hula-hoops and a garage

A  sandy-haired 10 year-old stood on the steps of her townhome swaying her hips in an attempt to keep the pink and purple hula-hoop twirling and looping around her waist.  There was not a trace of defeat as she hunched her back and draped her arms to once again retrieve the hoop from the cement to place it around her waist.

Not too many yards away from her was a shaggy-haired, 5-o'clock shadow wearing man working beside his one-car garage.  He moved his handsaw back and forth diagonally along the birch bark branch.  After a closer look, it became apparent that the previous bird-perch, shadow provider, leaf grower would soon find its new occupation as the support to a hand-crafted tv remote perch, a coffee-mug rest, a magazine holder.

It was two years ago that a 11-year old girl laden with her purple backpack and swinging her lunch bag entered her townhome garage at 4:00 after a spring day of learning at her elementary school.  I am sure the day was filled with many of the usual activities: silent reading; microscope viewing; hopscotch jumping; and problem solving.  But her life changed instantly upon finding her mother dead, hanging from the garage beam. She arrived before her 9-year-old sister; she arrived to bear the news alone.

As I passed the townhomes on my run the other day, I was reminded of the beauty, simplicity, tragedy, and complexity of life.  Hula-hoops, hand-made crafts, suicide, and suffering all mix together and create what we call life.  I am moved to be thankful for the simple joys of this life and I am moved to pray fervently for the suffering of those who hunch their backs, drape their arms, and pick themselves up and move on in life while laden with the secrets and grief of tragedy and hardship.  

Songs and Spring--Iambic Pentameter

A song that speaks right through the soul can be

A song that can change someone's heart to see.

Sungeun K.

How her melody sings into my heart

Each note a memory of days gone by.

Anna C.

She walks along the street that winds and bends

For right now she is where she wants to be.

Yvonne M.

Judging

SUSAN BOYLE YOUTUBE LINK

Susan Boyle is a reminder to me that one must look much further than a hairstyle; a style of dress; a swagger; or even a background to know the true gifts of a person.  I hope I will allow myself to be amazed by someone today and tomorrow by waiting to hear his voice; by hoping to see her talent come to life; or by seeing the beauty where my human eye had previously failed to notice.

Blessings to you Miss Boyle.  My the world give back to you in abundance all that you so graciously gave to your mother; to your church; to your "willage"; and to the youtube watching world.

Peace by Natalie B.

Powerful images help to reveal the comfort of peace. Thank you, Natalie, for this beautiful poem.  You really emphasize the power of peace with your structure.  

Natalie B.
Peace


Withered and wasted
after these miles I have ambled,
Step after step
my feet
they do grow weary,
This sand
a scorching bed of coals
paves the path in all directions,
This sun
a raging fireball
hangs just above my head,
The time is soon approaching
when my body finds it hopeless
to continue on like this,
This heat will only grieve me
so I crumple in distress.

A
drop
of
water
hits
my
skin,
With many more to follow,
They come to bring me back to life
and wash my bloody feet,
Kind and soft
these beads they kiss my face,
Sweat and tears are gone
I am left with the purest rain.

Similes with a laugh

Would you like extra credit?  If so, submit your original metaphor or simile to me.  The funnier it is the more extra credit for you.

Hope you laugh...

from a Washington Post contest of funniest analogies from actual high school essays collected by English teachers across the country. 
 
1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a ThighMaster.
 
2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
 
3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
 
4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.
 
5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
 
6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
 
7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.
 
8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.
 
9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
 
10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
 
11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
 
12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
 
13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
 
14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
 
15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.
 
16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
 
17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.
 
18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long it had rusted shut.
 
19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
 
20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
 
21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
 
22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
 
23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
 
24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.
 
25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

Sometimes

This is day number two of watching a tenacious Robin outside my kitchen window grab, pull, yank dried leaves from the garden.  She gets a beak-full of about 10 strands before she flies away.  I haven't timed how long she is gone, but it seems only minutes before she returns and begins gathering her homemaking tools again.  

I just received sad news from a friend that her beloved 3-year-old golden doodle is sick with cancer.  They will have to make a hard decision soon.  And a student, Diane, just put down her 16 year-old dog.  She was two when they got her as a puppy.  

Two best friends eat lunch together every day in the library.  Everyday.  Today the order was two sandwiches and a coke; yesterday, it was one sandwich each and a bottle of water.  This ritual takes place everyday all year; I just noticed it yesterday.  

Tomorrow I leave to see my dearest friend in Seattle.  I get to board a plane and in 3 hours I am in a new place and different home.  I know it will be filled with laughter, reminiscing, long discussions, and a sad goodbye.

Sometimes we work hard to build our lives; sometimes what we have put our hope and our love into suddenly disappears; sometimes we get the blessing of spending every lunch hour with a dear friend; and sometimes we are lucky enough just to have a dear friend even if she is thousands of miles away.  Sometimes we miss what is right in front of us until we simply stop to take notice.  Spring beckons us to find the joy in what is new.

Peace by Gregory M. III

The 12th grade student-poet Gregory M. deserves an introduction (plus he begged me to say something about him!).  He commands attention by his sheer height and his carefully chosen raiments.  He is a beast on the basketball court and adamantly shows his passion for the game.  Give him a basketball and he owns the space, the room, the world!  Without any further ado, I present to you his poem on peace.  May you indeed receive the beautiful promises of Peace Greg presents in his poem and may her comforting presence  stay with you today, tomorrow, and always.  

Peace

She whispers in your ear

With no intentions of harm.

Her touch so very gentle,

As she caresses the side of your face.

Must she even say anything?

Or can she just sit with you gracefully?

Her movements bring joy

For people of all descents.

She comes from a perfect world,

Perfect.

Although we aren't accustomed to seeing her, 

The rare presence lightens everyone's face, 

Her skin is perfect with no sight of blemishes,

And her dress lies on her back so elegantly.

People strive to greet her,

Welcome

Her with open arms.

But then she vanishes,

Again.

Tag Galaxy

Tag Galaxy is Far Out!!  Click on this link to be amazed.  Enter "Poem" to read thousands of poems

Merely a Pebble by Megan S.

Merely a Pebble

A pebble.

Small,

Gray,

Round.

Just merely a pebble.

Routinely stepped on,

Walked over, 

Ignored,

Overlooked.

Eroded and worn down.

Merely the size of a penny, 

What could it possibly disturb?

Picked up and thrown into the pond by a small boy,

It becomes more than a pebble.

The fish turn their heads as an intruding object disrupts their atmosphere.

The waves from the rippling effect only slightly brush the sea plants back and forth.

A nearby fisherman scorns and furrows his brow as he searches for what has hindered his

potential catch,

His supper.

A child marvels at the way the insignificant stone leaps across the water, 

Bouncing with energy and life.

The pebble.

Merely a pebble.

Seen and felt yet overlooked by all.

Worn down and insignificant, 

Yet causing a 

Disturbance.

Walk On

Click on the picture of DJ Gregory to link to the ESPN video.

I will try not to complain; I will try not to be tired; and I will try to be thankful for each pain-free step I take.

Walk On can only inspire one to look toward a goal and to move toward it one careful step at a time even if one falls and struggles to get moving forward again.

Thanks, Dad, for the video!!

The Satrical Love of Poetry By Colin S.

Love of Poetry

Poetry is not entertaining.
It cannot be fun
Whenever I read it,
I look for a gun.
Its verbal rhymes assault me,
The meter beats me with pain.
Should it ever be uttered,
I’ll jump in front of a train.
Alas, I hear its fell syllables,
All hope is lost
Is there a nearby river of fire
That I might swim acrosst?
O lyrics so foul,
Running round in my head.
If nothing else
I wish I were dead.
Everything about it is wrong;
I’m sure it’s a sin.
Yet you fools walk ‘round
Reciting with grin.
Poetry takes my soul,
It drains my life.
Surely it fills the world
With nothing but strife.
It is the tool of the devil,
The 7th plague of hell.
How can you people tell me
It wishes me well?
Its task, it seems,
To fill us with knowledge.
Should I hear much more,
I’ll die before college.
The words consume me,
They drown me in flames
Dost thou not hear me?
I’m done with your games!
I don’t like poetry
Of this my teacher knows.
Can we please hurry up
And get back to prose?
~Colin Sabie, 12th grade

Are you smarter than an 8th grader??

My dad sent me the following link, and he is inquiring about what my students have to say about such a test. I am only giving you the English part of the exam. Could you pass 8th grade in 1895? My grandma only had an 8th grade education, and at the ripe old age of 97, she can still recite the two poems she memorized for her 8th grade graduation!

Would you be a better writer if you could answer the questions? How quickly could you access the answers on google? If you don't know the answers, do you think your teachers have let you down by not teaching this material? What have you been taught instead in your English classes?
8th Grade Final Exam: Salina , KS - 1895
Grammar (Time, one hour)
1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of 'lie,''play,' and 'run.'
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6 What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.