Write about: the leaf.
It is lovely here. We're staying with a family who have a son that is attending the learning center here and the view from upstairs is amazing. They've been very welcoming and I, for one, am reluctant to leave for Vancouver tomorrow.
Kat was in training at the learning center for most of the day, so that meant Max and I had lots of time to play and explore. We went for a walk in the woods before lunch and ended up at a waterfall/fish ladder and he quite enjoyed throwing leaves into the water. I got him to stand still just long enough to get this shot:
This evening we joined Kat and her co-teacher, along with their principal and most of the local staff here, for dinner at the center. It's a beautiful space and everyone was so upbeat and friendly. Hard to imagine attending a regular public school staff dinner and getting that kind of atmosphere.
Anyway, watching Max for most of the day is very tiring. So I shall get this written and get my butt to bed.
Mine:
Floating on blue water,
In no rush,
No hurry,
A yellow and red leaf
Takes in the
Sights and sounds
Of life along the river -
Where black bears
Eat salmon
And lonely fishermen
Frown at their
Empty hooks.
3 comments:
It was a brighter red than little Collin’s hair. An oak leaf, with all its points and harsh lines. I kept thinking that it should look cruel and harsh with its many planes and edges. But, like all in nature, it didn’t. It could very well have been a young boy on the precipice of manhood, all limbs and the like. Before the voice would drop, before the muscles would plump. There was a certain kind of charm in the potential for greatness.
But the leaf had fallen from the tree. Turned red and fallen. It would never grow into itself and become something great, something people could’ve stood for.
Never got the chance.
That's a great picture of Max! If you get him to sign a photographic release form you could use it for one of your greeting's cards ;-) It does sound like you're having a good time though, and the school, or at least what you've described of it, sounds pretty impressive. I can imagine that you're rather pleased you've been so lucky with it all!
That's a very sweet poem, that kind of meanders just like the river in it, and I like the resolution at the end, with things complete but somehow unfinished. Very skillful.
The leaf
It was autumn in the Shire, and the hobbits had tidied their gardens and common land, and the edges of the woods that led eventually into the lands of Men, and with the trimmings and the tidyings and the windfallings they built bonfires. Little towers of dark wood and colourful leaves burst into bright flames as the sun set, and the Shire looked for all the world like it was occupied by a besieiging army.
"Do you remember the Balrog?" asked Spiffing, starely deeply into the flames. His right arm was withered and grey where a Nazgul warrior had bitten it, and he held it protectively across his chest. "When it came across the bridge? It was like this fire."
"It was a bit bigger than the fire," said Grumpy, who looked more like a dwarf than a hobbit. Many had remarked on how smooth and hairless his feet were. "I think it was bigger than your house."
They both looked up, and since Spiffing had a typical hobbit house that was built into and around a tree it spiralled upwards for nearly thirteen floors. The top floor only counted for half for Spiffing was waiting for the tree to grow a little taller before completing it.
"If that fire is the Balrog then you two are this leaf," said Grimdall the Sooty, wizard and PTSD-survivor. He picked up a large sycamore leaf and cast it casually onto the fire. For a moment it floated in an updraft and then it burnt up.
"Harsh," said Grumpy.
"But fair," said Spiffing.
Ivybennet - that's some great comparative work. Really nicely done.
Greg - hah, yeah, I don't think he'd sign it even if I wanted him to. Which I'm fairly certain I don't :)
Thanks for the kind words on mine. I actually quite like it, reading it over again now!
Hah! Grumpy the hobbit. Love it. Also: great scene in general. But Grumpy! Hah :D
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