Remember Me

“We all know that something is eternal. And it ain’t houses and it ain’t names, and it ain’t earth, and it ain’t even the stars . . . everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings. All the greatest people ever lived have been telling us that for five thousand years and yet you’d be surprised how people are always losing hold of it. There’s something way down deep that’s eternal about every human being.” – Thornton Wilder (Our Town)

The girl sat at the edge of the pond, her feet barely touching the surface of the clear water. Her auburn hair was twisted up into a bun that perched neatly atop her head, not unlike the many birds who found their homes on the trees that grew near the lake. Her eyes were closed, but her gentle lips curved upwards in a small smile. The silence surrounded her and her slender fingers drummed against the ground to the rhythm of a song only she heard through the tranquil day.

Suddenly, she blinked, opening her eyes. They were a piercing, electric blue. The smile was gone and instead, she wore an air of surprise. The water rushed around her toes, and she straightened her back, slipping her legs deeper into the pool. Slowly, she lowered herself into the cool depths, and  then in an instant, she was gone, leaving not a trace of the girl who had been once there behind, but a small orange flower that blossomed in time and whispered her name and never let her be forgotten.

Portland

28 diamonds

she knew how much she was worth
because she had a closet for jewels and
a collection of gold and a thousand
men to place flowers in her hair
which never had a strand out of place
or a single split end
but she didn’t know what she
wanted so she pretended and she was
good at it but she wasn’t happy
no matter how hard she tried

she met him at a cafe one afternoon
when the barista gave her
his drink and she thought
it too sugary but when she gave it back
he could taste no sugar because
she was the sweetest woman he had
ever seen.

he gave her 28 diamonds on their
first date because that was how much
she meant to him but she just thought
he was another rich man
and played her games and at the end
of the night he stood outside her door
with a single, red rose as the snow
fell around him and the next morning
she ate
28 diamonds for breakfast
and called the maid to clean up
the littered petals on the ground
outside her window

Dessert

Around the Corner

We were always looking around the corner
As if for some sort of miracle or the pounding
Rhythm of a busking musician.

I wonder what was so special about that corner.

Christmas Ornaments

In spite of my horrible track record of putting up the Christmas tree before the actual holiday season (I actually think it was put up on Christmas Eve last year) I have officially turned over a new leaf (no pun intended) and brought out the festivities during Thanksgiving weekend. It looks strange, being almost a month before Christmas, but keep in mind that this is work that I will not have to be doing later on 🙂

She

She whispers like a dream
Catching fireflies in her fingers
Just one more hour in the moonlight.

She curls up with the cat sometimes
And lies amidst a thousand blankets
Swallowed up in the marsh of comfort.

She stares out the window when it’s raining
Watching the teardrops run down
Tracing each path with one delicate finger.

She makes up friends because she wants to
(Even though it’s really because she has to)
And gives each of them names I’ve never heard before.

She told me once, in the cornfield behind her house
That she was sad and lonely and angry
And I didn’t answer.

She used to make pies with mushrooms and lamb-
Lots of flavor, mind you-
But I tried to make it today and I couldn’t taste a thing.

She talked to me on that last day
Already distant and spreading her wings
When I said goodbye and she flew away.

Orange Juice

These pictures were actually taken awhile back in September, but they’re nice to look at, especially in the cold weather we’ve been having lately in Portland. Besides, I challenge all of you to take a look at this cute, adorable face and not fall in love with it 🙂

Fly (The Echo Chronicles)

The Echo Chronicles: Volume 1: Letter 5

Dear Person,

Huh. I never noticed how strange that sounded. “Dear Person.” Person. It’s like I’m writing to the entire world. But I’m not. It’s just you. And you’re not just any person. You’re exactly who I think you are. So that’s my unexpected observation of the day.

In other news, I’ve been thinking about what it feels like to fly. It’s different. Loud. Crowded. Makes my ears hurt. And yet I love it. I love the feeling of my stomach dropping fifty feet when the airplane takes off, and the jolt when the wheels finally touch the ground again. I love the security of fastening my seatbelt, and the satisfying click when I unbuckle it. I love the way the stars shine at night- it’s so different when you’re right up there next to them- and the way I could touch the clouds if I could reach through the windows.

I wish I could fly. Isn’t that every child’s dream? To touch the clouds and stand so close to the stars that you can be blinded by their light? It would be a wonderful adventure, I think. But I’m the kind of person who would go up fifty feet, then crash and burn. But at least I’d fly.

“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” -Leonardo da Vinci

Watkins Glen