tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44284112699353958642024-03-12T18:17:17.540-07:00For Heaven's SakeAndrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-80341875008729245222012-07-29T00:41:00.000-07:002012-07-29T00:41:00.284-07:00Magician<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I had a friend some time ago</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And he knew magic tricks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">He’d wear a cloak</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Of deepest black</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And twirl his magic stick</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">‘Til doves shot out the end of it</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And rabbits in his hat</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I loved his deck</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Of playing cards</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Red hearts and spades of black</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Until the day he smiled at me</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And cocked his tousled head</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And told me words</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">No one had heard</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And secrets never said</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“Look very close,” he whispered then</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“Watch how I move my hands.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The magic tricks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I loved so much</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Were only that— a sham!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">He showed me secret doors and traps</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And hidden springs and wires</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And playing cards</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And colored scarves</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And powders that made fire</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">He taught me too to do the tricks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And how to stage a show</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">He was so pleased</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And I just smiled</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Like I was glad to know</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I wish he hadn’t said it, though</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I wish I had it back</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That last illusion</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Genie’s ghost</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">That swirling cape of black</span><br />Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-25228759379349922312012-06-02T21:36:00.000-07:002012-06-02T21:36:32.733-07:00Player<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You shouldn't have let me see your scorecard.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I know you keep it in your back pocket.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You mark it every time you win a round</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Every time someone cries because of you</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Or sobs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Or breaks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Or gasps in pain and hopeless confusion</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Every time you're on top.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Am I a player in your game too?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I want to see if my name is on your scorecard.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When you make me laugh</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Or smile</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Or tell you I love you</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Is that because then you get more points when you take me down?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I'm done.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I quit.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I'm walking away from this.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Mark your card.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You win by forfeit. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">© Andrea Grace</span>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-51521894841591054752012-03-27T10:57:00.000-07:002012-03-27T10:57:38.927-07:00Mirrors and Windows<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>She thought she saw a monster's face</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>That looked into her eyes</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>Trapped behind</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>The mirror's glass</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>A nightmare born of lies</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>When she looked out the window, too,</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>She saw it yet again</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>And turned away</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>But still she feared </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>That people could see in</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>She wrapped a blanket 'round herself</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>And thought that she could hide</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>But no escape</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>From curious eyes</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>No matter how she tried</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>So she pulled shut the curtains</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>And she sewed them all up tight</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>She kept outside</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>The people's gaze</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>But also blocked the light</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>But still she saw that face she feared</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>When mirrors she did pass</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>She covered them</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>With heavy sheets</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>So couldn't see the glass</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>She lived out all her days like that</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>No mirrors, curtains closed</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i>And never knew</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i> This single truth—</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i> <b>That she was beautiful.</b></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1G3US3G9koMhsoAsPA7FDUDGvEx0KFaXlnfZfVU5IsQlFbczXFYimCEQsfshC8mkXS9hCbuOKwO7d6OOOCe36t-kH_y5sGW6QjTEm3JntxaoKGO5IPuSmhC-LlAA7Ue-aOZtN2UlTR5Q/s1600/Mirrors+and+Windows.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1G3US3G9koMhsoAsPA7FDUDGvEx0KFaXlnfZfVU5IsQlFbczXFYimCEQsfshC8mkXS9hCbuOKwO7d6OOOCe36t-kH_y5sGW6QjTEm3JntxaoKGO5IPuSmhC-LlAA7Ue-aOZtN2UlTR5Q/s320/Mirrors+and+Windows.png" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>~</b></i><b><i>© Andrea Grace</i></b></span>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-37949913608565670112012-03-20T11:36:00.001-07:002012-03-20T11:36:15.968-07:00Conspiracy<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">They took my notebook— burned it up!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And my computer too! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">'Cause I had written things they thought</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">No person but them knew</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Their secrets all were in there</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(It's true I snooped around)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And all the plans they had conceived.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">They hid, but then I found!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I looked through filing cabinets</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I had to break some codes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I may have hacked computers,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And I might have stolen notes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">'Til finally I had it all— </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Their whole entire plot!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was about to tell the world</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But found that I could not!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">They broke into my house (the fiends!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My proof, my records— gone</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">They think that they can force me to</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Just shut up and move on</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But they don't know me well enough.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">They left one thing behind. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">They took my notes; but their mistake—</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>They left me with my mind!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>~© Andrea Grace</i></span>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-54575956929584494952011-11-08T12:04:00.000-08:002011-11-08T12:04:06.003-08:00Cemetary<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>I wandered in a graveyard</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>In the silence, in the dark</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And read the names</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Inscripted on</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Each stone that bore a mark</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>I read their dates of birth</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And I read too their dates of death</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Those solemn lines</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>That told the tale</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Of stopped heart; stolen breath.</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Sometimes I could not read the dates</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>On some, the names were gone</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>An empty stone</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>A nameless ghost</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>A life forgotten long</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>A person once, that danced and laughed</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And sang and ate and slept</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Has now become</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>A silent thing</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>A memory never kept</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>I never saw their faces</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>I never knew their names</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>But still these empty</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Silent stones</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Inspire curious pain</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Perhaps one day, my headstone too</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Will crumble down or fade</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>My face will vanish</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Just the same</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>As theirs were snatched away</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>I'll never know their names at all</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And they will not know mine</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>We'll, all of us</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Be only ghosts</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>From once upon a time</em></span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: xx-small;">~ <span lang="EN">© Andrea Grace</span></span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I went to South Carolina with the family I work for (who I love), and the history there was just awesome. I wrote this after walking in a cemetary near where we stayed. Also, I decided that I believe in ghosts. Wholeheartedly.</span></span></span>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-81983671034700032592011-10-18T10:23:00.000-07:002011-10-18T10:23:49.250-07:00Destroyer<span lang="EN"><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A clever trick, a smiling thief</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Will you give me your full belief?</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A heart of stone, a charming bell</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The weapon of the prince of hell</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Assassin of so many dreams</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I am a tool for evil schemes</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I murder love; I ruin friends </span></em><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I laugh to see their smiles end</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’m beautiful, with charming ways</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Can’t see past my disarming gaze</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You’ll love me and you’ll think I care</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And follow me through storm or fair</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You’ll think my evil heart is good</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And all the time, I’ll shed your blood</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’ll ruin you with lies and pain</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But you’ll come back to me again</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’ll kill you soon. I’ll watch you die</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And you’ll still trust my every lie</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Be careful now. You think you’re safe</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But stay on guard, or I’ll invade </span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’ll snatch you up, ensnare your feet</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And you’ll say thanks</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">To me,</span></em><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Deceit.</strong></span></em><br /><br /><span lang="EN"></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">© Andrea Grace</span></div>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-5010058791341296902011-09-12T20:44:00.000-07:002011-09-12T20:45:18.850-07:00He Little Knew the Vengeance That Awaited Him<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"> Kids are awesome.</span> They are way smarter than most of us give them credit for. Everything they do is either hilarious or interesting. I was at the playground with the two children I babysit the other day, and this was brought home to me again when I witnessed this little drama unfolding before my eyes. </div>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<br />
The boy was about ten years old, and he was a little different from the other children. I can’t exactly put my finger on it, but something about him was just not the same. He was a little slow, and his face bore traces of the lonely and resentful expression of a child that is never quite understood. He liked to shout at the others, and the small ones were afraid of him (with the exception of the two-year-old girl I babysit, who treated him with queenly indifference). I had to tell him off, myself, for yelling at and frightening my small charges. He acted rashly, however, when he scared a little four-year-old girl. She ran off, crying, to seek solace from her older sister and her three friends. </div>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<br />
Well, I could have told him he’d made a mistake. </div>
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The little girl’s sister, a small, wiry child of about six years, immediately took action. With a brief preliminary shriek of, “You scared my <i>sister!</i>” she lunged wrathfully toward the boy and dealt him a well-aimed blow on the arm. For a moment, the boy was aware of the fact that he outweighed this girl by about forty pounds, and he gamely withstood her furious assault, but her relentless energy proved too much for him and he fled, churning up the mulch underneath his pounding feet. </div>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<br />
But the tiny avenger was not about to let her enemy escape justice. She pursued him through the playground, shouting fiercely, “You scared her! You scared my sister! She’s only four!” It ended up that the boy scrambled up twelve feet of stairs and ladders and bridges to perch himself at the mouth of the slide, and the girl and one of her friends lay in wait at the bottom to wreak a terrible vengeance upon him when he emerged. The girl shouted her message up the slide, the tunnel amplifying her voice, making it echo and sound much more impressive than it really was: “You can be as mean as you want, <i>but don’t scare my sister!</i>” </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
Eventually, and probably against his own better judgment, he did come down the slide, and the girl and her ally smacked him unmercifully several times before he could escape and dart away to the safety of a large statue of a bison. Having made her point, the six-year-old directed a scathing glare at her little sister’s antagonist and flounced off to attend to her own amusements. </div>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
<br />
And all the time I watched. I felt for the unfortunate boy and had half a mind to intervene myself and rescue him from his inexorable pursuer, but at the same time, I was one hundred percent behind the little girl. That unthinking, passionate protective instinct, that solid conviction that nobody was going to hurt her sister if she had anything to say about it; I love that. I love watching the pact brothers and sisters make with each other, that unspoken promise of watching one another’s backs. Nobody messes with my family but <i>me</i>. What other social group has that kind of bond? That’s family right there. Awesome. You hold on to that protective instinct, kid. Don’t stop standing up to people who are twice your size. </div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Stay fearless. </span>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-13862273340312508672011-08-08T12:58:00.000-07:002011-12-12T14:37:08.774-08:00Jeweler<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I think a Jeweler made the sky</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I think He uses metals bright<br />He spread Himself an onyx sheet</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And placed it over Earth at night</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I think He took a crystal clear<br />And broke into many shards<br />He poured them out into the black<br />And we looked up and called them stars</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He minted once a silver coin<br />And hung it out and called it “moon”<br />But sometimes it’s a pale pink pearl<br />And gold in months of harvest, too</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The sunsets made of rubies red<br />The Jeweler pours on molten gold<br />And hangs out clouds of amethysts<br />As He has done for years untold</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When rain falls in the sun’s warm light<br />I think it’s really diamond stones<br />They tumble down from up above<br />From that vast trove the Jeweler owns</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And flakes of icy crystal fall<br />In winter months (we call it snow)<br />From selfsame clouds whence silver wire<br />Twists down to strike the ground below</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If you lived out on sprawling plains<br />‘Midst amber waves, the way I do,<br />You wouldn’t doubt that sapphire is<br />The stuff that makes the skies so blue</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The heavens shine so brightly there<br />The Jeweler truly knows his art<br />The emerald streaks in rainbow curves<br />Are gifts from Him to charm our hearts</span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">~ <span lang="EN">© </span>Andrea Grace</span></em>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-16551156240786054272011-06-03T09:26:00.000-07:002011-08-30T11:46:23.596-07:00Tin Soldiers<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Tin soldiers stand up ramrod straight</em></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And march in perfect rows</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Across the patterned</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Quilted squares</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Toward their wooden foes</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>The little general, five years old,</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Shouts out their strategy</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>The soldiers in</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>His pudgy hands</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Defeat their enemy</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Tin soldiers with their bayonets</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Won’t march at all today</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Except the one</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>The general took</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>To school, so he could play.</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Tin soldiers march through six more years</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Across the nursery floor</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>The general doesn’t </em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Play with them</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>As often as before</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>But still sometimes, he takes them down</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>(How militant they look!)</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And sets them up</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Like armies in</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>His favorite history book</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Tin soldiers watch their general tie</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>The laces on his shoes</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Sixteen today</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>He frowns a bit</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And reads the morning news</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Tin soldiers stand upon the shelf</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And stare across the room</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Where once they marched</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And victories won</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Now empty as a tomb</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>The general’s face they see again</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>A photo on the wall</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>So many medals</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>On his chest!</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>A handsome man, and tall</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Tin soldiers live for thirty years</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Inside a chest of pine</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Their bayonets</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Are duller now</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Their faces lost their shine</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Until the day the general comes</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And gives a happy shout</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>As he kneels down</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Beside the chest</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And lifts his soldiers out</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And one more time, he’s five years old</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>The soldiers march once more</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>The general gives</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>A fine salute</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And sits down on the floor</em></span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">~ <span lang="EN">© </span>Andrea Grace</span></em>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-41974142918868658732011-05-14T10:18:00.000-07:002011-08-30T11:46:41.623-07:00Train to the City<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Boarded a train— left the prairie behind</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Heard the wheels rumble over the train track</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And I looked out the window at hills flashing by</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And I vowed that I never would go back.</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>The city was busy. The cab drivers shouted</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>The sights and the sounds filled my mind</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Beneath the skyscrapers, in all the confusion,</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>I forgot what I had left behind.</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>'Midst smells of the hot dogs and cigarette smoke</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And the gum on the sidewalk below,</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>I wandered around, thinking what I should do</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And where would I most like to go.</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>A museum of paintings was open that day, </em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>So I bought me a pass and looked ‘round.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>I saw the whole place, from the top to the bottom</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>From ceiling right down to the ground.</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And it’s strange to report, but a thing that I found out</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>As through that museum I did roam:</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Amongst all those paintings </em></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>the ones I liked best</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Were the ones that remind me of home.</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Boarded a train— bade the city farewell</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>But told it one day I’d stop by.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>And my heart sang a song as the train sped along</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Toward my home ‘neath the wide prairie sky.</em></span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">~ <span lang="EN">© </span>Andrea Grace</span></em>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-33838860984521374302011-04-16T11:23:00.000-07:002012-01-07T23:06:02.116-08:00Drawings on the Sidewalk<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A cloudy day, and gloomy out</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But I could see the sun</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A little girl</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">With yellow chalk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Had drawn a smiling one</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Her hand was painted rainbow hues</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As she held tight the chalk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">She drew her world</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So brightly there</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Upon the grey sidewalk</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A princess in her tower room</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">With hair as dark as night</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A dragon green</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And breathing flame</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Prince Charming there to fight</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A river wound through all that land</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And birds flew very high</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The fluffy clouds </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hung lazily</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Suspended in the sky</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The little artist sitting there</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And painting where I’d walk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The only tools</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That she would use</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Her box of colored chalk</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I don’t know why I stayed right there</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And watched that little girl</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As flowers grew</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Beneath her hands</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Inside her little world</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A drop of water fell on me</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And on the smiling sun</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And that small girl</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Picked up her chalk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And she began to run</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">She disappeared inside her house</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And left me standing there</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A tear rolled down</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The dragon’s cheek</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And blurred the princess’ hair</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The colors ran together</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As the rain washed them away</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And I just watched</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The sidewalk turn</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">From rainbows back to grey</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">~ <span lang="EN">© </span>Andrea Grace</span></em>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-77931771208027496752011-03-03T11:14:00.000-08:002012-01-07T23:04:26.356-08:00Vigil<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Twilight on a lonely pier </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The silent skies of grey </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A single gull </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Stands motionless </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And looks across the bay </span></em><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Last night, as well the night before, </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He kept her company </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A little girl </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Who waited there </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And stared out to the sea </span></em><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Expressionless and waiting </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">For a ship that never came </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So many others </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Landed there </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But none was quite the same </span></em><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So many nights spent silently </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">No sigh escaped her lips </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">She never spoke </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A single word </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But gazed upon the ships </span></em><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Tonight the gull is all alone </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">For she will come no more </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The memory of </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Her silent watch </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A ghost upon the shore </span></em><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The seagull spreads his black-tipped wings </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And soars into the sky </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And disappears </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Into the grey </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A final mournful cry</span></em><br />
<em><br /></em><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">~ <span lang="EN">© </span>Andrea Grace</span></em></span>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-36193794118237174952011-02-08T11:04:00.000-08:002012-01-07T23:03:49.982-08:00Lot's Wife<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Run, my dear! Keep running!</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Don’t stop to think or breathe!</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Don’t wonder what it looks like, dear.</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I know you want to see,</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But squelch your curiosity!</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We’re running for our lives!</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And I tell you most emphatically</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That looking is not wise!</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Your home is burning up back there</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A hail of fiery rain</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Reduces it to just a pile</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Of rubble on the plain.</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My dear, I know your sister’s there</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Your friends and all their wives</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’m sorry, love, but we’ve no choice.</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We cannot save their lives.</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I know you want to help them</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I know you want to turn</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I know it breaks your heart to hear</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Your hometown-city burn.</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Keep running now, and don’t look back</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There’s nothing we can do</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We tried our best to save our friends.</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I know it hurts for you,</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But they have made their choices, and</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">For them it’s far too late</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We’ll look out for ourselves this time</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And leave them to their fate.</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I know it seems so cruel, my dear,</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">To leave our friends to die<br />It breaks my heart to flee like this,</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">To hear their children cry</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But I hope you can see one day</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We had no other choice</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We heard the Lord tell us to run</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And had to heed His voice.</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You want to race back there and help,</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But you’d just perish too!</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So run with me, my own dear wife,</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s all that we can do.</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We can’t save everyone in life.</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Most times it’s best to try</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But sometimes, dear, the cause is lost!</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And why, then, would you die?</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So keep on running, darling!</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And please, oh please, don’t turn!</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Please, you do not have to watch</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Our friends and city burn!</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We cannot help, and that is that.</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Aren’t we worth saving, too?</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And we’re saving our two daughters!</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That’s what we have to do. </span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But, oh, my wife! I cannot hear</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Your footsteps on the ground!</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What happened? Are you running still?</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">…Or did you turn around?</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Oh, tell me that it isn’t so!</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You didn’t turn or halt!</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Oh, curse the day! My wife is now</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A pillar made of salt!</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Turned back to help her family</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Or maybe just to see.</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Run on, my girls. Your mother’s gone.</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s now just you and me.</span></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">~ <span lang="EN">© </span>Andrea Grace</span></em><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, "Arise! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city!" </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside that he said,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> "<span style="font-size: small;">Escape for your life!</span> Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere on the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed!"</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> ... But his wife looked back behind them, and she became a pillar of salt.</span><em> </em></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"> ~ Genesis 19: 15-17, 19</span></div>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-55145630948604517242010-12-21T12:37:00.000-08:002012-01-07T23:02:30.844-08:00Coyotesong<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A motley band of brothers are we<br />A scraggly, raggedy crew.<br />And we gather tonight<br />In the silver moonlight<br />Just to sing out our anthem to you!<br /><br />The owls and mice are our audience<br />For conductor, we look to the breeze<br />The grass and the sage<br />Are our deserty stage<br />And for harmony we have the bees.<br /><br />A song without words to write down here<br />A melody without a tune<br />And we lift up our cry<br />To the black velvet sky<br />As we sing out our hearts to the moon.<br /><br />We’ve sung since those times long forgotten<br />And we’ll sing ’til forever has gone<br />This music unchanged,<br />And yet never the same<br />From sunset right up until dawn. <br /><br />So just shut your eyes tight and listen<br />Just breathe in and don’t say a word<br />Remember our song<br />And we’ll sing it as long<br />As we know that somebody has heard.</span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">~ <span lang="EN">© </span>Andrea Grace</span></em></i></span>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-87296965490288214672010-12-15T09:28:00.000-08:002011-08-30T11:49:15.007-07:00In the Middle of December<i>Summer breezes in December carry scents of candy canes<br />For a moment there you wonder if it isn’t rather strange.<br />Lovely weather in the middle of what should be winter’s chill<br />Only here in Colorado have we summer breezes still!<br />Just a week ago the wind, it was completely different here<br />The frigid Arctic blasts that we should have this time of year<br />And I donned my fluffy socks, and much hot chocolate did I drink<br />And I looked outside the window, many gloomy thoughts to think.<br />I guess I’d just forgotten that the spring must come again<br />Guess I didn’t quite remember there’s an end to winter’s reign.<br />And the middle of December (who’d have thought it? who’d have known?)<br />Has conspired just to show me it’s got beauty of its own<br />So I won’t lose hope for springtime, and I won’t wish winter gone<br />Just remember to enjoy it as the year goes marching on<br />Summer breezes in December and the promises they make<br />Dancing winds that tell of springtime and the season Earth awakes<br />Fragrant zephyrs bringing sunshine and no hint of winter’s chill</i><i>Only here in Colorado have we summer breezes still!</i><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">~ <span lang="EN">© </span>Andrea Grace</span></em>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-37573710700614312042010-11-04T09:33:00.000-07:002012-01-07T22:49:52.961-08:00My Grandmother's Flowers<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandmother’s flowers grow lush in her garden </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And smile at me every time that I come </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The big fluffy zinnias and small cheerful pansies. </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Wave and they nod ‘neath the bright summer sun. </span></em><br />
<em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandmother’s hands touch her flowers so gently </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">She waters and digs and is busy all day </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The flowers just love her, and she loves the flowers </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">She makes them so cute in her own special way. </span></em><br />
<em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandmother’s eyes gaze out over her flowers </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And rest for a moment on blossoms of blue </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The flowers she looks at are my special favorites </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">‘Cause my grandmother’s eyes are the very same hue. </span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandmother’s flowers are happy to see us </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And Grandma’s big smile is wide, bright, and sunny </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">She’s clever and witty and makes me to giggle </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Because my grandmother’s so terribly funny! </span></em><br />
<em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandmother’s flowers are strong just like she is </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Every summer they’re taller; they smell sweeter, too. </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandmother’s flowers get better and better </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Their bright, vibrant colors quite spruce up the view. </span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandmother’s flowers won’t blossom forever </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">One summer I’ll come and they will not be there </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The yard will be mournful and lonely and quiet </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The garden not lively, but somber and bare. </span></em><br />
<em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandmother’s flowers, their faces will vanish </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">No more her soft hands the smooth petals caress </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Her laughter, the ghost of a much-lovéd lady </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Will linger and stay in the places she blessed. </span></em><br />
<em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I so love my grandma. The times that I see her </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Are fleeting and fading; they’ll someday be spent </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So I’ll be a good girl and help Grandma to garden </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And always remember her flowers’ sweet scent. </span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandmother’s flowers are charming and lovely </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Their faces and smells I will always remember </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And even though she and her flowers will leave me </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s only a while ‘fore we’re back together. </span></em><br />
<em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandmother’s flowers I know will go with her </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When she leaves me to go to the Garden above </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And her flowers will make Heaven smell all the better </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When my grandmother rests in the LORD’s awesome love. </span></em><br />
<em><br /></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">~ <span lang="EN">© </span>Andrea Grace</span></em>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-57854734940574935202010-10-25T11:07:00.000-07:002011-08-30T11:49:56.577-07:00Travelin'<em>I been walkin’ down this road</em> <br />
<em>For eighty years or more</em><br />
<em>My shoes wore out long time ago</em><br />
<em>And boy, my feet is sore!</em><br />
<br />
<em>Just steppin’ steppin’ steppin’</em><br />
<em>For at least ten thousand miles</em><br />
<em>And it ain’t been no picnic!</em><br />
<em>Though I had my share o’ smiles. </em><br />
<br />
<em>This road I gotta travel,</em><br />
<em>Boy, I tell you somethin’ strange:</em><br />
<em>It seems you know what’s there ahead</em><br />
<em>And just like that comes change!</em><br />
<br />
<em>You’re walkin’ through some valley</em><br />
<em>Sure, it looks like Easy Street!</em><br />
<em>But boy, you pay attention,</em><br />
<em>‘Cause it sure won’t stay that sweet.</em><br />
<br />
<em>A mountain’s comin’ up ahead</em><br />
<em>And pretty soon you’ll see</em><br />
<em>You gotta climb up real, real high</em><br />
<em>Sure, this I guarantee!</em><br />
<br />
<em>Them mountains, it’s a funny thing</em><br />
<em>They take you by surprise</em><br />
<em>And when you see ‘em loomin’ there</em><br />
<em>You won’t believe your eyes!</em><br />
<br />
<em>You won’t think you can climb so far</em><br />
<em>Can’t even see the top</em><br />
<em>But, boy, you best start climbin’, </em><br />
<em>‘Cause you ain’t allowed to stop.</em><br />
<br />
<em>Won’t be easy, I tell you, boy.</em><br />
<em>Takes blood, sweat, and tears</em><br />
<em>And sometimes you are climbin’ up</em><br />
<em>For years and years and years.</em><br />
<br />
<em>You gon’ cry, I tell you that.</em><br />
<em>You’ll be exhausted, too.</em><br />
<em>It’s painful and it’s difficult</em><br />
<em>Takes strength right outta you. </em><br />
<br />
<em>But you know somethin’ that I’ve found?</em><br />
<em>Them mountains ain’t so bad</em><br />
<em>Every mountain’s got an end</em><br />
<em>And boy, that makes you glad!</em><br />
<br />
<em>‘Cause when you finally reach the top</em><br />
<em>Them climbin’ days is gone</em><br />
<em>You feel… ecstatic’s the only word!</em><br />
<em>(And you might burst into song!)</em><br />
<br />
<em>But you know, it still ain’t over</em><br />
<em>The road ain’t stoppin’ here</em><br />
<em>And if you wanna reach the end,</em><br />
<em>Boy, that’ll take you years!</em><br />
<br />
<em>So rest yourself a while</em><br />
<em>Then you keep on steppin’ on</em><br />
<em>And you know somethin that you’ll find?</em><br />
<em>That climbin’ made you strong!</em><br />
<br />
<em>But there ain’t no more climbin’</em><br />
<em>For at least a while yet</em><br />
<em>‘Cause now the road gets twisty</em><br />
<em>And it might get dark and wet</em><br />
<br />
<em>And now it gets confusin’</em><br />
<em>‘Cause it’s darker than the night</em><br />
<em>And on top o’ that you wonder </em><br />
<em>If you should turn left or right</em><br />
<br />
<em>The road splits off a lot here</em><br />
<em>And you don’t know where to go</em><br />
<em>And so you find that by this time</em><br />
<em>You’re goin’ pretty slow</em><br />
<br />
<em>But boy, you just be careful</em><br />
<em>That you know which turn to take</em><br />
<em>You might find that at this time</em><br />
<em>It’s best to just go straight</em><br />
<br />
<em>And keep your eye out, boy, I say</em><br />
<em>Keep lookin’ at your goal!</em><br />
<em>‘Cause if you don’t, I tell you this:</em><br />
<em>You gon’ fall down a hole.</em><br />
<br />
<em>Boy, you fall down one them holes</em><br />
<em>You best get yourself out!</em><br />
<em>If you can’t do it by yourself</em><br />
<em>Then fill your lungs and shout!</em><br />
<br />
<em>Call for help to anyone</em><br />
<em>Who’s passin’ by your way</em><br />
<em>If they’re on your same highway</em><br />
<em>Then they won’t just walk away.</em><br />
<br />
<em>They’ll help you out and dust you off</em><br />
<em>And shake your hand and then</em><br />
<em>You don’t know if they’ll go or stay</em><br />
<em>Until you reach the end. </em><br />
<br />
<em>And when you finally see a light</em><br />
<em>You’re outta that dark place</em><br />
<em>An’ the goin’ ain’t so difficult;</em><br />
<em>You best pick up your pace.</em><br />
<br />
<em>The hard times might be over,</em><br />
<em>But you got a ways to go</em><br />
<em>Before you reach your journey’s end</em><br />
<em>So don’t you walk too slow.</em><br />
<br />
<em>And just because it’s easy now</em><br />
<em>Don’t raise your hopes too high</em><br />
<em>You never know what’s round the bend</em><br />
<em>Them turns deceive the eye!</em><br />
<br />
<em>You’ll step on rocks as well, you know.</em><br />
<em>And thorns and prickles too.</em><br />
<em>Your feet get bruised and bloodied up,</em><br />
<em>But boy, it’s good for you.</em><br />
<br />
<em>It hurts a lot to walk this road</em><br />
<em>But there’s much more than pain!</em><br />
<em>Boy, I tell you somethin’ grand</em><br />
<em>About this long, hard lane:</em><br />
<br />
<em>Sometimes you’ll see such lovely things</em><br />
<em>Hear songs so pure and sweet</em><br />
<em>It makes you want to skip and dance</em><br />
<em>Despite your aching feet!</em><br />
<br />
<em>‘Cause boy, I tell you somethin’ now:</em><br />
<em>Ain’t nothin’ you can dream</em><br />
<em>Can be as great or beautiful</em><br />
<em>As things that you will see!</em><br />
<br />
<em>And as you walk that great long road</em><br />
<em>You’ll seldom be alone</em><br />
<em>I guarantee there’s someone </em><br />
<em>Who’ll make it feel like home.</em><br />
<br />
<em>You’ll meet some other travelers</em><br />
<em>And they’ll walk with you a ways</em><br />
<em>But most will split off pretty soon,</em><br />
<em>Though some of ‘em will stay.</em><br />
<br />
<em>Your friends may take a different road</em><br />
<em>Perhaps their thoroughfare</em><br />
<em>Is shorter than the one you’re on.</em><br />
<em>You’ll miss ‘em walkin’ there. </em><br />
<br />
<em>Can’t always have folks by your side</em><br />
<em>Enjoy it while it lasts!</em><br />
<em>Because the days you walk with ‘em </em><br />
<em>Will shoot by far too fast. </em><br />
<br />
<em>Yep. Steppin’, steppin’ steppin’.</em><br />
<em>It won’t be no piece o’ cake.</em><br />
<em>But you ain’t got a choice here, boy.</em><br />
<em>That’s the road you gotta take.</em><br />
<br />
<em>You best remember what I say</em><br />
<em>‘Cause boy, when it gets hard</em><br />
<em>You best be smart and watch your step</em><br />
<em>And boy, keep up your guard!</em><br />
<br />
<em>And don’t forget the lovely parts!</em><br />
<em>And don’t you walk too slow.</em><br />
<em>And most of all, remember</em><br />
<em>Where it is you want to go.</em><br />
<br />
<em>So boy, although it’s tough at times</em><br />
<em>You can’t see ‘round the bend,</em><br />
<em>Don’t you forget one minute</em><br />
<em>That you always got a Friend!</em><br />
<br />
<em>And He is with you always</em><br />
<em>And He’ll never leave your side</em><br />
<em>And He’ll be your strong Protector,</em><br />
<em>Your Provider and your Guide!</em><br />
<br />
<em>So boy, I’ll keep on steppin’</em><br />
<em>And you keep on steppin’ too.</em><br />
<em>I tell you what; you reach the end<br />And I’ll meet up with you.</em><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">~ <span lang="EN">© </span>Andrea Grace</span></em>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-74334799044824581762010-10-15T09:04:00.000-07:002012-01-07T22:46:48.117-08:00Smoke On The Wind<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>A fire once burned here; the smell is still lingering</em> </span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It left naught but cinders and ashes of grey</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The smoke curls up skyward and fades into nothing</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Like memories I had of those long-ago days</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Like smoke on the wind are the friends that I had once</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Their memory is dimming, I don’t know their names</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The words that they told me I barely recall now</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The laughter we shared once is mostly the same</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I thought it would last, though. I thought we would stay</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Best buddies forever. I guess that’s not so. </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Like smoke on the wind, like a ghost in the hallway</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I thought it was friendship, but I didn’t know.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Like smoke on the wind, the harder you grasp it</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The faster it slips through your fingers and fades</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When you open your hands, there is nothing to see there</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Was it even real in the very first place? </span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Like smoke on the wind are the friendships I had once</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Or thought that I had; for perhaps they were dreams</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The people existed. I know that for certain;</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But if they were friends still remains to be seen</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Like smoke on the wind, maybe real, maybe not</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">For awhile you see, but it soon disappears</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A small puff of air dissolves those grey tendrils</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The same way we friends couldn’t last through the years</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Perhaps it was time, or perhaps it was distance</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Perhaps ‘twas the differing paths that we chose</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Whatever it is, I can scarcely remember</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The days we had once. Guess that’s just how it goes.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Only smoke on the wind… it looks real for a moment</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But once it is gone, then you can comprehend</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It never had substance or any real meaning</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And maybe ‘twas good that it came to an end</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Smoke on the wind, never real, never there</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You think that it was, but you can’t really tell</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And you watch it drift upward, are sure it’s a real thing</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But maybe it just has you under its spell</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Smoke on the wind, it sure muddles your head</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You can’t quite think straight, cannot see through the mist</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">One blink and it’s gone, leaving you there, bewildered</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Was it just a dream? Did it really exist?</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Smoke on the wind isn’t real; you can’t feel it</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Just an illusion, a beautiful sight</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A memory of nothing, a moment of pleasure</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But you know in the end just a passing delight</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Smoke on the wind can’t torment me; it won’t.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Sometimes I admit that I want it to stay</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But smoke cannot help me, won’t be what I’m needing</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I guess I must just let the smoke drift away.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Just smoke on the wind, all those friendships now vanished</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I thought that I knew them, but maybe I’m wrong</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Smoke on the wind, only smoke in the ending</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Smoke that was here but next moment was gone.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">~ <span lang="EN">© </span>Andrea Grace</span></em>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-31900706602980677752010-08-20T10:18:00.000-07:002012-01-02T12:16:27.727-08:00The Man Who Could Not See<em>How do you tell of color </em><br />
<em>To a man whose eyes lack sight? </em><br />
<em>How can you tell of sunrise </em><br />
<em>If he cannot see the light? </em><br />
<em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>How can you play him music </em><br /><em>If he cannot hear the words? </em><br /><em>How can he smile and sing along </em><br /><em>If he has never heard? </em></span><em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>If you let him have a Hershey’s bar </em><br /><em>You know it’d go to waste— </em><br /><em>He wouldn’t care for chocolate </em><br /><em>If the fellow could not taste. </em></span><em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>Why would he touch a rabbit’s fur </em><br /><em>If he has never felt? </em><br /><em>Does he know of cookies baking </em><br /><em>If the man has never smelt? </em></span><em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>But even if he knew the world, </em><br /><em>If he could see and hear: </em><br /><em>If he could feel and smell and taste </em><br /><em>And lived a hundred years, </em></span><em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>If he heard every pretty tune </em><br /><em>And saw all gorgeous things </em><br /><em>He never could know happiness </em></span></em></em></em></em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em><em><em><em><em>If he knew not the King.</em></em></em></em></em></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">~ <span lang="EN">© </span>Andrea Grace</span></em>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-27589724113954130522010-08-16T12:05:00.000-07:002010-11-18T20:46:25.103-08:00Butterflies and Moths<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy4JUE6fRgE-Iq7JbhmFHlrorE_pw7nGT2s28UsOH5s0gxQT5i7DORM1yrk3gQ0X6yBt4ST00K739DddZpqqKgKs65tsqkSzV_Uwjih-OXF2dTqNXX_CcvU4DIKrTxOy4iJ1RdJpfk5MI/s1600/July+++August+2010+037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy4JUE6fRgE-Iq7JbhmFHlrorE_pw7nGT2s28UsOH5s0gxQT5i7DORM1yrk3gQ0X6yBt4ST00K739DddZpqqKgKs65tsqkSzV_Uwjih-OXF2dTqNXX_CcvU4DIKrTxOy4iJ1RdJpfk5MI/s320/July+++August+2010+037.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"> A photogenic butterfly who very obligingly sat still on a rock and presented me with this charming view of itself in all its glory. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsHoO7m6JSnOLUTtCezDLf2-zCIq8Wo39Bmr_4HzV6K8sStDsSukbSQYeZqorC-5DTcoh_BkJw2u1I7EhiteraraDnuvd5AlrZ4q0dfWFfnxELe-4ICXaEQkJzShUFTRuRECFwoGC3WUY/s1600/July+++August+2010+064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsHoO7m6JSnOLUTtCezDLf2-zCIq8Wo39Bmr_4HzV6K8sStDsSukbSQYeZqorC-5DTcoh_BkJw2u1I7EhiteraraDnuvd5AlrZ4q0dfWFfnxELe-4ICXaEQkJzShUFTRuRECFwoGC3WUY/s320/July+++August+2010+064.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center">This is just some moth we found on our front door. It's really tiny, but I thought it was pretty.</div>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-75073346778138227232010-07-27T15:50:00.000-07:002012-01-02T12:12:30.820-08:00The Poem I Could Not Write<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><em>I cannot think of things to write</em> </span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’m somehow blocked today</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Topics come and subjects go</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But they don't seem to stay!</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You don’t know how this kills me.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I want to write so bad!</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I plead for inspiration</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But there’s none here to be had.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The words flit by me, taunting</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Just inches out of reach</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And I try so hard to grasp them</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But they laugh and turn to flee.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s sad, this inability.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And frustrating too—</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When there’s a poem you want to write</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And that you cannot do!</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I bite my lip and hem and haw</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And think as hard’s I can</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Alas for me! It seems that I’m </span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">An uninspired man!</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Defeat, at last, claims me its own.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There’s naught for me to say.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Just hang my head and shuffle off</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And try another day.</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This will come back to haunt me</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I know I’ll dream tonight</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Of writer’s block I couldn’t break—</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The poem I could not write!</span></em><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">~ <span lang="EN">© </span>Andrea Grace</span></em>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-77492441364033983592010-07-20T21:53:00.000-07:002012-01-02T12:12:13.185-08:00My Grandfather's Books<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandfather’s books are lined up on the shelf there</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I see them, their bindings are rigid and grey</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They speak of the past, tell of wars and of rulers</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandfather loves them and reads every day.</span></em><br />
<em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandfather’s books do not smile or giggle</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They’re serious, stern, and they don’t talk too much.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When they do speak at all the matters are weighty</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Politics, battles, and history and such. </span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandfather’s hands grip the covers so firmly</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He turns every page with a serious face</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">He’s reading and learning, knows so much already</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Of each president, of each battle, each place.</span></em><br />
<em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandfather’s books speak of strength and of courage</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Like my grandfather there, they aren’t mushy or sweet</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They’re hard and abrupt, and they tell you what’s happened</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Every word stamped in ink on the printer’s crisp sheet.</span></em><br />
<em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandfather’s books are so strong, just like he is</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I remember his muscles from when I was small</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How his strength bowled me over; I smiled and wondered</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And was proud of my grandpa so handsome and tall</span></em><br />
<em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandfather’s books don’t get dusty; he’s neat</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And he never is sloppy, untidy or messy</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But he does love his grandkids, is happy to see us</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And view all us children as his little blessings</span></em><br />
<em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I do love my grandpa. And he loves me too.</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Though sometimes he’s prickly, severe, kind of gruff</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And I know in my mind every time that I see him</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">That ten thousand hugs simply won’t be enough.</span></em><br />
<em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandfather’s books… he can’t read them forever</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They’ll sit on the shelf getting dusty someday</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And I don’t want to think it, but Grandpa will follow</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Someday my grandfather will just fade away.</span></em><br />
<em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandfather’s books; they will know him forever</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The same as I will. He’ll be stamped on the page</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">His fingers won’t be there, but they’ll be remembered</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Though my grandfather lived in some previous age</span></em><br />
<em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">One more hug, one more “Love you!” I’ll give him today</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Every time that I smile, I hope that he knows</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">How much I love him, will know him forever</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Even when someday my grandfather goes.</span></em><br />
<em><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">My grandfather’s books someday will be thrown out</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Or sold to a thrift store or shop of antiques</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But his memory forever will be mine to cherish</span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And my grandfather’s smile will be mine to keep!</span></em><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">~ <span lang="EN">© </span>Andrea Grace</span></em>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-5636666956710416872010-07-13T12:13:00.000-07:002012-01-02T11:52:39.699-08:00Feverish<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Scott stared hard at his computer screen. He sneezed. His fingers hovered over the keyboard, poised for his next stroke. He was chatting with his buddy, Jason. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “ya so 4 dinner tomoro, my mom is makin spageti,” wrote Jason. “U wanna come an we can talk bout the project?”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Scott frowned. “Certainly,” he typed rapidly. “If, that is, there is no objection on your mother’s part.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “no way man she likes for u 2 come an eat all the food it makes her fell good jk lol”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Scott’s eyes watered, and he sneezed again. “Excellent! We will call it a deal, then.” in He tapped the enter key lightly a few times before pressing it in earnest. His long fingers remained frozen midair as Jason’s next message scrolled across the screen. Scott coughed.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “gr8 man so wat do u think bout usin blu insted of green?”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Scott coughed again. He was suddenly very thirsty. “Perhaps,” he typed. His train of thought was violently derailed as he caught sight of Jason’s next message.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “or may be pink lol”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a name='more'></a></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Scott’s eye twitched. His fingers shook. He blinked rapidly and sneezed four times in succession and coughed thrice. “Perhaps pink wouldn’t be as appealing to the public eye,” he tapped out, snapping himself back to the task at hand. He thought for a moment, then slowly typed, “;-)” He frowned and shut his eyes for a moment. Suddenly the room was stiflingly hot. The computer beeped as Jason’s next message flashed onto the screen.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “lol man ya some ppl might not like pink so much” </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Scott’s throat felt tight. His breath came in labored gasps and it felt as though there was very little oxygen being received by his brain. “In my opinion,” he typed slowly. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> His head swam. The heat was becoming unbearable. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “In my opinion.” The words danced on his computer screen as Scott tried desperately to muster his thoughts. His brain moved sluggishly and his index finger came down heavily on the “I” key. He coughed laboriously. His cheeks were on fire, and his throat was dry and swollen. Water… a drink of water…</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “In my opinion…”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> All became dark.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">***</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Scott woke suddenly in a white room. He heard a metallic beep and thought for a moment it was Jason’s next message popping up on his computer screen. He sat up. No… it was a hospital room. He was in the hospital… why was he in the hospital? And then he remembered; he must have fainted during his chat with Jason. Probably inadequate oxygen intake; his throat had been so tight. But why? What was wrong with him?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> A stocky, bearded man entered the room softly. He smiled gently at Scott.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “Scott?” His voice was deep, but he was trying hard to make it soft and comforting. This, Scott surmised, was the doctor. “Hey, Scott. Glad to see you’re awake. I’m Dr. Parker.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “Ahh…” said Scott. His voice was so hoarse. “Thank you, doctor. If you’ll pardon my abruptness, why am I here?”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “You should really buy your sister flowers or something,” smiled Dr. Parker. “She walked into your study and found you slumped over the keyboard. She called an ambulance immediately. It’s lucky she found you when she did. You might not have been with us if it weren’t for her.” </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Scott frowned. He had a slight headache. “Slumped over…. What happened to me, doctor? Is it my heart? My lungs? I felt a tightening of the throat right before I lost consciousness….”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “Oh, we know what’s wrong with you,” said Dr. Parker briskly. He clicked his pen and consulted his clipboard. “You had an allergic reaction.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “Allergic reaction?” cried Scott in alarm. “What set me off? I hadn’t eaten anything for hours, doctor, and…”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “Calm yourself,” said Dr. Parker soothingly. “Your allergy is not that serious and quite treatable, I assure you.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “Might I ask what the allergen is?”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “Chatspeak,” Dr. Parker informed his patient. “It’s a rare allergy nowadays, but we still find a few cases here and there. The same way some people’s bodies are programmed to reject peanuts, your body reacts adversely to phrases like ‘ppl’ and ‘lol.’ There are multiple causes, but in your case, it’s caused by abnormally high levels of Linguistic Snobbishness.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Scott’s head swam. Yes… yes, he had been doing fine until Jason started blasting him with “gr8s” and “U’s.” Jason wasn’t a bad sort— on the whole he was rather a marvelous fellow— but he did have deplorable habits in matters of language. “But it is treatable, doctor?” Scott asked desperately. “You did say it was treatable?”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “Yes,” Dr. Parker said reassuringly. “Oh yes. Quite treatable. I am prescribing to you,” he said, beginning to scribble furiously on his clipboard, “a month of solid country music. Three weeks if the songs have plenty of ain’ts in them. But you might want to start mildly.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Scott clutched his forehead in despair. Country music? “Is… is there another way, doctor? Any other way?”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Dr. Parker glared severely at Scott. “Young man, you are lucky we caught you this early. Were you any older, your condition would have become permanent. There is nothing else. Unless, of course, you would like to memorize the entire works of e. e. cummings….”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “No,” gasped Scott. “No, thank you very much. I am grateful to you for what you’ve done for me, doctor, truly I am. May I be released to begin my treatment?”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> Dr. Parker smiled again. “Certainly, certainly,” he said amiably. “Your sister is waiting in the lobby for you. Now off you go.”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> “Thank you, doctor,” called Scott over his shoulder as he strode quickly down the sterile white hallways. “Yes… thank you very much indeed!”</span>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4428411269935395864.post-35382950827179009762010-07-07T20:08:00.000-07:002012-01-02T11:49:43.085-08:00Adventures<span style="font-size: x-small;">(<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Is it a sin to post two things on the same day? But the first one doesn't really count for anything... so it's okay, right? <em>Right</em>? Ahem! Annnyyyyway, without further ado, I present to you.... this.. um... this thing I wrote.)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> The rain battered the glass windows ferociously. The wind was a ravening, shrieking beast, howling its relentless determination to shake the house to pieces. The clouds, blackly menacing, swirled and boiled ominously. Jagged lightning tore the sky, briefly illuminating the waving prairie grass. </span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> It was a dark and stormy night. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> Grace Connor wrapped her arms tightly around her knees and stared, wide-eyed, at the savage display of raw power. Her heart beat faster as thunder crashed on her ears, like some giant drum of war. She was safe inside, sitting on the window seat in her bedroom. Silent marvel etched itself on her freckled face. She smiled quietly to herself. This, she was thinking, would be the perfect night to be kidnapped by pirates. Yes… the perfect night…</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><a name='more'></a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> The lightning flashed and thunder roared. The rippling grass looked exactly like storm-tossed ocean waves, and suddenly Grace was aboard the ship Nightshade, tied to the mast by her wrists. The pirate captain swaggered over, leering mockingly at the small girl, one of five survivors of the crew of Mary’s Blessing. Ahh, he surely was a barbaric sight! Tattooed all over his bare, muscular arms; two belts strapped across his broad chest, both of which were dripping with weaponry; a short, rough black beard; dark, fierce eyes pierced her soul from underneath heavy black eyebrows. He wore a pair of black boots and a dark red vest; tattered finery that only served to enhance the savagery of his appearance. The rain spattered onto his face, running down his dirty cheeks in rivulets.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> “So! A pretty lass have we, gents?” he boomed. The crew, a pack of filthy brutes, snickered nastily. The captain toyed with a ruby-encrusted dagger and grinned wickedly at his captive. He leaned closer to Grace, bending down with his scarred hands on his knees. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;">Grace’s light brown hair was dripping and tangled, and it blew in her face and obscured her vision as she glared up at the malodorous corsair. The wind knifed through her sodden clothes and stung her bare feet, but she barely noticed the freezing storm raging all about her.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> “You’re a privileged maid to have fallen in with fine company such as ourselves, lass,” continued the captain. “How’s about you show your appreciation by dancing a lovely jig for Captain Greyson, eh? What say you, pretty one?” </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> A grappling hook thumped onto the deck. The pirate captain swung around, but too late! Three men in smart blue coats leaped aboard followed by a fourth and a fifth. The Navy had arrived! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> “Charge them, lads!” roared the first man. “No quarter!”</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> And suddenly all was chaos! The shrieking wind drowned out the shouts and war cries as more Navy officers poured onto the pirate ship. Gunshots rang out in the night and the clashing of swords as the forces of good and evil waged an epic battle. Lightning illuminated the scene, and Grace screamed as one of the pirate crew fell at her feet with a bullet in his head. His knife spun from its sheath and slid right into her waiting palms. She snatched at it and began sawing at her bonds. Soon she was freed! The battle raged all around her, but she kept her head and soon her four companions were loosed as well. The men pounced on any weapons that had fallen onto the deck in the confusion and leaped into the fray. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> And as suddenly as it had begun, the fight was over. Thunder crashed in the sky, a triumphant drumbeat sounding the victory of the Navy. The soldiers shouted jubilantly, their chests heaving from exultation and exhaustion, the wind snatching at their coats and hair. They were heroes! Their captain took charge of the ship and turned it in the right direction and they were bound for home… homeward bound at last…</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> Grace pushed her light hair behind her ears and pulled her quilt closer around her shoulders. Her flannel pajama pants, white with pink polka dots, glowed slightly in the dimness of her bedroom, and she curled and uncurled her toes inside her fluffy bedtime socks. No, she thought, perhaps not pirates. She leaned against the walls. It felt good to put her warm cheeks against the cool surface. Rainwater ran in rivers through her back yard, all of them meeting in a dip in the middle. It swelled slowly, turning from a puddle to a pond. The droplets of rain danced on the surface, and lightning reflected blindingly white. She gazed out into the overwhelming blackness, her grey eyes half closed. It certainly was good weather for being on the run from slave traders….</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size: small;"> Grace pounded through the thick mud, trying to dodge trees she could barely see and keep hold of the long knife she held tightly in her left hand. The screams of her pursuers were snatched by the howling wind and carried to different places so that she didn’t know whether they were behind her, in front of her, or beside her. Her heart battered her ribcage, partly from terror and partly from exhaustion, and she pushed her burning legs to take step after step into the driving rain. Lightning flashed shortly, illuminating the clearing she had stumbled into. Grace’s chest heaved as she searched frantically for a place to hide. Somewhere, anywhere she could curl up and not have to run any more. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> There! A dead tree with a large hole at the base. It was sure to be hollow. Darkness engulfed her once again, and she thrust the knife into her belt and hurtled toward the tree. She went into a rolling dive, sliding in the slick mud that made up the forest floor. Her hands came in contact with some solidly wooden object, and she pulled herself into the cavity, curling up and wrapping her tattered cloak about her body. Her heart beat out a frightened tattoo on her ribcage as she tried to control her breathing. For a moment she felt a blessed security. Here inside this cramped space, it was at least dry and shielded from the relentless winds. Her breath came in short gasps and her teeth chattered uncontrollably. Her entire body, in fact, shivered with fear and cold. She pulled her knees to her chin and drew her cloak a little tighter to her. Warmth. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> The two men came crashing into the clearing, breathing heavily. Their boots made enormous splashes in the puddles that dotted the forest floor. Grace bit her lip. She could see them from her hiding place, their questing eyes and snarling mouths illuminated by the guttering lanterns they carried. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> The larger of the two men clenched his teeth furiously. “Where did she go? I saw her come this way, I know I did…”</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> The other man stamped his boots, both in frustration and the futile quest to get warm. Even their thick cloaks proved poor protection against the wind and rain. “She did come this way, the little jackal’s brat.” He swore violently as he felt the empty space on his belt. Grace clutched her knife tightly. “She took my best knife too, the treacherous little devil. When I catch up to her….”</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> “And we need to catch up to her,” said the bigger man, his voice all gravel and menace. “She’ll fetch a massive price on the block in Tripoli.”</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> “We’re splitting up,” snarled the smaller man. “You take that way. Three gunshots when you find her.” </span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> The larger man crashed off noisily, his giant boots splashing water in every direction.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> Grace shut her eyes tightly, her breath coming in shallow bursts. Her body stiffened tensely as the smaller man, muttering threats and curses, came closer and closer. He couldn’t know where she was. She hadn’t left a trail. She had been clumsy and frightened, of course, but the storm... Surely, surely, he didn’t know…</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> The man halted suddenly. The lantern’s flame danced over the clearing, casting dim yellow light onto every tree and bush. He stood erect and sniffed the air. The rain spattered into his face, but he closed his eyes and concentrated intently. Grace could not breathe. Her throat constricted in terror. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"><em> Please… please, no…</em></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> “Judas.” The man flung the word into the storm-tossed night, fighting the wind and rain to contact his companion. “Judas, come here!”</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> The larger man came dashing back. He skidded to a halt beside his comrade, breathing heavily. “What’s wrong?”</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> “I don’t know,” said the smaller man softly. “Something’s just not right. She’s here.”</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> Grace shut her eyes tightly, silent tears coursing down her face to mingle with the rainwater. The slave traders would find her. Any second they would find her.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> Closer and closer their steps came.</span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> She adjusted her grip on the knife. One of them, at least, would come to regret this night.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> Closer…</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> Grace shivered and opened her eyes. Actually, it wasn’t really good weather to be on the run from slave traders. She gazed into the night again. Her pajamas had never felt quite so warm. The rain had not slacked off; nor had the thunder and lightning. She yawned hugely, her grey eyes opening and closing lazily. Her window seat really was very comfortable… She yawned again and slid down to lie on her side. The storm was beautiful. So many stories… More and more adventures crowded into her mind, each more daring than the last. Her breathing slowed and her eyes closed gradually. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"> It would have so exciting to smuggle important documents into hostile territory….</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: small;"><em>The End</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span>Andrea Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05789935698234568557noreply@blogger.com0