Year
- Heroes
- Interviews
- Memoir
- Personal Experience
- Sports
- Travel & Culture
All Opinions
- Bullying
- Current Events / Politics
- Discrimination
- Drugs / Alcohol / Smoking
- Entertainment / Celebrities
- Environment
- Love / Relationships
- Movies / Music / TV
- Pop Culture / Trends
- School / College
- Social Issues / Civics
- Spirituality / Religion
- Sports / Hobbies
All Hot Topics
- Bullying
- Community Service
- Environment
- Health
- Letters to the Editor
- Pride & Prejudice
- What Matters
- Back
Summer Guide
- Program Links
- Program Reviews
- Back
College Guide
- College Links
- College Reviews
- College Essays
- College Articles
- Back
To The Memory of James; An Apostrophe MAG
James, you were more than my cousin.
You were my best friend,
You were my whole world.
We did everything together.
The first third of my life was spent with you
You made me who I am today.
I still remember that day.
You were seven, I was five.
We were at grandma and grandpa’s,
Dressing up like we always did.
You were the policeman,
I was the firefighter.
We were playing a game,
A game that only you and I knew the rules to.
We ran around the house,
Laughing but forgetting
What was funny in the first place.
Your mom had come down to check on us,
Just in case.
But we were fine.
We were always fine.
She cooed over how cute we were,
Presing a sloppy kiss to your cheek.
You made a face, I laughed.
Your mom reached into her pocket,
Pulling out the camera
She carried with her everywhere.
She told us to hold still and smile.
You grinned, looking off into the distance.
I was smiling too, but my eyes were glued to you.
You were everything to me,
You were my whole world.
I wanted to be just like you.
A week passed.
I had just gotten home from preschool.
My mom got a call.
She sat me down, tears threatening to fall.
She told me you were gone.
My whole world was gone.
You had gone to the pool with your friends,
But you had gotten too excited.
You loved the water.
You jumped in, your lifejacket left on the bench,
And you didn’t come back out.
The water had swallowed you whole,
It wrapped you up in its arms and didn’t let go.
It held you there until your last breath had disappeared.
Yes, you loved the water
But it ended up being your downfall.
I was terrified for the longest time after.
I hated water for taking you away
And I was terrified that it would take me too.
I didn’t swim.
I didn’t go to the beach.
Bathtime was always a struggle.
I didn’t want to go away too.
I still miss you, James.
I’ve never been the same since you left.
I no longer hate the water.
We’ve come to a sort of understanding.
But I still miss you.
The photo from that day is sitting on my desk
Along with a note that you never got the chance to give me
Your parents found the drawing, James
I look at it every single day
Sometimes I feel like you’re right there with me
I love you, and I miss you
But I’ll be okay
I promise
Similar Articles
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
This article has 7 comments.
I'm really sorry for the loss of your cousin...I know how it feels to lose someone who you are really close with...It hurts...But, it is inevitable...
As an overall, all I have to say is, James is really lucky to have got you as his cousin...🤍🤍🤍
This is a poem I wrote for my creative writing class during our poetry unit. I decided to write my poem to my cousin James, who passed away when I was very young. The two of us were very close, and his loss affected me greatly. Writing this poem has become part of the healing process that has taken place over the course of a decade. The drawing mentioned in the poem was one that James had drawn for me the day after we had gotten together at our grandparents', dressing up. It was a picture of the two of us inside of a heart. He had drawn it intending to give it to me the next time we saw each other. Sadly, he passed away before he got the chance. His parents discovered it shortly after the incident and gave it to me at his funeral. The drawing along with the photo of us his mom had taken that day are framed and are currently on my desk, where I look at them almost every day.