I was happy, then your sister threw a sea fish at my TV.

I had to write a villanelle for my creative writing class. I've already posted the two sonnets that I've written for the class, and I think I did fairly well with the forms of those two. Neither of those poems took more than an hour and a half to write, and I didn't feel too creatively constrained by them. I had read sonnets before, and I had even taken a (sloppy) stab at the form before on this very blog. This poem, however, took me four hours all told, a lot more concentration and frustration, and I am a lot more displeased with the end result. Ugh. If you have any helpful hints with how I could improve this poem, please share.

Your flesh will fall into decay.

Your withered soul detached at last,

The worms will eat your meat away.

Though you look not to Judgement Day,

And death Himself you do lambaste,

Your flesh will fall into decay.

Despite the fact you often pray,

You'll find that Death you won't outlast.

The worms will eat your meat away.

Kiss your children and spouse away.

For they will die as well; alas,

Your flesh will fall into decay

Old men realize they'll become clay;

You're young and well and think you'll last.

The worms will eat your meat away

You will be dead and gone someday,

And your present will be the past.

Your flesh will fall into decay;

The worms will eat your meat away.

"It is hard to have patience with people who say 'There is no death' or 'Death doesn't matter.' There is death. And whatever is matters. And whatever matters has consequences, and it and they are irrevocable and irreversible. You might as well say that birth doesn't matter." - C.S. Lewis

Currently hijacking an elephant! Will update.

I used to like going to church, before I became a Christian. I could laugh at the bitterness and broken relationships I saw. Now it grieves me to see people behaving like beasts. I guess now that I feel like a part of the Church, the tensions actually affect me.

Smiling softly,
You continue on your way,
Your bruised heart hidden.

"Badness is only spoiled goodness." - C. S. Lewis

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Zero percent of men have walked on mars! We must amend this!

It has been quite a while since I last updated. More than a week has passed, and that is mostly due to laziness, but also due to unforeseen circumstances and working on a blog post that was far too much to take on at the time. Realizing that I need to put something up or I'll continue to fall into entropy, I have an off the top of my head poem for your reading delights. Enjoy.

And the Children are Left Behind

Large knobs on the door,

Lamplight gleaming off the polished brass.

We huddle close to hear the words.

A cavernous fireplace,

Flames leaping within.

The room was cheery and bright.

The doctor was not.

Six months.

Such a short time for the leaves to change.

Such a short time for the flowers to bloom and die.

Such a short time to make arrangements.

Such a short time to say goodbye.

"[Pain] removes the veil; it plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul." - C.S. Lewis

If Mumford & Sons is Popular music, I recommend calling them Ular rather than Pop.

I just got through with British Victorian Literature, which you would expect would entail reading some very wordy works. It does, but unexpectedly, you also have to deal with really verbose students, who don't necessarily understand the meanings of the words they use. It gets on my nerves when we spend 50 minutes on a subject that shouldn't take up more than 15. This frustration made me want to write a haiku with just three words, but the seven syllable words I can think of don't make much sense, so I just used five words instead of three.

Big Words for a Simple Subject

Curiosity

Leads inevitably to

Enthusiasm.

"The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts." - C.S. Lewis

This is a stickup! Give me all your comments!

It has been a little while since I last updated, and for that I apologize. I went to the hospital, got swamped with schoolwork, had 346 lines to learn for Cheaper by the Dozen, and life got to me. All that to say, I hope to keep updating as regularly as I had the past month.

Schoolroom Dreaming

Through the small window

I see the trees blowing.

The grass is greener.

"Humans are amphibians - half spirit and half animal. As spirits they inhabit the eternal world, but as animals they inhabit time." - C.S. Lewis

Kill the Wabbit!

Celtic Fest was amazing! I went with some great friends, saw more friends, bought some cool steam-punk goggles, got to talk about my mustache, and danced just a little. I love being able to hear authentic Irish accents, as well as the opportunity to discuss Premier League Football with a man with an Irish accent. If you are in the Jackson, MS area around the same time next year, I definitely recommend you going. Here is a haiku that has nothing to do with Celtic Fest.

Idylls

The old often say

Their lives used to be so grand.

Why does grandma lie?

And here is a haiku that has everything to do with Celtic Fest.

A pennywhistle

Weaves its sweet music through me,

Calling me to Eire.

"I am often surprised to find how utterly ignored Yeats is among the men I have met; perhaps his appeal is purely Irish - if so, then thank the gods that I am Irish." - C.S. Lewis

If we make a baby, I wanna name it The Doctor!

Dreams can be awfully hilarious. One of my friends is rushing for APO (the national theatre honor society), and he/she had a dream recently that everyone in the club hated them. It then came out that only the favorites would be let in, and since she was now hated, she would not be accepted into the club. This is dedicated to him/her. (I am mysterious!)

Dreamer's Directions

Easy, dreamer.

Slow down.

Life does not preclude fun.

Quit your thinking

When you're dreaming;

Let your mind relax.

As you float through the ether

And find the realm of dreams,

Search for the world's tether

And tear it at the seams.

"The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts." - C.S. Lewis

Shopping

I met a man in the grocery store, and we had a pleasant conversation about tomatoes. I didn't know him, nor did he know me, but we connected over a piece of fruit...or is it a vegetable. He said vegetable, but I remember being laughed at talking about it in high school. I'm still not sure what it is.

I started feeling old when I realized that I didn't have to sneak a sip of alchohol from a friend's glass at restaurants. Just one step closer to death, one step closer to alcholism. You have to have some way to cope.

My first legal drink was a Bloody Mary. I told the man in the grocery store about it, and he told me his first legal drink was an appletini. We bonded over our girly drinks, and our desire to buy some produce that afternoon.

My friend got food poisoning from the bar last week. He had been the DD, but couldn't quite control the wheel while he projectile vomited. I had only had two beers and a mangotini. The cops were unforgiving, but decided to let us go when my friend blew chunks on their windshield. I've never been happier about puke than I was then.

My grocery store friend and I continued shopping together, going down all of the aisles and picking out what we needed. Like Oreos. At the opposite end of the store from where we began the alcohol took up residence. Every single bottle was a shortcut to bliss.

I parted from him with my trove of groceries after the checkout, waving goodbye to someone I doubted I'd ever meet again. So I ended the night as I had often before, sipping a cosmopolitan, waiting for something.

100 per cent of us die, and the percentage can not be increased." - C.S. Lewis

Grant me Serenity, Dear Lord. And Firefly, if they have it.

When I was young, there were a lot of different things that I wanted to be, changing virtually every week. I wanted to be a cowboy, to be the President's secretary, to be a garbageman, to fly a jet plane. I never really got the sense that I could actually do any of those things and be fulfilled, but I dreamed anyway. In the 9th grade, I was practically forced on stage by my teacher. Suddenly, I felt that I could perhaps do something that I loved doing.

Since then, I have acted in 11 full length plays, one feature length movie, six short films, and one scene. This has brought me a lot of joy, even when I had little sleep and too much to do. All of that to say, I wrote this haiku last night, during a part of the APO induction, and I wanted to share not just the poem, but also a little of me.

Stage Sense

All the world's a stage,

And we are all just players

Acting for ourselves.

p.s. If you haven't seen the show Firefly, why? You must see this show. NOW!

p.p.s. If you have seen Firefly, and possibly the movie Serenity, then let's talk. I want to discuss.

"Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it." - C.S. Lewis

I'm in Human Biology. Our bodies are fascinating! Want to play doctor?

I wanted to take a little time to talk to you about what is going to happen to this blog during the semester. I am currently taking Creative Writing at Mississippi College. That means you guys will be somewhat of a sounding board for some of the things I'll take into class, and you'll get to have some more variety in your poetry. I've decided that, as much as I love these crazy titles, I'm going to have actually descriptive titles on those poems, as well as the eventual short story that will come from that.

On another note, I am in MC's production of Cheaper by the Dozen this fall as the father, which will be a time consuming role. That means I might have less posts than I would like to put up. These few days have been great, and hopefully I'll be able to continue this *ahem* blistering pace! Thanks for reading. Here's a haiku for dealing with me.

Wistful

The wind sweeps through me,

Calling me to foreign lands.

I long to leave here.

"You and I have need of the strongest spell that can be found to wake us from the evil enchantment of worldliness." - C.S. Lewis

Smile at the camera, and stop punching your brother in the ribs!

A good friend of mine broke down in tears today. She was so stressed that she couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. After a few hours of talking, de-stressing, and hanging around at a friends place, we wound up at Waffle House. Having eaten our meals and talked for an hour, we finally paid the tab and left. As we were walking away, my friend told the lady behind the register to have a good night. The woman looked at us and said, "It's morning now."

Night

The sun set hours ago,

But it never said goodbye.

They always say it's darkest

Just before the dawn.

Who are they?

I tell them, "I don't believe in mornings

Until I see a sunrise."

Burden of proof on the cheerful

Leaves me lazy,

At least for tonight.

If the sun rises

Then I might change my opinion.

"The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is." - C.S. Lewis

Here's a poem, now go away. Shoo!

Sorry about the time between posts. I just finished up the semester, and things have been slightly crazed in my life.

I think you guys deserve a poem. Why? Because I haven't written a short story yet! Yay, procrastination! I haven't come up with the best name for this poem, so if you think of a better one, comment it!

Unreality

Armchair philosophers

Talk of our love.

Pondering, they ask,

"Can it be real?"

Smoking their cigars,

They think

Alone.

What care we

For their philosophy

When our lips meet?

Your body-

My philosophy.

And there you have it. Another literary masterpiece! I promise that I'll work on a short story this week, simply because I really want to write one. Until next time (whenever that will be.)

A man who is eating or lying with his wife or preparing to go to sleep in humility, thankfulness and temperance, is, by Christian standards, is in an infinitely higher state than one who is listening to Bach or reading Plato in a state of pride. - C.S. Lewis

Two posts in a single day? Egads, this kid might just be serious about blogging.......Nah!

What do all my faithful followers want? I realize that it would be simpler to merely ask those people who have followed the page individually, but I decided to make a poll. That's right, a poll, which you can see to the right of this rambling, inconsequential drivel. I've thought before about writing a short story, and having people tell me what they think chapter by chapter. I've also thought about putting rough poetry on here, and developing it through successive posts. Both would be fun for me, but what do you want to see? Tell me, and you could get a telepathic high five!

On another note, I will post a rough draft of a poem here to give you a taste of what your decision might affect. This is my first attempt at a sonnet, and I already know that the iambic pentameter falls apart pretty early. So, just tell me what you think, and I'll soon put up a revised version of this. Also, you can suggest a title for it! See, ain't I grand?

I am a man, alone by my own choice.

Alone, indeed, for years on end to date.

The world was not aware of my small voice,

Nor did it see I could one day be great.

They threw me to the curb, crushed my small soul

Beneath the boot of men far greater then.

So I ran far, though the miles took toll,

And I, alone, have passed the years through pen.

Someday I will go out and feel the world;

Feel it, and see how it too might have grown.

I'll sense the world out from which I was hurled,

And see if they will reap the seeds they'd sown.

They'll see my form, and hear my song for what
It is. I'll be stronger with eyes unshut.

And there you have my first sonnet, a poem in process. Tell me what you think, and offer up some possible titles!

"Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn." - C.S. Lewis

Where Ethan is struck unexpectedly by an Arrowhead, and marvels!

I found out just a few days ago that one of my poems was accepted into Mississippi College's literary magazine, The Arrowhead. Before anyone asks, I have no clue what poem was selected, and I don't know what place I got. Seeing as my friend Susan Atkinson got first place, and my bud Bryant Lucas got second, I either got third place or pity vote. Doesn't really rock my boat much, I'm just glad one of my poems was accepted. I sort of inundated them with a lot of poems.

Anyways, to celebrate this momentous occasion (first publication), I decided to write a celebration haiku! Enjoy.

Pretty little lies

Whispered to the moon garner

Praise, adulation.

"I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless . . . shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it." - C.S.Lewis