Stairs

Entering blindly as a new born babe
I search in the dark
This world is so strange to me
It's as if an old lady blind but very alert
did not care about the emotion crawling along the wall

Not knowing anything about my surroundings
I grope the floor longing for understanding
The darkness is so thick it drowns out our voice
I scream but am not answered

Approaching me is a tiny light bouncing softly on the horizon
frightened but with arms outstretched I reach for the light and grasp it
Peering inside my hands my eyes are opened
A part of me doesn't want to
but the rest of me stronger
forces me to step into the light

The world is will within the light
and long is the travel to get there
I meet a long stairway reaching far up into the heavens
farther than the eye could see
I begin to run up the stairs as fast as I can not wanting to slow down
And now wishing I would have taken in all I could

Finally exhausted and breathing heavily
I reach what looks like the top of the stairs
Only to look further and see thousands more ahead
I fall in love with the world around me
Knowing there is so much more in front of me I sit down on my step
And soak in my surroundings.

1/12/06
-- Scott


[The assignment was the class final: to write about what they had learned in class. He got an A.]

"Torrents of water"

Torrents of water
A veil of mist
Noise pounding in my ears
My senses all confused
All I could do was hang on to His strong arm
I was being pushed and pulled in every direction
My distress was great and I felt hopeless
I could no longer see the light of His face
The mist of darkness was so thick I began to choke
I did not want to be swallowed up
But I began to lose my grip
My fingers became week
My hand slipped from His
My heart melted and I shook with fear
"Save me" I shouted
I was at rest.

1/4/06
-- Carly

New Year's Resolutions

I no longer will be idle while I'm watching my TV
And I won't allow Albanian drivers driving bother me
The porches of my neighbors house I promise not to stoop on
And milk I will not try to purchase with a stolen coupon
I won't be kicking puppies or go on a gambling spree
And my brother's neighbor's cousin's goldfish I will not set free
I won't jump on policeman's toes or tickle cub-scouts silly
I won't insult another colt by calling it a Philly
I will not wrestle with a bull or eat my aunt's tofu
I won't crank-call the White-house or some guy in Timbucktu
I know these resolutions may sound silly, none are deep
But these are resolutions that I know that I can keep.

1/2/6
-- Josh

Solitude & loneliness

Often

The one will hide the other

Both looking, sounding much the same

Solitude is an empty rooftop with me a-perch
Staring into silent skies of starlight
Hearing not a sound but what I breathe
A fortress for the thoughts I will be thinking
Where no one can invade nor bother
The stillness of the night's bright velvet darkness

loneliness is a rock in the desert heat:
No sound, no breeze disturbs its bastions
But the rapid beating heart in need of shade
Cactus grace the landscape far encircling
Withered and dry in desperate need of water
No moisture in the clouds that bring no rain

Often

indistinguishable except

In the eye of the experiencer

Solitude is a country road at twilight

No barn to burn her image in my eyes

Fields newly mown lay open far and near

A gentle breeze brings music on her back

Green and harvest-gold pervade the landscape

All is peaceful, tranquil, still

loneliness is the frozen ice and snowdrifts

Antarctica below-the-world life

Heavy winds drive deep within the skin

Of any who would brave to tarry there

Calling, no response is answered

Without a compass -- all but life is lost

Often

Taking the subtler forms

Of the opposite of our perceptions

Solitude is an oyster tucked deep within his shell

Protection, Peace and sleep are what he finds

His shell, a hard defense against the world

Secluded under his own reticence

Nothing keeping him from those around

Except a shell he opens as he will

loneliness is a goldfish in a small glass bowl

A painted plaster castle is all he sees within

Without his home the world revolves

On pet-shop shelves are others much his kin

Who with him hold no communication

Except the distorted face of passers-by

Often

These two are open for inspection

And changes only if the actor wills

Other times

The choice is not left with those

Whose lives have been leading there:

To one

Or the other

1/1/6

-- Josh

New Year

Slowly ticked the moments of the year
As she prepared for her end -- someone else's succession
No heed I paid to the slow approach of aught-six
Another year, another year -- Nothing has changed since yesterday
This year will be as swift-footed as the last
As our tiny sphere of a planet sprints in her arc
Throughout the galaxy, around the sun --
It is but another lap in this seemingly

Endless race

And yet

As I woke this morning, the sun shining through my window pane
Very much the same -- and altogether different -- sun and sky
And somewhere in my mind -- within it's darkened recesses
I could hear voices of the past shout in triumph
One last time -- then fade into the depths of my skull again
Reminding me how far in life I've traveled
How many friends I've known along the way
How the ending of a year is the beginning, not the end
Of life to come
And yet
I pull the covers across my eyes and wish for five more minutes
Before I have to start the new year right
Before facing all I've left undone and still to do
The me I am and the me that I should be:
The battles lost and won throughout my lifetime
And those I've still to face me coming soon --
But until I slip from my sanctuary beneath my pillow
All these future shadows must remain hidden a bit longer
I sigh
And rise
Another year ahead, another just behind:
The die has been cast; the wheel set in motion --
I must face this coming year as though a Lion
And yet...

1/1/06
-- Josh

Christmas

Fog presses her face against the windows peering in
The smell of fresh cinnamon rolls and bacon drew her there
Colored lights reflect their blinking on ribbons and wrapping
Presents look best still wrapped in the house's warmth this morning
She peeks in through the kitchen window
The smell of fresh coffee; the sounds of laughter.
My face presses against the inside of the window
She stares back -- us two locked until I utter
"Please let there be snow"
But the fog just smiles and traces her steps back
Toward the hills, leaving cloudless blue skies.

12/26/05
-- Josh

"Shadows on the Window Curtain"

Shadows on the window curtain
Gray images across the blinds
Pictures move acrossthe pane as in
An oriental puppet show

-- 12/16/05
Josh

I like Carpet

I like carpet
I like fuzz
I like carpet
But it doesn't like my brother
His name is Buzz
And he has dust allergies

I like soap
And how it makes me clean
I like soap
But it doesn't like my sister
Her name is Irene
And she is always spotless

I like water
And how it dribbles down my throat
I like water
But it doesn't like my father
His name is Simon
And he is afraid of it

I like my family
They are always great fun
I like my family
But none of them like
The same things as me

-- 12/15/05
Entire Class

A Wristwatch

Upon my wrist the wristwatch sits
Stately and structured; always at my service
His arms work tirelessly just for me
Ticking, constantly as though t'were nervous

Upon my wrist the wristwatch sat
And he will always stay just like that
Motionless, but always moving
Ticking and talking
As it sat and watched me
His face always staring up into my own

His steady ticking suddenly became slower
Just as life is almost over
And his hands will not now spin
The wristwatch has finally stopped ticking
We'll have to wait for the next tixking to begin

-- 12/15/05
Entire Class

Pondering

Not a sound was heard but the steady beating of my heart.
The night echoed the stillness into the far corners of the sky
Each hair rose and pointed like an icecycle
I was one with the earth: she was I and I was she
Together we encompassed day and night and season
Wherever she goes I follow; we can not part
For we are one.

-- 12/14/05
Entire Class Poem
[We all wrote a line or two]

I am A Rose

I am a rose
Because you start at the stem
And you start to grow
But you come to a sharp point
Over and over again
You keep having hard times
And then
You finally become something beautiful
After all the sharp points are over

--11/29/05
Ashley

Oasis

The smell of a thousand dusty yarn balls slapped my nose.
The old women sat around the television crochetting and others sitting at
the table playing cards.
THe walls were painted a light maroon.
It seemed like time was frozen,
as if you were in a winter land where nothing moves,
but the warmth of the old women keeps it alive.
Each one of these old women was once a princess,
dancing in the meadow without a care in the world,
only now to be trapped inside an old fragile body.
They may not move around as much,
but the love they make me feel as I walk in is like none other in the world.
As I kneel beside my grandmother and whisper in her ear,
as she tightly holds on to my hand I tell her I love her,
and she becomes young again.

-- 12/05
Scott

Drifting

Sitting asleep staring out my window pane
the dark summer night dances before my eyes
the wind blows through the trees who sway to and fro as I
sit asleep staring out my window pane

Worry

Worry is my arch enemy.
It twists me until I can bear it no more.
Why does is have to grab such a hold of my mind?
If I try to run away it will only hunt me down.
I'm afraid it will be my tormenter forever.

-- 12/05
Carly

*Almost Insivible*

I am lost
I don't know myself
Or why I am here
I am scared
What am I going to do
Where am I going to go
How am I going to live
How long do I have
Before my life is gone
I need help
Please Father show me the way
Before it slips from view
My life is almost invisible

-- 12/4/05
Ashley

Heaven

Heaven is the place I long to go,
To worship Jesus my savior forever.
To Jesus I owe every thing I am:
My soul, my life, my all.
How wonderful to be close to Jesus,
That He can wipe away my tears.
There I would never have sorrow,
Never feel the burden to struggle and toil and work.
I would have an eternal peace,
And be free from this oh, so sinful world.
My sinful nature would forever be seperated from me.
I would be clothed in white with no shame,
And be surrounded by God's awesome glory.
How wonderful heaven will be I cannot imagine.
If while still on a fallen earth things seem so wonderful,
What will it be like in a perfect Heaven?
I lay on my back and view the wispy, lofty, clouds drift
And see their color change from stainless white to bright and vivid orange and pink,
And the soft breeze cools my skin and plays with my hair.
My senses seem so completely filled.
I feel loved, I feel peace, I feel wonder and awe.
If this is a lost and fallen world, how much more will heaven be?

-- 11/05
Carly

Time

Time is running out
Don't waste it
It won't be very long
Until it flashes before your eyes
Use your time to find Christ
He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life

-- 11/30/5
Ashley

Lion

Lion, Lion of the night,
You hold me in a dreadful fright.
On your paws you slowly move.
Hope you're not of a hungry mood.

Weaving through the tall grass
Hopefully me youwill pass.
You finally caught me with your eye.
Now as a predator you lie.

I know you see the fear in me.
This makes me even more vulnerable to thee.
Up from your haunches how you sprang.
Now I am full of terror and pain.

Lion, lion of the night,
You hold me in a dreadful fright.

-- 12/05
Carly

Love

Love is my fear
Without fear there is no love
If you love, don't run from it
If you do you might loose something
Or someone special in your life
Take a chance
And go for it
There is no escape
Somehow it will find you
No matter how long it takes

-- 12/1/5
Ashley