A Sestina

I wrote this when I was 16. Find out how to write a sestina here and read another one here.

Child of Woe

by Grace

A Tuesday's child followed a mountain

up a strong hill and down the next butterfly.

Her Wednesday sister hears the birds

and her tears begin to fall to the stars.

She is remembering the dear Sunday's flower

that melted last week during Thursday's rain.

Monday's butterfly died in the rain

and the Wednesday sister cries up the mountain.

The Tuesday's child has grown a flower,

and Sunday's angel sees a butterfly.

Can Friday's daughter lift them to the stars

 so the poor Wednesday sister hears the birds?

The stars can't hear Tuesday's birds,

So on Wednesday there will come soft rains.

Friday's daughter wants to love the stars,

but can't forgive them for burning her mountain.

So Tuesday's uncle comforts the wee butterfly

and from her tears of healing grows a flower.

But the daughter doesn't believe that the uncle's flower

will stay with her forever.  So while the caged bird sings,

The robin outside will love the butterfly.

And even though Tuesday's child never saw the rain,

Softly will tomorrow come to climb her mountain.

Then, freely, we see Orion's belt among the stars.

Yet Wednesday's sister will not see the stars.

And tho' her father brings her many flowers,

all the love in the world cannot move the mountain

of her sorrow, and she no longer hears the birds.

Gently on the roof, the drumming of the rain

lulls us to sleep while we dream of butterflies.

But while we dream, the butterfly

is lightly borne on the wind to the stars.

Even little Wednesday is quiet in the rain

so that Sunday's angel may, too, grow a flower

and see the sun rise while hearing the birds

sing, for it is, after all, Tuesday's mountain.

So up the mountain the butterfly twirls,

while the birds sing out to the stars

and Wednesday's flower blooms in the soft rains.

A Po-em

Cemetery

Names in stone, like ducks in a row

only here does time pass so slow

almost touching death, but I feel no fear

time

passes slowly here

I dream of a garden with roses so red

and thoughts of lemon drops dance in my head.

Walking swiftly on a path so brief

in this garden, you’re only a leaf

stately oaks and tall, grand pines

are what adorn the garden of my mind

can you say you were worth your leaf,

walking swiftly on a path very brief

names in stone

my ducks in a row

everywhere, time passes slow

touching death, everywhen, fear

time passes quickly

 here

I was worth my leaf–

were you worth yours?

Or would you like to rewind
 Time?

Headphones

This music video always cheers me up when I'm down. I like the happy tones, the bright colors, and Britt Nicole's encouraging smile. And her sparkly headphones!

What's your favorite music video? Post a link!

Catty or What Happens When A Witch Gives A Dragon A Cold

This is a monologue that I wrote for a playwriting class in college. Enjoy.

A dragon, looking weary, makes its way up a mountain. It stops half-way up and a grinning princess appears. She helps it into the cave and puts it to bed. The dragon says, with a stuffed nose, AStob laughig at be! I can burn you idto a crisby brincess, you kdow.@ It hacks up a hairball. AOkay, so I=b still a liddle sick.@ The dragon sniffs. AId=s dot by fault dat damned witch was stobbed id the middle of the bloody road. Those stupid broobs should be made of somethig less flabbable thad wood, especiallyB@its tone becomes snobbyB Aif they thik they should be able to share the air with the fire-breathers. Idiot witch brigade. More like bitch brigade, if you ask be. Those silly diddies are worse thad you air-headed bridcesses. All that ridiculous magic, and cauldrods, and brewig - id=s doe wonder the forest is such a bess these days. Thigs were bedder back whed Barion the Fierce was id charge of thigs. And thed that dummy George had to go and slay him - made a regular bess of it, too. Now there=s talk of cadodizing the bastard. I never heard a more hare-braid idea id by life!@ The dragon has gotten worked up; it tries to blow fire on a coat rack and meows with smoke instead. It sneezes again; fluff comes out of its nostrils and the princess giggles loudly. AShud ub! Or I=ll scratch you. I haven=t lost by claws, thak Zeus. Hadd me a tissue. Thaks.

ADard, I wish we had some chamomile tea. Be a dear for once and get me some. And watch out for the hairballs id the trash; I=b not sure if I=b contagious or dot. I hate these stupid cat-colds. It=s worse than the flu. First your dose gets stuffy, and you start blowing out fluff. Then you get the cough, and hack up hairballs. If it gets really bad, you can=t even breathe fire - you meow and smoke. Dabn the witch that idvedted this stupid magic cold!

ABut the witch that gave me this? I got her back. When she gets home, she=ll find a little boy and girl at her house, and she=ll try to lock up the boy, but the girl will push her idto the oven, and she=ll burd up. Took me forever to convince them that she couldn=t eat human children. She=s a candy-witch; she can only eat sugar. But no, those silly things were sure that they would be there for dinner.@ The dragon sneezes; the princess hands it tea. AThak you dear. Oh, I got you that frog you wanted. It=s id the black chest next to the golden goblet and scarab beetle. I got them from the oddest man - he had a towel on his head. Tasted kinda sandy. Said his name was somethig like >Aladdid,= but those foreigners - one can never be sure one is prodoudcig it right. You just wait, someday those towel-headed creatures are going to cause trouble. Babbling about >Allah= and >jihad= B sounds like a good excuse for a war. >Towel= starts with >T= and that stands for >trouble.=

The dragon has finished its tea. AI=b goig to go lie down, dear. Take good care of your frog, I don=t want himb to catch by cold. These magic enchantments tend to bind to one another. You don=t want a prince who meows, do you? The princess shakes her head Ano.@

AG=night, dear. Don=t scare him too badly.@ The dragon lays down to sleep, and the princess blows out a few candles and leaves the room in darkness.

The Rainbow Connection

 I think rainbows are completely amazing. Maybe it's because they're so rare (I haven't seen one in quite some time) or because there aren't many places in nature where all the colors of the spectrum converge, I just think they're precious somehow. Maybe that's where the legend of the pot 'o' gold came from. Or because it's the only time in history that God used a recurring natural phenomenon to sign, as it were, His covenant with humanity. We shall never be wiped out again by a flood. Want to read the story of the rainbow covenant?

I love that story. God did what He had to do to satisfy justice, and the He put a promise in the sky. It's a promise to find another way to bring holiness to the world, to provide a way for His people to dwell with Him in righteousness. I believe that the rainbow was a promise of the cross, and now it  is a reminder of the cross. God so loved the world that rather than give them over to their sinful desires, He sent His only begotton Son that whosoever believed in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

Did you know that a complete rainbow is a circle? It never ends. And almost every civilization in recorded history has had a flood story in their religion. This covenant is for everyone, just like the covenant of the cross.

Here's some more information about rainbows, if you're interested. Have you seen a rainbow lately?

When Peace Like a River...

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." --John 14:27, KJV

This is my absolute favorite Bible verse of all time! I first heard it in this version during a Luci Swindoll talk. And she said it with such a soothing tone that I can still hear it in my head whenever I'm upset.

What's your favorite Bible verse?

Grace's Book of Necessary Quotations

"Never say 'bad' when you could say 'potentially dangerous.'" -Grace, after Hope changed "bad" to "potentially dangerous"

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." -J.R.R. Tolkien

"Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule." -Stephen King

"Faith, you do look like Cinderella. It's a little creepy." -Grace

"I never saw a purple cow, I hope I never do." -Tory

"I can't live without my Budweiser." -Grandma

"Hey dog, whatcha doin? Dog stuff? Okay, cool." -Steven

"Nobody loves you. Go back to bed." -Me, to the dog

*Hope does something uncouth at dinner*
Mom: "I hope you have better manners than that when you have children." *Mom dips a finger in the butter and licks it off.*

Grace to Nana, on Mom's uncouth behavior: "Did you not teach her any manners, or did they just not stick?"
Nana: "She came like that."

"Once there was a magical elf who lived in a rainbow tree/ He lived downstairs from a flatulent dwarf who constantly had to pee/ One day the elf could take no more/ so he went to bang on the rude dwarf's door/ and what do you know, they suddenly both were marrrrried." --"Elliot"

"The giraffes taste the same as the elephants. That's messed up." --"Boog"

"Not only does beauty fade, but it leaves a record on the face as to what became of it." --Elbert Hubbard

"That's not even real water! It's Star-2-O!" --Sam

*Gracie is distracted by a shiny jewelry department*
Darlene: "You're like a racoon!"

"Never go to bed angry. Stay up and plot your revenge." --seen somewhere

"What happens in the basement, stays in the basement. ...That sounded really bad." -Faith

"In some things it is better to receive than give. Massage is one of them." - Al Michaels

"WD-40 and duct tape are the only tools you need in life. If it's not loose and should be, use the WD-40. If it's loose and shouldn't be, use the duct tape." -seen somewhere

"We have ... a thirst unquenchable, to allay which he has not shown us the crystal springs. This thirst belongs to the immortality of Man.... It is no mere appreciation of the Beauty before us—but a wild effort to reach the Beauty above."
--Edgar Allan Poe

Grace: You're eating ketchup with your late stew? Were you raised by wolves?
Tory: I don't know, is Daddy a wolf?
Hope: Well, he does have a lot of facial hair.

"There's no such thing as natural beauty." - Steel Magnolias

Faith: I want to watch an exciting movie. Daredevil, Star Wars, Batman Begins,  um....
Mom: How about Mary Poppins?

"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. " -Mark Twain

"The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit." --Somerset Maugham

Off the Cuff

How many times have you said, "Once upon a time..." and made up a story right then? I enjoy doing this occasionally. The result is often silly, usually to make a point, and always ends with the room exploding with laughter. My most recent creation:

"Once upon another time, there were children in Ethiopia who were starving because there was a war in their country. So the mothers in the United States threatened to send their children's dinners and desserts to the children in Ethiopia if their children refused to eat. Because of course you know that what the children in Ethiopia needed was dessert."

The finicky eater who was forced to be the audience of this story was my youngest sister, Tory. She was refusing to eat a slice of potato out of the Yankee Pot Roast our mother had made. For God only knows what reason, she decided that the potatoes were icky. After the story, she ate half of it.

So, spontaneously combusted stories. Discuss.

Inaugural Address

My name is Grace. I am awfully glad I have not been elected President. Washington did a much better job than I ever would. His inaugural address is certainly better than mine would be. And while I'm sure that the position is stimulating, I am quite content with the pace of my own life.

Now let me introduce myself. I was born in 1983, my favorite color is blue, my favorite food is cookies, and my favorite crochet hook is the red Boye G/6 that my Nana taught me to crochet with. I have three younger sisters, Hope, Faith, and Victory. I have been a reader almost all my life and a writer almost as long. The first story I remember writing was at age 8 in third grade. It was about the family farm and had something to do with grasshoppers, as I had been impressed with the abundance of them when we visited the land. Not long before, my mother had read to Hope and I about Laura Ingalls Wilder's youth in On the Banks of Plum Creek. Laura's locusts were in my mind also.

The first book I remember reading by myself was an I Can Read book called Little Bear by Elsa Holmelund Minarik. I still savor the simplicity of children's literature, and the sweetness of the conversations that Little Bear had with Mother Bear. There is no wonder about why my first completed manuscript was a children's picture book. I am still trying to get an agent to sell that book, but while I wait, I write. And work. And read. And crochet.