Right Now

Right now I am a rock rolling down a smooth slope towards the sea.  Stretched out over the water lies a dock with a crab boat on one side and a floatplane on the other.  I will fly away to be a biologist working for fish and game or steam off towards troubled waters to pull ten-dollar bills from the ocean floor one pot at a time.  For now though I keep rolling along downhill, tumbling closer and closer to one side of the dock or the other.

The wind whipped, the snow stabbed like daggers to any exposed flesh.  The weather was nearly unbearable, but we had made the decision to come this way and it was to late to turn back.  The four of us kept moving forward step by painful step, hiding ourselves from the world that was trying to tear us apart.  We had reached the top of the hill and now we had to pick our way down the rock marked icy slope.  Our skis slid and screamed as the edges grasped for any purchase.  Our next goal was a small roll in a ridge to our left, the only safe spot on the open face.  The next spot was the last and final spot before we were in the clear, as we came to the top we stopped and hesitated.  The snow had been wind loaded, it was an unsupported convex slope, and the sun had bore down on it all afternoon.  The pieces of the puzzle had all fit together perfectly, and the lead man and I called up to the other two to watch us and stay put until we were completely down the snow sheared away from the slope.  The crown ran under the feet of the two higher people, nearly two feet deep the slabs tore down the hill gathering more speed and debris as it went. The lead was able to nearly instantly turn with the slide and out ski it reaching safety on the other side of the slope, while I was dropped to my side.  The blocks of snow flowed past me and carried me down the hill and towards the trees and cliffs.  Miraculously I was able to regain my footing and start skiing towards the edge, towards the safety.  The slide stopped slowed enough as it went over a plateau, to allow me to glide out the side.  My heart pounding, adrenaline thundering thruogh my veins, but I was alive safe even liberated.  I had always heard about avalanches and had studied on avalanche safety, but I had never had a chance to practice it in real life.  The training had payed off, I had known exactly what to do and why I had to do it without hesitation.  I was alive, I had learned and I was happy to have learned.

Dialogue

Blub

Blub

Blub blub blubblub?

blub?

blub

blub

Translation:
Hey fred

Hey Tom

How are you doin today?

Bad

Why?

Wow did you see that ufo?

Ufo?

Unidentified fishing object

Nope i didnt see it

Well it took bob

NOT BOB!!!!!!!!!

Well i bet he's been gutted and gilled by now

What a shame

He was such a good friend, always lending a fin when it was needed

Yes, yes he was

Well all we can do is keep going

Wow do you see that, it looks goooooddddd

NO!!!!

Numm numm AHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Not again, there went Fred

Where we go next

This year in Ms. Mckenna’s class has been a rollercoaster of emotion.  In the past I had not had the best relations with her and this year things had gotten better.   We had gotten to a level of understanding that had not been there in the past, since our political views were different and we both were strong willed about it.  We had both agreed to disagree, it was a good change for both of us since she enjoyed having me in the class and I needed the help on my writing.

With her passing and the lack of information on the events that caused it, rumors spread and many of them were not pleasant.  It was hard hearing so many different stories about such a good woman, since she had made a difference in so many people’s lives.   The true story finally came out and helped set many people’s minds at ease.  I know that it helped me knowing that it was a medical issue rather than a self-inflicted one as many of the rumors had been.  It was horrible that she left behind her two young children, but luckily their father was still around and had a shared custody.  The transition must have been very hard for them.

With the passing of Ms. Mckenna we were blessed with an excited and involved teacher.  It was hard on that first day to walk in knowing that she wouldn’t be there and would never come back.  Mr. Good was there and somehow when all of us were lost for anything to say, he found the right words to help the transition and make things easier.  This was the start of the many changes to come, some good some not so good.  Where we go with the new teacher is no different than how we handled  the last change, all we can do is give our input and what we would like to see happen.  While we have our ideas of what we would like to see happen in the class each teacher brings their own style and favorite activities. 

Mr. Dwyer is a spirited person who will most certainly bring some of the life back to the classroom.  I have had him as a substitute in my other lit class and his upbeat personality and exuberance helped to get the class motivated and into whatever we were working on.  So hearing that he was the one chosen to take the permanent position was amazing since I knew that he was the perfect person for the job.   I am not worried or concerned about where the class will go after this quarter ends because I know that no matter what we do it will always be exciting and new.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.


William Ernest Henley
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/invictus/

Faint Light

The faint lights make me stare
Lost love can never be bound
Everything is gone, now I am bare

I have nothing left for my care.
Just leave me on this uneven ground
The faint lights make me stare

I am left in a world with no air
In this world I feel no sound
Everything is gone, now I am bare

Should I go back? I do not dare
In this life I am only a background
The faint lights make me stare

I know I'm lost but I don't know where
my last dying wish is to be found
Everything is gone, now I am bare

I realize life isn't fair
If you haven't guessed yet, I have drowned
The faint lights make me stare
Everything is gone, now I am bare

Jerick Ibias

A Brief Discourse on Related Dynamics In Inner-work Poetry

This is the process,
The excess, on into
The Recess, the pit
The bad-ass abyss,
Where the things you thought
You killed all got wings
And stings, like wasps,
And you remember
You better remember
That childhood day
When you got stupid
And took a fig tree stick
To that gray paper nest
Under the cobwebbed eave
Then screamed like a girl
For a block and a half
Because they ain't bees
And they don't die
And they don't give a fuck
About you being stupid.

Martin Williams

Snow

    Waking up dreading the coming classes, open the curtains to look through the snow covered window.  The shock and joy of a new discovery, all the green replaced with white.  The blanket of snow at least a foot thick, making everything look like its been frosted.

    My mind wakes up and realises I shouldn't be still standing here.  Food, gear, and a "Morning!" to mom as I run out the door.  The truck is cold, the snow is deep, and the roads are treacherous.  The lifts frozen and covered with a foot of snow stand still waiting for Eaglecrest to open.  There are others here but we all have the same goal, to get to the top as quickly as possible.  

    The foot of powder slows down my skinning, but that's not a problem because the fun is worth the work.  The top comes into view as the hike comes to an end.  The work is done, and the fun has begun.  The skins go into my pack, the helmet goes onto my head, and the goggles come down.  The turns are soft and so are the landings.  The minutes down go by like seconds after the hour skin up.

    My day is complete, my work here is done, and it's all thanks to the snow.

Remember

This poem is one that I have loved my whole life, ever since my mom showed it to me.  To me it represents the bond between a father and son, the knowledge and skills that are passed down through time spent together.  Living here in Alaska, my dad has taught me almost every activity that I am involved in.  From skiing to hockey to fishing he has always been there to help and push me to be my best.  For this he will always have my respect and love, and this poem is a great description of that bond and the connection between the father and son.    If

If you can keep your head when all about you             Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too: If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream---and not make dreams your master; If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim, If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same:. If you can  bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools; If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings, And never breathe a word about your loss: If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!" If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch, If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much: If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son! Poem by Rudyard Kipling Picture:http://www.trailspace.com/assets/0/7/6/57462/TRIP-121-423.jpg