Sand Vs. Snow - By: Aya Skouta

I remember back home

and the sand

The sand that would lay in your lungs

The sand that would scorch your

Souls

I remember

The smiles drawing into the sand

Racing home, putting candy on our parents tabs

The everlasting happiness, the never ending heat

The heat that could carry my tears for me

The sand that would hug me, that would lay with me

I remember back home

The oranges, the sweet and sour

The kind that made my eyes cross

The peeling and drooling

The oranges I ate

I remember

The city, my birthplace

Visited every Friday

To see mema

To play mermaid in the ocean

To eat and eat

To love and love

To be cared for by so much family

So much souls that has been scorched by the sand

So much souls bathing in the fire

The beauty of it

The heat that only we could endure

Our sand

Our souls

Our land

The land we took back

I remember back home

When I had to leave

The plane took me and my mother

I cried because I knew

She was doing it for me

So I could be big

So I could learn

There language

So I can be taken seriously

I remember

The smiles drawn into the snow that turned into a frown

There was no more sand or Pom trees

No more celebrations

No more music

Or dancing

I remember back home

I ate oranges

But here I no longer ate them

I no longer could stand the smell

And they tasted like lost youth

I remember

The snow didn’t hold my tears

It didn’t dry them for me

The show froze them on my face

It scared them on my face

As a reminder

I remember

I no longer went to ma’s house

We stayed home on Friday

I did my homework on Friday

I remember

Missing home

But appreciating the new one

I remember

learning how to wipe my own tears

Before the snow could freeze them

I remember

learning to draw smiles into the snow

I remember

the snowy wonderland and I am thankful

For it creating the person I am today

I remember

being split between

The two homes

I loved the most

I remember back home

And think of two places

Please give a detailed explanation about the meaning and main idea of this poem

This is the story on how I moved from Morocco my home country, to Canada. A new experience completely. I hated the snow when I was younger, but slowly got used to it. The main idea of this poem was nostalgia and coming to love my new home, Canada.

Please explain your writing and thought process regarding this poem.

I really wanted to write a poem about how I hated oranges now but used to love them when I was younger, I them remembered how much I missed the fruit back home, and then the poem kind of got created from there.

Why did you choose to write this poem?

I was missing home, missing fruits and foods and family, but I was also extremely grateful for Canada and how much opportunities it gave me.

Do you have any tips or anything to share with the youth writers who may be reading this? (optional)

Home is everything!