Snow Forts

Big chunks of ice and snow
I build a wall
To protect and hide.

I roll snow
into balls,
A circular white mass
To destroy the enemy.

The mass flies
toward me,
coldness covers
my face.

I take the snow
And roll a ball
I take aim
and fire.
The enemy is cold too.

Apple

Sadness

Sadness is blank,
Like the hole in your heart.
And the pain in your stomach.
Sadness is the mother of all emotions.
You feel it,
Others will feel it.
It gets carried around by one soul
Carried by one and onto the next.

     Little Italy

Breaking News

Poetry abounds. The poets in our midst are busy putting finishing touches on their work whilst they practice reciting poems to share with a live audience. There may be no Emily Dickinson nor Langston Hughes but there are poets with heart; poets sharing their adventures with the written and spoken word. Stay tuned, for not only will you hear from Writer Geek, Leaf, Little Italy, Dr. Seuss, and Pablo, but many other not-yet-famous writers who are anxious to fill your screen with their own brand of poems.  Enjoy!

Writers Block

I rummage through
the file cabinets of my mind
seeking inspiration,
but finding none
the barren white paper
seems to mock me
"C'mon, aren't you going to write anything?"
But no, I'm not,
because I have writers block!
~Pablo

Cherry Blossom

I climb into the aged cherry blossom tree
that has lived in my backyard for hundreds of years
I lie on its strong lower branches
I gaze up into the sky
which is crisscrossed with thin frail shoots
the spiderweb of heaven
I feel at ease with the world
I am at peace
I close my eyes and
forget
forget everything

Dr. Seuss

My Type of Day

Pale golden leaves scattered the ground
You can hear the rain,
Pitter pattering
on the brick path and terra cotta roof.

The trees are swaying,
Slowly and silently,
The sky an almost white-grey fortress of light,
Not dismal,
Not totally dark,
Casting a brilliant shadow
On everything beneath it,
And making the world look like a color palette.

The darkness is lifted
Like a heavy curtain
But the light sky chooses when to drop
Tiny gleaming rain drops which cling to everything.

The tree's bark is a dark relaxing black
And compelements the leaves
In a most magical way--
Dropping, falling
And here I sit on an old blue cooler,
Just sitting
And watching the rain

Writer Geek

Dust

Dust

The grandfather clock in the living room,
Consumed by the sandstorm.
The table of pictures,
covered in a blanket.
The cupboard in the dining room,
captured by the floating snow.
All revived by the touch of a rag,
 by the liquid that exterminates it all.
For now.
But when each piece of dust lands,
The rag will do its duty
Again.
And Again.
And Again.
A stalemate in chess,
two kings left on the table.
But one false move,
a few months wasted
and dust
will emerge
victorious.

Toad

The Candy War

 The Candy War

"Okay then,"
I say,
"do it."
Not expecting anything
I am surprised
when an Oreo cookie
hits me in the
stomach.
That's how it all
began.
I quickly come to
my senses
and realize that
my friend
threw my cookie.
I whip
a bag of M+M's at
her.
My other friend dives in
and blocks them
with his neck causing
them to shower
my third friend in an
explosion of color.


         -Moo Cow

Lost in the Woods

Lost in the Woods

Ribbons of wind
flick the leaves
and make them dance
upon the ground
like puppets without strings
or memories without owners.

The sky darkens.
A glowing sphere
of milky light
casts long shadows
along the ground
and newborn stars
wink
wink
wink.

Out in the distance
a shape
of a creature
silhouetted alone
against the sky
howling
bone chilling
but beautiful.

The pine trees quiver
the wind ribbons fray
drifting away
the moon
sinks lower
lower
and the sun
comes up
to unite the day.

Writer Geek

Midnight

Midnight

I can't sleep
So I drift outside
And lie down.

The jewel encrusted blanket of night
Glimmers above my head
And the distant sloshing
Of the lake
Barely audible
Over the choir of crickets chirping and singing.
Midnight

The dark hill of our house
Hovers above me
Filled with people asleep
Drifted away on cloud of dreams.
Midnight.

Black cedars and hemlocks loom
Towering towards the heavens.
Midnight.

Waterlogged moss clings
To the soggy ground.
Midnight.


~By Skyler Mae

A Bad Day

A Bad Day

I'm cold, it's dark and
I'm alone.
I'm feeling
guilty
without knowing
What I did wrong.
A bad day.

Cucumber

LIfe's Climb

Life's Climb

Climb. Climb.

Struggling up the rocky slope hands slicked with sweat

Toiling away, baking in the sun.

The peak is still far

Climb. Climb.

Ignoring your aching muscles, pushing forward

The peak is close

Trudging closer, crushing the underbrush, only a few yards to the top.

Climb. Climb.

You drag your feet up the last few steps and gaze out.

You see the view below.

Life's view.

Life's climb.

~Skyler Mae

Fireworks

Fireworks

I shoot upward

I explode

In all directions

I hear the crowd scream

I fall

Down

Down

To the hard earth

I disappear

I hear another scream from their loud voices

I fade.....

away.

~Leaf

A Cold Rain

A Cold Rain

During the early morning
When outside cats appear at their owner's doors
to receive breakfast
The people rolled over in bed.
As the curtains swayed and the ocean whispered
A cold rain fell.

It was a very light misty rain
That sent the cats screeching into the bushes
awakening the people who closed their windows with a bang.
The rain accompanied the ocean in a whispering duet
All when a cold rain fell.

Writer Geek

Roll Call

Today is the day of pseudonyms. Even we don't even know who we are!

Dr Seuss is a loose goose but not as fast as

Dr. Pearly Whites, DDS who brushed by in a hurry.

Writer Geek has become awesomely cool!
Pablo thinks this cheesy entry is cheesy so
Cucumber is busy making tea sandwiches. No cheese here!

Skyler Mae is floating in the universe while
Leaf is blowing in the wind.

Little Italy is cooking pasta.
The Cat in the Hat is preening himself even though
Moo Cow is mooing loudly while
The Octopus is providing ink for our efforts.

K is a meerkat of few words but
MT is trying to fill his head with good ideas.

Number One is at the bottom of the list, though is tops to us!

We are incognito though not to those

Friday, that being the 9th of October

Count D., or someone resembling him, will be in class on or about 11:00 on Friday, to assist all the meerkats in their blogging activities.   He will offer answers, hopefully most being of the correct kind, advice, and a shoulder to boo-hoo on for our fledgling bloggers.

Keep in mind that the RIGHT shoulder is for boo-hooing as the LEFT one serves to hold up the small world as we know it.

Count D. may appear in costume, as in the picture on the left, or appear as his regular self, which may be totally unrecognizable from the picture on the left.   If you see someone in class that doesn't usually appear on Fridays, meerkats, it's a good bet that would be him.  I mean I, or, informally, me.

See you then!

Let the Blogging Begin

Tomorrow the meerkats will be introduced to blogs. We will create links, add photos, and learn what news is blog-worthy and what may be better kept to ourselves. Who will learn more, the teachers or the students? Whose writing will appear on this page? So many people so little time. Stay tuned to find out the answer to these and other burning questions. For whom does the blog turn...it turns for you.

Just a note from Count D.  Blogging is, first and foremost, FUN!   We will not be pulling out or losing our hair.
Well, most of the time we won't be.   Fortunately though, as meerkats we have a lot of hair to be pulling out!

Lesson #2

Today was the day to learn about links and photos. CountD, as he prefers to be called, lowered himself (to the reclining meerkat pose), in order to re-explain blogging to the novice. No clicking and dragging here. There must be links aplenty. Why, I ask, does each method of computing require a different set of skills? Nothing is more humbling than thinking you know how to do things and then trying to 'fly solo.' This may be the permanent expression of the meerkat community for a long time to come.

Meerkat Lesson #2

Meerkats are usually easy to identify.

1) They have four legs, two in the front and two in the back.

2) They tend to hang around in groups.   The more the merrier, it seems.

3) They do NOT sit up on their back paws all of the time, but when they do they always seem intense.
4) They have light and dark brown colored fur with black fur around their eyes, like a raccoon.
5) They do NOT wear baseball caps, neither cap bill facing forward nor cap bill pointing back.
6) While it seems it would be a good idea for meerkats to wear sneakers since they're running around a lot, they never do.  Neither low-tops nor high-tops.

So, would you say that 3 of the 4 "animals" pictured here are meerkats?

Meerkat Lesson #1

While the meerkat is a four-legged animal that does occasionally sit on its hind legs with its front paws dangling, NOT all four-legged animals are meerkats.

Although, as you can see some animals do want to be mistaken for meerkats so that they can get their own TV series on the Discovery channel.

Shame on you, Ms. Dachshund!  Be yourself!

We Took the Oath

Today we took the Writer's Oath, that is, those of us who were so inclined. Others among us were more reticent. Langston Hughes inspired us with his poetry. He speaks of dreams and encourages us to follow ours: "All you who are dreamers too, Help me make our world anew. I reach out my dreams to you." He dared to dream at a time when dreams were hard to come by. Do we have the courage to follow our dreams? Can we encourage others to follow theirs?

Pay Attention

"Writing teaches people to pay attention." (Anne Lammott)

Pay attention and see what comes of this space. In seeking authentic writing experiences our 'Blog-master,' MrD, set up this blog for our use. The learning curve is steep but the spirit is strong.