Give me a challenge and a goal

To focus my energy against

Like the wind. My sails and mast

Will drive my empty soul.

Doldrums hate motion.

Passive pale defeat purely

Overwhelms more surely

Than roiling ocean.

So give me a fight and make me care,

A cause, a war, a calling,

For action is forestalling

The twin of too much peace—

Despair....

“If only the world had shown me a little more mercy, Roger, I might have listened to you. But now I know what to expect. I sang my heart out gave it my all, only to be made a laughing stock by the words of one nasty critic? Even if I were to succeed. Even if the critics love and I gain a loyal fan base. Eventually someone or something else will hit the scene and take it all away. What is the point...

Standing at the margin where sand and water meet,

Peaceful in the sunshine and sleepy in the heat,

Water creeping closer, sand pulling down my feet,

One day standing on the beach.

Venture to the ocean where tide runs out and falls,

Turn toward the mainland where the lofty mountain calls,

Both incomprehensible and me, so very small,

Next day standing on the beach.

Darkness fills the valleys an...

(The last stanza needs help! How can I fix it? Suggestions?)

He told me it could never be.

I died inside.

It’s killing me.

She told me that it had to end.

It’s true, it’s cruel.

I’m just her friend.

I told her she should tell him too.

I hope he knows.

Good luck, you two....

Um… no it’s not.

I got nothing else to say....

Ring within ring—

Arc within arc—

The old steady bole,

The gnarled bare bark,

Bending not broken,

And shaded not dark,

Long-standing, remember

The burdens they mark....

We tried the door on the left.

It was locked.

We tried the door on the right.

It was stuck closed.

Maybe we could force one open…

It was useless.

We turned to each other but couldn’t see each other clearly.

It had grown dark.

Then footsteps approached. They came from behind the locked door.

We heard a key turn in the lock.

There followed a long silence.

Unsure what to expect, ...

Rebecca,

I know it was you.

Meet me by the maple tree.

H.

What a foolish thing to reveal at this moment. The letter will burn. The maple tree? It is red now. Passion is red. Anger is red.

Who is H? It could be one of several. It doesn’t matter. Soon whoever wrote this foolish letter will be dead.

They will be found by the maple tree. The fool should have known better....

“They make a huge fuss about it.”

Snail yawned and rolled his eyeballs.

“It’s supposed to be their coming of age trial. Each one is given a unique task. If it’s done properly, they get wings. But you would think they had survived a plague and slayed a dragon to hear them talk. As if the little tasks were such valiant affairs.”

“Of course, because none of them ever has to do anything actually h...

By the side of the road

Was stillness

Looking at an empty path

Standing silently

Leaning upon a staff.

By the side of the road

Stillness sighed

Every time a one speeds by

Never stopping for a glance

By the side of the road

Every breeze is alive

Stillness fills the air while people pass

Fluttering wings and scraping twigs

Rustling blades of grass....