Review Of Emmie Kimball's Poem 'When The Burning Begins'

Dear Patricia Smith, My name is Emmie Kimball, I am 14 years old and attend Kent Place School in New Jersey. During my English class, I was assigned to select a poem that really stood out to me and write to the poet. Your poem, “When the Burning Begins” really connected with me and I felt really moved by it because it made me realize that longing for the past is long and painful, but the memories you make are precious. To me, the most meaningful element in your poem is how you expressed how the memory felt in such a stirring way. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always been scared of death. Not just the “What happens in the afterlife?” or “Is there heaven?” but I’ve also been scared of being forgotten when and that I didn’t impact the world or make it a better place.
And during that time of hopelessness, good things can come, and the memories that you make are what's important. Another quote that I found meaningful was “The thing you have to remember about hot water cornbread is to wait for the burning” because it used the literary device of repetition of the remembrance which is shown in other places throughout the poem. The repetition of remembering reminds the reader, and you, that this memory is the past. I perceived you using the food as imagery because when food is burnt it still is the same, it’s just a little bit more bitter. In the beginning of the poem, the food is in the process of being cooked, you say “When you smell the burning begin, flip it. When you smell the burning begin again, dump it onto a plate. You’ve got to wait for the burn and get it just right.” The burn is a process. During that process, you dance and have