Tribute to Timmy

There we were, an adventurous group
who looked forward to the trip,
a troupe of scouts, with packs and skills
not knowing that one of our strings would be snipped

When Timmy's string was cut,
this was no longer a journey,
rather it was an unexpected dedication
that turned our sunshine rainy

This poem has a volta right in the middle, a shift from an optimistic tone to a bitter tone. The rhyme scheme in both stanzas is A B C B. However I did take some liberties with the rhyme between "trip" and "snipped" due to the tenses of the words. The last line has a bit of imagery in it, as does the snipping of the string. The snipping of the string is also doubles as a reference to the 3 Fates in Greek mythology that cut the life strings of people when they die. The last word, "rainy", while sort of rhyming with journey, is a bit difference to emphasize the "rainy" mood.

Activities A, B and C

A)
Is there a tune more happy than a daughter's windchime laugh?
A silence more crushing than her rolling tear?
I there a breeze more cooling than a son's slumbered sigh?
A thought more awesome than the question he asks?
And is there a truer joy when I am the clown?
Shame when I accuse and rage?
Peace when I pull up the sheet?
Pride when I strike the flint?
I made these kids and I make these kids.
And they make me.

B)
Pastis, 43, credits Schulz for giving birth to his career, too.
He was a frustrated insurance lawyer yearning for a career as an artist
when he approached Schulz, who was eating breakfast in a diner,
and introduced himself as an aspiring cartoonist.
Much to his amazement, Schulz invited him to sit down
and spent an hour giving him advice.
Schulz even asked Pastis to retrieve his portfolio from his car,
so he could critique his work.

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/131470203.html

C)
What is it about time and change? Life is such a mysterious thing. People like to think that they can predict the future based on patterns, but I'm finding this is not always the case. Take what happened to me in A.P. Economics class yesterday. At the beginning of this class the announcements come on, talking about club meetings and the school newspaper. Then towards the end, the announcer says "And now, if you so choose, you may stand for the pledge of allegiance". Guess what happens? About four of the thirty or so people do it, including me. Most of the students stay seated and talk about whatever. I think to myself, why does this happen? I've seen it happen before. I remember reading about some students who got suspended from school because they didn't stand up to recite the pledge. Based on how students always recited the pledge in the past, you'd think that students would do the same today but it's just not happening. Why? Times change, and so do people. Perhaps the new generation doesn't think America is perfect.

Poem version:

What is it about time and change? Life is such a mysterious thing.
People like to think that they can predict the future based on patterns,
but I'm finding this is not always the case.
Take what happened to me in A.P. Economics class yesterday.
At the beginning of this class the announcements come on,
talking about club meetings and the school newspaper.
Then towards the end, the announcer says
"And now, if you so choose, you may stand for the pledge of allegiance".
Guess what happens?
About four of the thirty or so people do it, including me.
Most of the students stay seated and talk about whatever.
I think to myself, why does this happen?
I've seen it happen before.
I remember reading about some students who got suspended from school
because they didn't stand up to recite the pledge.
Based on how students always recited the pledge in the past,
you'd think that students would do the same today
but it's just not happening.
Why?
Times change, and so do people.
Perhaps the new generation doesn't think America is perfect.

10 Ways of Looking at a Half-Filled Glass of Water

I. You can look at it half empty

With disappointment and sadness

II. You can look at it half full

With gratitude and happiness

III. You can see a dirty cup

Filthy and unsanitary

IV. You could see a clean cup

Spick and span

V. You might see ditch water

Impure and nasty

VI. You could see clean water

Filtered and healthy

VII. You can see a bad sign

An omen of despair and a bleak future

VIII. You can see a good sign

A symbol of hope and good things to come

IX. You can see a half empty glass

And a depressing world with it

X. You can see a half full glass

And a wonderful life with it

The Ride

Looking at the bike in the garage,
I drank in the helmet hanging on the handlebars.
The kickstand down, the whole bike up,
ready to be of service.
Sitting in a dusky garage,
with only a small window to show the light,
the most wonderful feeling
slumbers in the most unlikely place.
Taking the bike out onto the driveway,
it almost seems to wake up.
Casting off the blanket of sleep,
it stretches and gets ready.
Once I'm on the bike, it seems like a horse.
It was anxious, now that it was awakened,
to be off and about.
Pedling out of the driveway is like taking flight,
chasing the unknown and infinity.
Once we have begun the ride, the bike and I,
We have succeeded: We have escaped.

Modernism Poem

This poem represents modernism

It’s really quite concise

It doesn’t follow many old rules

And it reacts against romanticism

Twinkle Poem

*
***
Twinkle
are.---Twinkle
you-----------little
what -----------------star how I wonder
wonder --------------------what
I -------------------you
how --------------------are.
star ----------------------Up
little------dimond a-------above
twinkle---in---------like--------the
twinkle-the-------------high,--world
****sky------------------------so****
***----------------------------------***
**---------------------------------------**
*-------------------------------------------*

Elegy about my Grandma

My Grandma's name was Carol,
She was a really awesome cook,
When I was young she'd pamper me
By reading me her books.
Her pancakes were really tasty,
I remember those really well,
They nearly always had blueberries
I loved them, she could tell.

But now my Grandma's gone,
And she's been gone for years,
Yet even though it's been so long
Memories are like tears.
While she was just one member,
Of my extended family,
She was just as important as the rest
And now she's gone daily.

It seems like there not much to do,
The past is set in stone.
But Grandma gave us all
The important things she'd known.
At the end of the day, what matters most,
Isn't money, fame or power.
What's most important, in life and death,
Is happiness like flowers.

Villanelle

School is weird, it's absurd and a pain
Adults seem to think that it's a good institution
To me school just tries to blowout your brain

At times it can be like a psychological chain
They say that it is the perfect solution
School is weird, it's absurd and a pain

It promotes straining your neck like a crane
Parents say they make important contributions
To me school just tries to blowout your brain

Its goal appears to be to drive you insane
By teaching things such as evolution
School is weird, it's absurd and a pain

Not only does it put people under strain
Going there feels like an execution
To me school just tries to blowout your brain

School's a lot like a drain
Teachers and students war in retribution
School is weird, it's absurd and a pain
To me school just tries to blowout your brain

Metrical Breaks and Line Variations

1)
I know that school should be some fun
But I don't see that side of it
I only know of work and strife
Mom and Dad are kidding themselves

2)
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
I hear this all the time,
"Why do I need to have answers right now?"
I want to say just that,
Knowing my parents would want me to say
I know exactly what.

The first poem has three lines of iambic tetrameter followed by a line of trochaic tetrameter. This poem expresses my exaspiration with Mom and Dad for thinking that school is fun all the time and the last line is emphasized to plainly tell the reader what I think about Mom and Dad's attitude.
The second poem has alternating lines of dactylic trimeter with an extra stressed syllable on the end and iambic trimeter. This is also a form of venting for me, because since I'm getting ready for college, people ask me what I want to do when I grow up and/or what I want to major in. It gets rather tiring, and Mom and Dad seem to think I should already have an exact idea. I guess I don't handle getting older very well.

Poems Reflection

I liked my first poem the best, because it does three things that the others don't: It's short, it's less restricted, and it's original. I like shortness of it because it doesn't need to drag on and use words that are not helpful in conveying the ideas that the poem is trying to convey; It's short and sweet, not stretched and deluded. I like the format because it is not as restrictive as some of the other poetic forms, where you need accented and unaccented syllables. I this poem, I can use a wider variety of word choice and not have to worry about stressed and unstressed syllables. Finally, it's original and isn't like a whole lot of the other poems that I wrote. On the whole, the first poem is the best, since I had a head full of creative juices for the first poem.

Poem 6: Anapestic Tetrameter

Look around, Man has ruined all the things he has touched
Only that which has dodged his destructive long reach
Has survived a bit longer but always in peril
It's a wonder that Earth hasn't fallen not yet.

Poem 5: Dactylic Tetrameter

Man without thought always ruining the earth's nature
Judging and hating all things that are God's making
Oh how did Man get reduced to this state, oh why
How to regain all the stuff he's destroyed oh how?

Poem 4: Trochaic Tetrameter

Humans never make good choices
Man is always ripping beauty
Killing life and crushing spirits
In the end he only loses

Poem 3: Iambic Tetrameter

The race of man is crazy mad
They only judge and critisize
How bad the things of man's hard hands
How bleak the world controlled by man

Poem 2: 4 Lines 9 Syllables

People are absolutely crazy
They've made far more terrors than wonders
Humans critisize and judge others
Man may be the worst living being

Tanka Poem

People are insane
They're always causing conflict
They make war not peace
They are very judgemental
Man may be the worst species

Anapestic Terameter Poem: Bobby-McDour.

There was once a big hippo named Bobby-McDour.
He was happy with life but his toast tasted sour.
So he went to the store to ask Joe for some sweets,
But the store had run out, and McDour had no eats.
And when things looked their worst and no food had appeared,
That McDour got some luck from a source something weird.
When the mail came McDour found a pack full of gum,
It might not go with toast, but it's sweet and from mum.

Trochaic Tetrameter Poem: Genesis in Poetry

Back when you were still a spirit,
Back when Earth was still a concept,
God was watching o'er the voidless
God created light from darkness,
Sky from water, land from ocean,
Sun from moonlight, beasts from humans.
Ending with the seventh daytime,
God chilled out and rested nicely.

Blog post about Blogging

Well, frankly, I sometimes wonder why there are so many blogs and what people use them for. Do people just post whatever they like on the internet and hope that someone will read it? Do people use blogs as a diary of sorts that anyone in the world can read? Why would anyone do that? I may be in the minority when it comes to this view on blogging, but I simply do not see the appeal of it. I guess it's useful for situations like this, for educational purposes but I'm pretty sure that blogs were not created originally for that purpose. Dispite all that, I can see that this will probably be somewhat useful for CW work and the like.