Angry Girl

Girl with the

you-can’t-make-me swagger

muttering defiance

from a sour tongue

a mouth formed to mask

disappointment

a handful of toughness

to cover

your shattered shell

a sieve

where self esteem

flows through and

settles

trying to find a measure

of escape

while you linger in your loudness

plot, flame and fume

try to engage

construct a battle

bereft of plan

bereft of reason

engulfed in that

angry moment

Oh that calm sea

the cliffs of England near distant

perpetual lull

of incoming tides

sand and pebbles dance

if you listen

you can hear

that eternal note of sadness

coming eventide

In this vast, northern sea

emanating in shadowy depths below

that which Sophocles knew

the bane of human misery

washed from The Sea of Faith

salty tears shed

and in all the world

those paltry lands of dreams

absent are joy, love, light

no help for all that ails

and out on that darkling plain

those ignorant armies still clash

and separate the world we have

from one that might have become

Infinity Dreams Blogging Award

I was recently nominated for this lovely award by my friend and fellow blogger: Millie Thom.  Millie maintains a beautiful blog and writes about English history, her travels, English countryside and has a wonderful Word of the Week segment.  I would first like to thank Millie for thinking of me.  Secondly, I have spent some time approaching fellow bloggers about passing this award along but there has not been much enthusiasm for it.  I believe this is because it does take a great deal of work to handle these awards in the manner that is requested, and we are also entering the busy time of year (but isn’t it always busy :).  In that regard, I would like to pass this on to any of my readers/followers who would like to participate. Although it is a good deal of work, it also helps the blogging community see another and more personal side of the writers who keep blogs.  Or you can just pick a question and answer it in the comments section.  Please visit Millie’s site also, if you are unfamiliar with it at:  Millie Thom

https://milliethom.wordpress.com/

These are the rules for this award:

* Thank and follow the blog that nominated you

* Tell us 11 facts about you

1. I love to read. I’ll probably be buried with a book in my hand. I write under a pen name from a combination of my two grandmothers’ names (I was so lucky to have them, and I write a great deal about them). L.T. stands for Lola Twillia Garvin.

2. I have a sweet tooth. I wish I didn’t have a sweet tooth.

3. I adore making jewelry, it is a nice creative outlet for me. I sell a little of it.

4. I wish I had concentrated more on developing and doing one thing really good instead of being Miss Multi-Tasker.

5. All my children have grown up and it’s kinda weird.

6. I have a lot of cats. I never thought I would have so many cats.

7. I would like to travel, but I don’t have anyone to take care of my cats :)

8. I would like to live on the coast (except during hurricane season).

9. I love nail salons….manicures, pedicures, a small time investment that makes someone feel really great (although I never actually take the time to do it).

10. I am married to a rock star….okay, but he should have been a rock star!

11. I love universities, I would like to work at a university to just take in the campus, library, and old buildings.

Millie’s Questions

1. What is your favourite season /time of year and why?
   I love summer, I hate winter, I hate cold weather.
2. Were your schooldays really ‘the happiest years of your life’?
   Yes they were. I enjoyed those carefree days, and they were also days when many of my family members were still alive.
3. Does your personality/character suit your sign of the zodiac?
   Oh yes it does, I am Leo the Lion, and it all fits perfectly.
4. Which is your preferred way of expressing yourself creatively? (Do you prefer the written word, photography, art, drama …or what?)
   Writing….that’s the one.
5. Do you prefer to read an ebook (on tablet/Kindle) or the hard copy version?
   I love hard-copy books, but I can read the Kindle ones on my phone whenever I’m stranded somewhere and I don’t have to dust them or when I’m standing in line buying cookies or cat food :)

6. What is your favourite genre in books and what do you particularly like about that genre?
   I have a penchant for southern literature. I guess it is reminiscent of home, habits and familiarity. Texas really isn’t considered the south, although that truly depends on the people you are talking to at the moment.
7. Are you a thinker or a doer?
   I’m a doer, it drives the Rock Guy crazy!
8. Which type of holiday/vacation do you prefer (e.g. the beach, the mountains, skiing, fishing – or any other sport – sight-seeing etc.).

Beach, beach and beach. Did I say I would like to be on the coast?

9. Are you a morning person or a night owl?
   I’m a night owl, mornings are sheer misery for me. I have to get up at 5 o’clock in the morning because I am a substitute teacher and I frequently teach jr. high and high school and they start way too early!
10. Coffee or tea for you – or neither?
    Tea is the one, I drink it daily.
11. Another nice easy one to finish: do you have a favourite colour?

It kinda depends on what the purpose is whether it’s clothes, paint a room, etc. I guess overall my favorite color would be teal.

My Questions for nominees:

1. If you could spend a day with a famous person (living or deceased) who would it be?

2. What kind of music do you like?

3. Is there any place you would like to visit?

4. Do you have a favorite book?

5. Other than blogging, do you have a favorite past time?

6. What is you favorite movie?

7. Do you think sports are over emphasized and why so?

8. Do you have pets and if so, what kind?

9. Do you think current TV shows are as good as past ones? Do you have any favorites?

10. What inspires you to maintain a blog?

11. Which holiday season is your favorite?

In the Season of Thankfulness

They called him Old Aaron

he used to sit in

the Arby’s parking lot

in summer

out there on the table

sun beating down

somtimes he would flash

a toothless grin

he sat on that bench

heat exploding

sun beating down

where did his memories go?

I often wondered if his stories

stayed with him

or was his mind

blank now

from all those years

of being caught

in that life

going downward

on a bitter slope

heat and chatter cold

trapped in a world

he will never leave

where do you go

when you have nothing?

over the years

when fear lurks

under a bridge

under a cardboard shelter

the silk-suited business people

can’t look

don’t want to see

a glimpse of themselves

in his blackened face

in his toothless smile

in his bitter struggle

to survive…

Math, Misery and Motivation

Math and me….well I never liked it personally, but there is something to be said for it which would be mainly dollar signs for people who were lucky enough to grasp it, then expand upon those skills. I have spent enough time in 5th grade now that my math skills are beginning to click in again (sans calculator). Recently I had the joy of spending four days in high school Algebra II. This basically consisted of me, a stack of worksheets, twenty-five sulky, sleepy, texting teenagers (per class), and no pencils. There was also an abundance of amnesia, sickness that required nurse’s passes and students who went to the restroom and never came back. I also now answer to “Miss” or “Hey Miss.”

Although the worksheets were supposed to be a “review,” nobody in those classes had apparently seen anything like it before, and they were completely horrified that it was a requirement. I tried motivation, I tried the old “You-are-going-to-need-this-stuff-to-find-a-job” threat. It did not faze them. Apparently they are not stressed about climbing the corporate ladder and they can already afford Iphones, so they pulled up their hoodies, texted at the speed of light, or dropped into a deep sleep sitting straight up in their chairs.

Meanwhile, Day 4 of the Worksheet Hostage Crisis finally ended. I found myself coasting out of high school and back to 5th grade where I feel I belong because there are fewer x and ys to deal with, no weird symbols with pastry names, no mention of roots being square or otherwise, no function of x as it approaches something, or infinity, numbers acting irrationally, quadratic headaches, coefficients that are inefficient….but I digress.

Correspondence

Old letters

sometimes fall out

as if sifted from

the center of time itself

words stare back

from slanted sentences

uttered by strangers

from afar

sitting solo silently

listening to hear

faint sounds

from a phantom voice

those words evoke

an evolution of memories

that transgressed

before tidal waves

of anguish

washed over

broken promises

then empty hours

crashed down

and rendered

those words

helpless

Monarch Anthem

Not long ago,

the butterflies came

and filled the sky

orange, black

magnificent sight

the fields were full

on a sunny autumn day

like a color-folded calm

before a fierce rainstorm

they came

alighting in our space

making all of us admit

the glory of a balanced world

this was before

forests began disappearing

habitats trimmed down

Now they come

in small numbers

enticing magic

in orange hues

as if to warn us

of a furtive mark

in a futile world

There was a time in the not too distant past when the monarch butterflies migrated through the North Texas area in great numbers.  There was one particular fall not terribly long ago when I remember them being everywhere.  Sadly, I have noticed over the past few years that there hardly seems to be any butterflies.  This seems to be another issue with our worsening environmental situation.  This example, along with reading an online article yesterday about lions and how their numbers are expecting to dramatically dwindle by 2035 is just really a sad testament.  I truly wish that mankind could do much better than that.