By Rachel Arulanantham

Touching down, the brown arid land beckons

To others the land is waste, I reckon.

Strolling through stores and public places

The sweet, acrid smell of cigarettes leave traces.

The constant sounds of slot machines ringing

Keeps me clinging

To memories of past events and giant parties

That are reminiscent of levity.

The tempestuous, placid weather

Has acted like a tether

Fixing me to my city

With all the possibilities that come with variety.

The breezes that carry with them

The earthy rich scent of alfalfa cut from the stem

And the screechy cawing of bluebirds

Has cured

Me from any ailment I might have had

And left me unappeased by the life of a nomad.

All this and more

Has made leaving a chore

And coming back from a roam

The best feeling of being home.

Companion Essay

            I chose to write about being born and raised in a city known for its gambling and prostitution. This topic makes for a good poem because it represents an experience that many people have preconceptions about; I have endured a lot of comments about how Reno isn’t a place conducive for raising children. These comments really irk me because Reno, like all cities, has crime but it’s also filled with people who are caring and intelligent.

The majority of my poem is about the unconventional things in Reno that remind me of home and that make me miss it. Nevada is a desert so looking down on the landscape everything is brown and dry looking. “…the brown arid land beckons.” For most people, in Seattle especially, brown land does not immediately draw up images of beauty, but it is what I have always used as my model of allure. Since there is a large population of smokers in Reno, many of the public restaurants and stores have the faint smell of cigarette smoke. To many this smell is malodorous, but I always find it slightly sweet. Nevada is the only state that has slot machines in its store; whenever you do any grocery shopping you can hear slot machines clanging in the background. Also, many of our school events were held in the casinos since they could support the most amount of people. Now whenever I hear the sound of coins in slot machines, it immediately takes me back to good memories of prom and other school functions.

Another unique thing about Reno is its weather. Every day you need to leave the house prepared since you can never be sure about what type of weather you are likely to see. I like this variety because it always keeps you on your toes; everyday can potentially have a million new adventures just based on the weather. There are many unique sounds and smells that I have come to associate with Reno; “The earthy rich scent of alfalfa cut from the stem. And the screechy cawing of bluebirds.

When I hear or smell these things away from home, it makes me homesick and nostalgic.

All of these things have given me a greater appreciation for my hometown and made me appreciate all the little things that I have taken for granted. Sometimes it just takes going away from home to realize that everything you might have hated, are really the things that are the most special.

I decided to have a simple rhyme scheme of eleven couplets. I chose to do this because it didn’t detract from the topic I was trying to describe. I haven’t written many poems, and the ones I have written were very short and to the point. This is how I write so I didn’t want to mess with something that has worked well for me in the past. The topic I am describing is pretty simple in itself so it doesn’t need a complex rhyme scheme to convey it. I had a difficult time with the rhyme scheme I chose even though it’s very basic. I wanted to find rhymes that were creative and unique. Many famous poems I have read remind me of the poems from elementary school, like the ones in Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. I didn’t want my poem to be like this because

Reno is known as the “Biggest Little City in the World” because it has all of the novelties that Las Vegas has, but it’s smaller. The memories I have of growing up there are likewise big and little; they may seem small to others, but in the scheme of my life they have a huge impact.

It took me a while to decide what topic to write about because I wanted it to be original and something that people could relate to. Although the topic of homesickness and the love of home has been done before, it really resonated with me. This is the first time I’ve been away from home and so this is the first time I’m really experiencing homesickness. Because of this I am truly appreciating all of the little quirks of my city and all of the things that make it unique.