River

Did you cross the river on your journey to this town?

For there lies a no-man's land of spirits,

and fates from which no souls could return.

No sunlight shines on the riverbed of murk.

The souls slipped from the graveyard: from the soil to the stream,

and haunted both the bridges and the water.

Are you still alive or are you now broken

by the things you've seen that made your skin grow pale?

When you walk these cursed fields, you call Death upon yourself.

There's not a soul who can save you, and no chance that you'll survive.

The Reaper accepts no pleading, breaks no contract with the curse;

All wars that have been waged here still burn beneath the rot.

The baby prompt thing

[Sorry I didn't read it out loud, I just didn't know how to say it without sounding weird... Yeah, I'm not making much sense, never mind hahaha]


You know when
you're in one of those moods where
your words don't sound right,
things refuse to fall into place,
no one seems to be around,
(even if you're in a crowded room)
and all you can think of
are baby shoes?
Or maybe it's not that.
Perhaps you recall
forgotten toys,
broken record players,
or anything else
that is abandoned
like you.

It seems awful then,
when your mind is closing in on you
and all that you want to do
is write sad poems
about dead baby shoes.

But there is  always a light,
always a toy rediscovered
a record player rewired,
people found when there
once were none
and there is always
another child born
to fit it's wriggly feet
into a pair of new shoes.

Aug. 13th Meeting for RiversideYoungWriters!!!!!!!

     I've missed you all--I have secured a guest speaker to talk about song writing--I'm excited--come see me I miss you all. Dust off your songs--and bring them with you.

     I received the following message from our guest speaker--Feel free to point the teens to this example of some WORKING outreach I did in Orange a few years back.  The 9ONE1 to 4ONE1 track is available on i-Tunes and Amazon but here's a link to the video.   I was tapping into my rock days, as you can see  : )

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=797b5bKaKi0

 

In lieu of payment, maybe you can enourage buying the cheap downloads at Amazon and hitting the youTube site to drum up interest.

Good for the guys that are now heading to college.   ; )     I won't see any money but they might.......

 

http://www.amazon.com/One/dp/B00120G22W/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

 

Thanks much!

 

Best regards,

Michelle O'Hearn

(aka MiCKi)
I'm REALY excited!!!!! I'll see you there. Mrs. F (with snacks!)

Daddy's little girl

Dad bought
a  $200 painting
to hang on a wall
in the house of stone
that he built
on a hill

the picture is simple
in a simple frame
a girl dressed in gray
a sky riddled with clouds
a house of stone
on a hill

she looks sad
but I like her dress
it looks like my dress
the one I hung up
in my room
on the door
where I can see it
so I don’t forget the night
I felt like a little princess

my father dropped
my blue writing desk
that all my friends had signed
and left tiny messages upon
to remember them by
now the corner is chipped
and the paint peels
little love letters
little broken hearts
just crumble away

It’s blue
like the wide open skies
in the painting
and my dress
it’s a beautiful dress
my blue and black dress
with tiny sequences and needle work
and little bits of lace

I love that dress
He took it down from the door
said it was damaging the paint
denting the door frame
my dress lay piled on the floor
in a heap
I love that dress

If you look at it closely
that is, the door
you’ll find no dent or chip
no scratch in the paint
but my dress is torn at the hem
you stepped on it on the way out

and my little blue desk
is chipped

Your painting will look
lovely on your perfect wall
I hope it covers up
all the baby hand prints I left there
long ago
so you wouldn’t forget me
no matter how hard you scrubbed
and rubbed
and tried to wipe the mess away

I finished cleaning your floor
it shines like silver
I made sure not to leave a smudge
you can see your face
reflected back like water
on the smooth wood

you walked across it
in your shiny shoes
and left perfect mud tracks
from door to door

I’ll clean it again.
No worries.

And then I’ll help you hang
that picture on the wall
with a level
to make sure
it’s exactly straight

And when I fall asleep on my bed
and forget to take off my shoes
or to take out the trash
perhaps you’ll hesitate
to roll my filthy shoes away
lest I dirty the bed…
to toss me out with the rubbish
to drop me on the polished floor

like my little writing desk
and my blue dress

I chip too



********************


[ I'll always be daddy's little girl... but there was a time, when without warning, he became Dad.  I don't know where my daddy went, but I'll always love him... I'll always be his little girl.  my daddy bought me the little blue desk.  my daddy picked out that dress.    ....Dad loves this house. ...It's a great house.  He built it, out of stone, you know, on a hill... ]