It comes rumbling down the street,
a steadily building thunder
A rage with this child’s name on it,
standing before me
Wanting to play with my sons….
wanting respite from the storm…
Not dumb, but full of questions because he wants to know…
Yet always stopped by the rage that follows him around…
KeeeeeWaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!!!! Errupts in the peaceful air,
interrupting our conversation,
where I try to hide my annoyance,
even as I know his little life is surrounded by
and filled with murderous dins,
and sudden threatening silence.
I feel helpless as I watch him
fly down the street on his scooter,
He does not hesitate as he goes back in;
Yet I hesitate to let him in,
even if it breaks my heart.
It scares me when their rage spills onto their front lawn—
A show we all pretend is not there…
We all watch agape, wondering what to do.
Is it enough to make THE call?
Always seems on the edge…
Helpless; we all feel helpless.
And she never asks for help,
Is it because she thinks we do not care?
And yet, daily a little bit of that rage,
Comes careening down the street and knocks on our door.
with a big, dumb smile on his face
Looking for a friend—with rage dogging his steps.
Always somewhere in the hidden corners
Of my wavering heart, I hear
“let the little children come unto me”
And it throws me into turmoil.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
A Loooong Time...
I had to take a little hiatus from my creative writing class for a while, but fortunately, the Institute of Children's Literature is allowing me to finish it. So pretty soon, I'll be posting here again. Yeah! The storm seems to be abating.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
First non-fiction article
Well, here it is. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. The idea seemed good in the beginning but now it just seems flat. I'm going to go ahead and send it in and let my instructor take a crack at it.
Surprising Friendships
Would it surprise you to know that the bully in your class can be helpful to the nicest kid? They can even become friends! If the kind person is being picked on, the bully can protect him. If the bully needs to pass math, the kind kid can help her.
Is that surprising? Look at nature. You can find some amazing friendships between living creatures too.
Most of the time butterflies and ants are enemies. Ants will eat butterflies that get hurt and cannot fly. However, in Australia there is a butterfly that has made friends with the ants. It is called the Common Imperial Blue.
Butterflies begin their lives as caterpillars. While the they are still caterpillars, ants will protect them from their enemies. The ants do this because the caterpillars secrete (make) a honey that the ants love to eat. Both insects get something good from their connection. This kind of relationship is called symbiosis.
In Africa there is a bird called the Oxpecker. This bird helps many large animals like zebras, giraffes, and buffalos. You might see them pecking the back, head, or in the ears of these large beasts. A very brave bird might even clean teeth! It may surprise you that the big animals don’t try to get rid of the birds.
The large animals do not find the little Oxpecker annoying because they are eating pests like gnats and fleas. A buffalo is happy to have the biting, bloodsucking pests gone. The bird is happy about the free lunch. They also get a great place to sunbathe!
The bird also helps the animals in another way. When the Oxpecker senses danger, it flies up and makes a loud noise. Then the large animals know there is a predator near by and they need to be very careful.
People also have a positive relationship with something surprising. Bacteria! These are tiny organisms that live inside a host plant or animal. Bacteria can cause people to be sick or have an infection. When someone has a bacterial infection the doctor gives them medicine to kill it. People are taught to clean a cut and wash their hands. Many soaps and sprays get rid of the bacteria on our bodies and in our home.
But there are bacteria living in human stomachs that are actually helpful. The stomach cannot easily digest some of the foods that come into it. Special bacteria that live in the stomach begin to break these difficult foods down. After the bacteria are done the job can easily be finished.
Our world is full of relationships like these that are unexpected and important.
If the ant did not help the butterfly, many Common Imperial Blue butterflies would not survive. If the tiny Oxpecker did not warn the large animals, many more would be killed by predators. And finally, if the usually nasty bacteria did not help people digest difficult foods, we might miss out on some important nutrition.
So next time you see a relationship that seems weird, look more closely. They are probably helping each other!
Would it surprise you to know that the bully in your class can be helpful to the nicest kid? They can even become friends! If the kind person is being picked on, the bully can protect him. If the bully needs to pass math, the kind kid can help her.
Is that surprising? Look at nature. You can find some amazing friendships between living creatures too.
Most of the time butterflies and ants are enemies. Ants will eat butterflies that get hurt and cannot fly. However, in Australia there is a butterfly that has made friends with the ants. It is called the Common Imperial Blue.
Butterflies begin their lives as caterpillars. While the they are still caterpillars, ants will protect them from their enemies. The ants do this because the caterpillars secrete (make) a honey that the ants love to eat. Both insects get something good from their connection. This kind of relationship is called symbiosis.
In Africa there is a bird called the Oxpecker. This bird helps many large animals like zebras, giraffes, and buffalos. You might see them pecking the back, head, or in the ears of these large beasts. A very brave bird might even clean teeth! It may surprise you that the big animals don’t try to get rid of the birds.
The large animals do not find the little Oxpecker annoying because they are eating pests like gnats and fleas. A buffalo is happy to have the biting, bloodsucking pests gone. The bird is happy about the free lunch. They also get a great place to sunbathe!
The bird also helps the animals in another way. When the Oxpecker senses danger, it flies up and makes a loud noise. Then the large animals know there is a predator near by and they need to be very careful.
People also have a positive relationship with something surprising. Bacteria! These are tiny organisms that live inside a host plant or animal. Bacteria can cause people to be sick or have an infection. When someone has a bacterial infection the doctor gives them medicine to kill it. People are taught to clean a cut and wash their hands. Many soaps and sprays get rid of the bacteria on our bodies and in our home.
But there are bacteria living in human stomachs that are actually helpful. The stomach cannot easily digest some of the foods that come into it. Special bacteria that live in the stomach begin to break these difficult foods down. After the bacteria are done the job can easily be finished.
Our world is full of relationships like these that are unexpected and important.
If the ant did not help the butterfly, many Common Imperial Blue butterflies would not survive. If the tiny Oxpecker did not warn the large animals, many more would be killed by predators. And finally, if the usually nasty bacteria did not help people digest difficult foods, we might miss out on some important nutrition.
So next time you see a relationship that seems weird, look more closely. They are probably helping each other!
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Rocker Time
I sit in the rocker with my son curled up contentedly in my lap. I relish these moments knowing that all too quickly his arms and legs will outgrow this comfort. We sit silently rocking back and forth. Inwardly,I cringe at all the times he's held up his arms and said "hold me" that I've said no because something was drawing my attention. As I sit here rocking, now I know that at those times, I am completely insane. It is moments like these that he will remember some many years down the road when he is too old to be held by his mother. It is moments like these that will bring him calm and joy in his remembrances of childhood, not a spotless house.
As I sit rocking and he sleeping, I feel a healing in my soul that isn't like any other. It is as if the troubled places in my soul swirl around and around, disappearing into a vortex of forgetfulness. Every person I have ever wronged marches by quietly whispering: you are forgiven. Those who have wronged me ask forgiveness and I say yes, easily and quickly and God himself reaches from somewhere inside nothing and asks my soul to dance again. All that as I sit in my rocker with my 3 year old curled in my lap.
As I sit rocking and he sleeping, I feel a healing in my soul that isn't like any other. It is as if the troubled places in my soul swirl around and around, disappearing into a vortex of forgetfulness. Every person I have ever wronged marches by quietly whispering: you are forgiven. Those who have wronged me ask forgiveness and I say yes, easily and quickly and God himself reaches from somewhere inside nothing and asks my soul to dance again. All that as I sit in my rocker with my 3 year old curled in my lap.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
PIck Six
Pick Six – exercise from Write Brain, day 155
Write down 6 things within your line of vision
Now use all six in a piece that begins with It’s funny, the more I…..
MY LIST
Dying flowers
Mirror
Calculator
Silver tea service
Lap top
Pile of children’s magazines
It’s funny, the more I….look at those dead flowers in the crystal vase, the more I want to pick them up and dash them into the mirror behind them. They only serve to make me feel like I’m really, really behind. No matter how hard I work, there always seems to be some flowers dying in a vase somewhere. But isn’t life like that? Just as soon as you choose to focus on one thing, something else has to wither away. This is reality at its finest. However, modern popular culture tells us that we are failures if we can’t do it all. But the deft use of one of our modern conveniences, like a calculator, will reveal that the numbers don’t add up! You’ve got to choose between many things. Either polish the antiquated silver tea service or type away on your shiny new laptop and read through that pile of children’s magazines. If the guilt is overwhelming, you may need to pack the tea service and the vase away until you have time to maintain them or the money to hire someone to maintain them for you. That’s it; I have to choose. For today I choose to BE A WRITER and raise my precious boys….. Now for a game of “let’s pretend”; afterall, it can only serve to help my writing anyway!
Write down 6 things within your line of vision
Now use all six in a piece that begins with It’s funny, the more I…..
MY LIST
Dying flowers
Mirror
Calculator
Silver tea service
Lap top
Pile of children’s magazines
It’s funny, the more I….look at those dead flowers in the crystal vase, the more I want to pick them up and dash them into the mirror behind them. They only serve to make me feel like I’m really, really behind. No matter how hard I work, there always seems to be some flowers dying in a vase somewhere. But isn’t life like that? Just as soon as you choose to focus on one thing, something else has to wither away. This is reality at its finest. However, modern popular culture tells us that we are failures if we can’t do it all. But the deft use of one of our modern conveniences, like a calculator, will reveal that the numbers don’t add up! You’ve got to choose between many things. Either polish the antiquated silver tea service or type away on your shiny new laptop and read through that pile of children’s magazines. If the guilt is overwhelming, you may need to pack the tea service and the vase away until you have time to maintain them or the money to hire someone to maintain them for you. That’s it; I have to choose. For today I choose to BE A WRITER and raise my precious boys….. Now for a game of “let’s pretend”; afterall, it can only serve to help my writing anyway!
Monday, June 26, 2006
A writing exercise
In a paragraph or two, describe the setting of somewhere you know well using the language and tone of someone who is happy, depressed, puzzled, and scared. Here are happy and depressed. The others will come later. I went back to my living room again.
Happy
I opened my front door and entered the living room, cheeks all aglow. I felt inspired. I glanced around at the room where I had come up with the story idea. It’s a great room, full of color and cheer. In the beginning the idea of so many bright colors had scared me but I’m glad my best friend had talked me into it. At first when I had started to paint the walls bright yellow, I cringed inwardly. But when finished painting, I could almost feel the warmth of the sun and I loved it. Now, I sit down in my big yellow story chair and put my feet up on the multi-colored ottoman with a modernistic design. Matching pillows are scattered throughout the room on all the couches. Here I have spent many happy hours reading to my boys and survey the cheerful room. Directly across from me, contrasting the yellow walls, is an electric blue couch that invites you to jump into the tropical scene that hangs above it. I often imagine myself stepping onto that island to frolic on its beaches. To the right of this couch on the wall perpendicular is a red loveseat that matches the red in the roof of the tropical vacation house in the painting above it. It too, brings back fond memories and aspirations of future sojourns in places just like it. Directly opposite, a treasured table sits under the picture window. Growing up, I spent many hours around this table with my family. On top are displayed my three golden yellow ceramic Koi fish. Looking at them always brings out my good spirits. In the center of the room is my coffee table with its many drawers on the sides and family pictures on top, along with an array of my toddler’s picture books.
Depressed
I open my door a trudge in the front door, dropping my bags near the big chair with its tacky ottoman. What was I thinking when I picked out this furniture grouping? A red couch, a blue couch, and the big yellow chair with its multi-colored ottoman and matching pillows that are thrown around the room. The colors assault my eyes, grating my nerves. I can’t even think about relaxing in a room like this. Under the window is the old dingy table that we used to eat dinner on while I was growing up. Some would call it a family heirloom. I see it for what it is: a poor excuse for an inheritance. On top sit the fish sculptures I bought on clearance at some store at the beach. I liked them then; now they just remind me of how unfulfilled my life feels with their big gaping mouths always hungering for more. In the middle of the room sits a big coffee table filled with small drawers on two sides…great places to hide a bunch of useless crap. My sons love to hide their little treasures in them and then find them again as if they were uncovering some sort of hidden treasure. Sigh. I wish I had a tenth of their enthusiasm. I wasn’t always this cranky and miserable; after all somewhere inside is the person who thought all these colors were tasteful.
Happy
I opened my front door and entered the living room, cheeks all aglow. I felt inspired. I glanced around at the room where I had come up with the story idea. It’s a great room, full of color and cheer. In the beginning the idea of so many bright colors had scared me but I’m glad my best friend had talked me into it. At first when I had started to paint the walls bright yellow, I cringed inwardly. But when finished painting, I could almost feel the warmth of the sun and I loved it. Now, I sit down in my big yellow story chair and put my feet up on the multi-colored ottoman with a modernistic design. Matching pillows are scattered throughout the room on all the couches. Here I have spent many happy hours reading to my boys and survey the cheerful room. Directly across from me, contrasting the yellow walls, is an electric blue couch that invites you to jump into the tropical scene that hangs above it. I often imagine myself stepping onto that island to frolic on its beaches. To the right of this couch on the wall perpendicular is a red loveseat that matches the red in the roof of the tropical vacation house in the painting above it. It too, brings back fond memories and aspirations of future sojourns in places just like it. Directly opposite, a treasured table sits under the picture window. Growing up, I spent many hours around this table with my family. On top are displayed my three golden yellow ceramic Koi fish. Looking at them always brings out my good spirits. In the center of the room is my coffee table with its many drawers on the sides and family pictures on top, along with an array of my toddler’s picture books.
Depressed
I open my door a trudge in the front door, dropping my bags near the big chair with its tacky ottoman. What was I thinking when I picked out this furniture grouping? A red couch, a blue couch, and the big yellow chair with its multi-colored ottoman and matching pillows that are thrown around the room. The colors assault my eyes, grating my nerves. I can’t even think about relaxing in a room like this. Under the window is the old dingy table that we used to eat dinner on while I was growing up. Some would call it a family heirloom. I see it for what it is: a poor excuse for an inheritance. On top sit the fish sculptures I bought on clearance at some store at the beach. I liked them then; now they just remind me of how unfulfilled my life feels with their big gaping mouths always hungering for more. In the middle of the room sits a big coffee table filled with small drawers on two sides…great places to hide a bunch of useless crap. My sons love to hide their little treasures in them and then find them again as if they were uncovering some sort of hidden treasure. Sigh. I wish I had a tenth of their enthusiasm. I wasn’t always this cranky and miserable; after all somewhere inside is the person who thought all these colors were tasteful.
Monday, June 19, 2006
My Serenity
I think this is finished. Now I have to make excuses to my teacher for why its so dreadfully late. I think I'll just not even go there. Ugh!!!! Maybe just the mention of toddler and infant will do the trick? Double ugh!!!! got to get over that if I ever want to make a go of this writing stuff!
The Inland waterway cuts through our town, bringing with it a quiet serenity yet stirring our restless hearts. I love to go up to the park that sits on its shores when I need some time to think things through. It is a refuge from my sometimes mixed up world. The pleasure boats that churn their way south through the locks serve as a reminder that everything is temporary.
Today is one of those days that I need the refuge of my special place in the park. I hurry past the playground where a rowdy band of toddlers screech and giggle their way through a game of tag. On the other side of the park is the canal where a parade of white sales flutters in the breeze as they wait to go through the locks heading south for a summer of carefree travel. The sound of the skippers calling to one another fades when I step onto the wooded path that leads to my special place.
I remove my shoes so that I can feel the mixture of fine sand and pine needles massaging my toes. It is peaceful to be walking along the path with the sound of the water gently lapping the shore. Towering pines give me relief from the heat of the late afternoon sun and dull the noise that emanates from the park area. Several herons add to the tranquility as they gracefully alight in the tall grass and survey the scene before them without making a sound. They keep a wary eye on me as I ramble through their domain, only stirring when the silence is broken by fish jumping out of the water.
Breathing deeply, my lungs are filled with the sweet scent of honeysuckle that permeates the air. I can almost taste the sugary nectar of the flowers. Not wanting to risk the fiery stings of the honey bees that swarm through the vines with a clear intention of making off with all the bounty found within, I continue on my way.
Rounding a bend in the path the beauty is interrupted by a rusty barge languishing on the opposite shore. In years to come, it will hardly be noticeable as it sinks ever further into the mud and muck and is overtaken by trees and marsh grass. Even here, the elegant herons add beauty and quietude.
I reach my spot and snuggle into the small alcove off the path. Tiny crabs and water bugs scatter in every direction, though some of the crabs stay close by in the crevices of driftwood pieces as if to challenge my intrusive presence. Hiding among the wheat grass, I imagine myself one of the tiny residents of this sandy sanctuary. Moments later the creatures return, grudgingly accepting my presence in their world. Leaning back on a small tree, I relax and take in the captivating beauty of what surrounds me. The sun begins to sink into the horizon adding a dramatic orange blaze to the stark blue canvas. I close my eyes and listen as the tree frogs and crickets begin their nightly concert. There is nowhere else I’d rather be at this moment.
The Inland waterway cuts through our town, bringing with it a quiet serenity yet stirring our restless hearts. I love to go up to the park that sits on its shores when I need some time to think things through. It is a refuge from my sometimes mixed up world. The pleasure boats that churn their way south through the locks serve as a reminder that everything is temporary.
Today is one of those days that I need the refuge of my special place in the park. I hurry past the playground where a rowdy band of toddlers screech and giggle their way through a game of tag. On the other side of the park is the canal where a parade of white sales flutters in the breeze as they wait to go through the locks heading south for a summer of carefree travel. The sound of the skippers calling to one another fades when I step onto the wooded path that leads to my special place.
I remove my shoes so that I can feel the mixture of fine sand and pine needles massaging my toes. It is peaceful to be walking along the path with the sound of the water gently lapping the shore. Towering pines give me relief from the heat of the late afternoon sun and dull the noise that emanates from the park area. Several herons add to the tranquility as they gracefully alight in the tall grass and survey the scene before them without making a sound. They keep a wary eye on me as I ramble through their domain, only stirring when the silence is broken by fish jumping out of the water.
Breathing deeply, my lungs are filled with the sweet scent of honeysuckle that permeates the air. I can almost taste the sugary nectar of the flowers. Not wanting to risk the fiery stings of the honey bees that swarm through the vines with a clear intention of making off with all the bounty found within, I continue on my way.
Rounding a bend in the path the beauty is interrupted by a rusty barge languishing on the opposite shore. In years to come, it will hardly be noticeable as it sinks ever further into the mud and muck and is overtaken by trees and marsh grass. Even here, the elegant herons add beauty and quietude.
I reach my spot and snuggle into the small alcove off the path. Tiny crabs and water bugs scatter in every direction, though some of the crabs stay close by in the crevices of driftwood pieces as if to challenge my intrusive presence. Hiding among the wheat grass, I imagine myself one of the tiny residents of this sandy sanctuary. Moments later the creatures return, grudgingly accepting my presence in their world. Leaning back on a small tree, I relax and take in the captivating beauty of what surrounds me. The sun begins to sink into the horizon adding a dramatic orange blaze to the stark blue canvas. I close my eyes and listen as the tree frogs and crickets begin their nightly concert. There is nowhere else I’d rather be at this moment.
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