Remember?

The Swing

BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON

How do you like to go up in a swing,

   Up in the air so blue?

Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing

   Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,

   Till I can see so wide,

Rivers and trees and cattle and all

   Over the countryside—

Till I look down on the garden green,

   Down on the roof so brown—

Up in the air I go flying again,

   Up in the air and down!

Source: A Child's Garden of Verses (1999)

Remember the feel of your very first poem?
Remember the rhythm and rhyme?
Pleading with Mother to read it again
Feeling its music each time

Imagining every scene in your head
The rivers and garden and all
The words painted pictures so deep in your mind
Even though you were so small

How I would love to go back to those days
Back to when life was so new
How I would like to go up in a swing
Up in the air so blue!

submitted for Imaginary Garden With Real Toads, What Sparked Your Poetic Heart?

Make It Up Monday #1: 52 Weeks of Wordage

There was something he was supposed to remember. There was something he was supposed to remember, but he was darned if he knew what it was. John tried to focus his thoughts through the soft sweater fuzz that seemed to cover his brain. What was he supposed to remember? It was on the tip of his tongue, like the bitter taste of this morning's coffee. He hadn't had a decent cup of joe since his wife died a week ago. No, that wasn't right. A month ago? Maybe a year. That woman knew how to make coffee. John looked around him at what was once his proud home. It was really starting to show its age, like him. He glanced down at his feet. Where were his boots? Who had taken his boots? He needed his musket by him all the time now, to protect him. John closed his eyes and tried to remember. The effort made him sleepy. He leaned back in his chair. He had been a hero once. He knew that much.

Thursday, August 26, 2010 10:17:00 AM 

Make It Up Monday #2: 52 Weeks of Wordage

We're already late for Mama and now we got us a flat! She's gonna be loaded for bear when we get there now. I don't even want to think about it. "Don't you fret, kiddo! I've got a spare in the trunk, and I'll have us on the road again in no time!" Yeah, right. That was, like, a hundred hours ago, and it don't look like he's fixin' to finish this job any time soon. And he's whistlin' too! Don't seem to bother him none that Mama's gonna be yellin' and screamin' and all red in the face cuz he's late again bringing me back from his weekend. Sure, he'll just smile his crooked smile and say, "Aw, c'mon, Jess, you know I'm tryin' my best for the girl. And I sure do miss your pretty face too." And Mama will just roll her eyes and tell him to grow up, and I'll get stuck with her ugly mood the rest of the night. I ain't never gettin' married when I grow up.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010 1:21:00 PM 

Make It Up Monday #3: 52 Weeks of Wordage

“I’m not sure where to begin. There’s a group of four people dressed in Victorian looking clothes, but not totally. One has goggles, and one of the guys has gel in his hair. They approach another guy, also dressed in Victorian-type clothes, on the street. He’s got some sort of weird eye piece and a hat. He’s carrying something on his back. The group confronts him and demands his hat! I don’t know why. The guy with the hat and eyepiece says that he’d rather die like a mongrel dog on the street than give them his hat. Then the guy in the military uniform pulls out a sword and says, ‘So be it!’ That’s when I woke up. What do you think it means?” “Hmm, we don’t really do much dream interpretation any more, but how have you been sleeping?” “Fine, I guess.” “Any other side-effects or issues you’ve noticed?” “No…” “Well then, sounds like you’re doing well. Let’s continue on the same dose and I’ll see you again in a month.”

Thursday, September 09, 2010 9:53:00 AM 

Make It Up Monday #5: 52 Weeks of Wordage

  Old man sits and grins

He has secrets you don't know

Laughing, he won't tell.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010 1:34:00 PM   

Make It Up Monday #6: 52 Weeks of Wordage

Missy felt another sharp jab from Mama's finger in her ribs. "Wake up! We're about to have a photograph taken of our stagecoach journey, and you were about to sleep through it!" Missy reluctantly opened her eyes, looked at the camera, and smiled. She wondered if falsehoods could be detected on film. She was miserable. Mama and Papa kept telling her how lucky she was to be able to go on this trip to visit those springs out west, but all she could think about was how Cousin Jeremiah's head kept lolling over onto her shoulder when he fell asleep and how Mama glared at her as if she had invited this intrusion! And how her boots were too tight on her feet! And how the stagecoach kept rocking, rocking, rocking and her stomach felt like a pot about to boil over. On top of it all, Missy was plain bored. She was, by nature, an active and curious girl, and sitting for extended periods in close quarters made her irritable. She closed her eyes again and began to imagine an Indian attack or, even better, a stagecoach robbery! That's what this journey needed, Missy thought. Too bad those were only stories...

Thursday, September 30, 2010 9:45:00 AM