Conserve School Learning Goal: Will have taken a strong step forward on their educational path equal to or greater than the expected progression in their sending school.
Floating
Drifting way up in the sky
Knowing he can do anything
Hoping
Dreaming
His heart running over with happiness
Aware it’s possible
Always pushing forward
Never ceasing
On
And
On
Maybe stretching into thousands
Or on for millions
Never knowing when...
STOP!
Slipping
Sliding
Tumbling
Crashing
Burning
Unable to crawl from the abyss
He crouches drowning
Suffocating
Lying tossing and turning
A pit in his stomach
Reaching feebly now and then
Scrabbling at the crumbling sides
Though small in stature
We stand around him like soldiers
Hiding the contents of the chasm
Shielding him from view
Assist him
Help him keep a level head
Trying to seal the chinks in the dam
Suppressing the roaring waves of emotion
Below average in size we stand
Rocking forward on our toes slightly
Leaning only marginally forward
Never giving into the pressure at our backs
Always in an orderly
Level
Straight
Line
Never wavering in our formation
Orderly
The time is taken
The uniform nice
The hats always present
Never crooked
Always straight
Never missing
Standing firm
We extend our swords in front of us
Long and stretching on and on
Making an impenetrable barrier
Even as the enemy rushes towards us
The battle has begun
We dance among our foes
Smooth and rounded steps
We flow like water
Never faltering
Never a miss step
Working as one
Like brothers
A strong connection
The weapons glint and flash
Eliminating our enemy
Exhilaration floods through us
We are great in number
Covering the plains like the bison
Never missing an opportunity for victory
Always there
Using time to its utmost potential
The battle is won
We take up our positions once more
After the struggle
The fray
We sometimes stop to celebrate
Moving
Curving back and forth
Swaying
Our bodies moving in time with the beat
More euphoric
Beneath however
We are always prepared
Ready to return to our positions
With the flick of the wrist
I recently wrote this poem for Michael Salat's history class. The poem was written because we had an assignment that was supposed to be about some aspect of the Corps of Discovery. I chose to focus on Lewis’ manic depressive state. I wanted to see if handwriting analysis would reflect his mental illness. As it turned out it didn’t. Using the basics of graphology, the study of handwriting especially for the use of character analysis, I discovered that the alphabet that Lewis wrote reflected that of a happy, mentally stable person. From this I decided to write a poem that represented the alphabet as metaphor for soldiers; the soldiers being the ones who shield Lewis’ true emotions from prying eyes.
Since I am homeschooled, I never really have homework or assignments unless I decide to take an outside class. Thus, being here has been a huge academic change for me. When I heard there was a big project for Michael’s class I immediately went into panic mode. How do I go about doing this? Will I get it done in time? All of these questions crossed my mind. Then I got the light bulb. A little earlier in the semester I got a birthday present in the form of a beautiful poem. I became greatly inspired and so one day while I was staring at a blank blog page I decided to try my hand at it. The words went tumbling out of me faster than I could write them.
I have never considered myself a very artsy person. I think of myself of a more analytical person full of facts and figures. However, while I’ve been at Conserve I have learned that I have a lot of unknown abilities, such as writing poems. By writing the first poem, I had shocked myself. After doing this assignment, I learned that something like a school assignment could be rather enjoyable. On a deeper level, I also had no idea that I possessed the ability to express myself through poetry. I am grateful that I discovered this new, untapped emotional outlet. Now have another way to put my feelings and ponderings out into the universe.
Wow! I am so proud of you -- tackling your project with such seriousness and then when your theory (about the handwriting) turned out to be wrong, you figured out another way to both do the project AND express the results of your research in a creative way. BTW, I am SO pleased that you have discovered poetry for yourself. You probably remember that poetry is my thing, too, though I haven't written much in recent years. When you get home, we'll have to share.....
ReplyDeleteyes maybe! I will hopefully write some poetry during solos!
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