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

Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

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

I feel like green daffodils in space! Obviously it is Tuesday.

There are a lot of times that I feel as if I am meant for more than slogging through life. It's mostly my narcissism, but when I start thinking like this I can't help but remember the demi-gods of Greek legend. Many of them were unaware of their heritage, but they felt as if they did not belong in the mortal realm.

Anyways, here is a haiku that somewhat captures, incompletely, the feeling I get on theses days.

Myth

Sweet mystery flows,

Sweeping strongly through my veins.

Myths invade my dreams.

"Far away a shepherd, magic notes stealing up through the warm silence; surely that is Pan, half-goat, half-human, who guarded the shepherds of old." - Roger Lancelyn Green

I'm an awkward cow. MILK ME!

I went to see a play at Bellhaven, and I was blown away. This was a simple, student directed project, with only three actors and on their smallest stage; it was amazing. Talking with a friend afterwards, I thought about how different my life might have been had I gone to a school which is just a 25 minute drive from mine. Weird. Anyways, to the poetry. Here are a pair of haikus, very similar. They are kind of what I want right now.

Literary Relaxing

I wanted a book

That I could sit down and read,

And forget the world.

Lush Relaxing

I wanted a drink

So I could sit down and sip,

And forget the world

"You must be careful about giving any drink whatsoever to a bore. A lit-up bore is the worst in the world." - David Cecil

Obey your master! Bring him a jelly doughnut.

Doughnuts make me go nuts!

Anyways, I hope everyone is doing well. We are halfway through yet another week. Yay? Appropriately enough for the following haiku, I am wearing black nail polish. (First time, too.)

Disengaged

I move parallel

To the world and her people.

The distance kills me.

"It gives you the impression of an escaped lunatic's conversation while chasing his hat on a windy day." - W.H. 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

In brightest day, in blackest night, No cookies shall escape my sight!

Bonjour! I don't know about everyone else, but I am very tired. Je vais fatigue. If you haven't already guessed that I am taking French, then you obviously are from the moon. It is a pleasure to meet my first alien!

Anyways, I've noticed that most of my poetry is about wanting to be somewhere else. I used to have a penchant for poetry about walking, but I guess I am more stuck than I used to be. Oh, well, from great angst comes great art. That's how it works, right?

The Keys are in My Pocket

Sometimes I wonder

What it is I'm doing here

When I could drive off.

"Not all those who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien

All's fair in love, war, and competitive eating!

Many of my friends often talk of leaving Mississippi. For most it is empty talk that will culminate in a few trips out of the state. I hope I don't follow that trend. Don't take this the wrong way, because I truly love Mississippi; I just happen to hate the weather and the backwardness. (The lack of an MLS team is also a contributing factor) I apologize if I offend anyone by saying that I don't think I really belong here, but it is how I feel. To ameliorate your harsh feelings, here is a haiku.

Seasonal

Fall comes too slowly,

Summer lingers on too long.

This is not my home.

p.s. The quote is applicable this time! Yay!

"Hell is indefinite." - Charles Williams

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

Emo Ethan waves hello from the corner.

I thought it would be a good idea to actually try and update more often, so the easiest way for me to ease into a routine is to write a haiku every few days, and let the larger stuff sort itself out. Enjoy!

Sunday weeps alone.

The blood drips from her fingers;

She is dead inside.

"Faithless is he that says fairwell when the road darkens." - J.R.R. Tolkien

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