Monday, February 13, 2017

Maya Angelou Reflection

3.)  Angelou says she doesn't even like talking about her bad dreams because she feels as if it gives them too much power. I don't necessarily agree with this because I feel like sometimes you need to talk about the things you are dealing with and the things that are not so pleasant in your life in order to help yourself get through them. Sometimes speaking out is the only way to deal with your problems and if that gives your problems too much power then I feel like that is okay, because that power is only temporary. Once the problem is dealt with then there will be no power left to the problem, you will have all the power because you would have dealt with it instead of just covering it up and hiding it.

5.)  Angelou went through a major trauma at age seven that caused her to go completely mute for five years. I cannot even begin to imagine being completely silent for five years, not saying a word, and only listening. I'm sure I would learn so much;
I would learn to pay attention to peoples' body language more and their actions, rather than focusing so much on what I'm going to reply to them in response after listening. I talk too much and voice my opinion too much to be mute for that long. I think the longest I have ever gone without talking is 15 minutes max. I am an extrovert and am very social, so I feel like taking away my voice would be like taking away half of my personality.

7.)  Angelou often said she had "total recall" of the events that happened in her life, I consider myself to be very much like Maya Angelou in this way. I have a very good memory and I think this is because I am a person that pays close attention to detail; I like to remember the little things. I often notice that I have better recall of the times in my life when I was the happiest or when I was the saddest, but not as much recall of the times when I was angry. I have found that as the years pass by I often forget what I was so angry about in the first place. But I feel like you never really forget a deep, true sadness and you never forget how your heart hurt so much. I feel like our minds also choose to remember the happiest of moments in our lives because it is naturally human nature to want to be happy.

9.)  Angelou plays solitaire with a deck of cards when she needs to occupy her "small mind" and focus in order to get something done. I often notice that when I really need to focus I need to be in a quiet room that is very calming. I can listen to soft music, but often get distracted when it comes to listening to loud, harsh music while trying to focus on a task in order to get something done. My biggest distraction when it comes to getting something done is talking. I am a very social person who likes to talk and this often gets me into trouble when I am working in a room with other people. I often find that this is why I do a lot of my class work at home as homework because I have a hard time focusing in class because I get to caught up in talking to other people.

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Dream Threads

I was unable to focus on one of the 10,000 thoughts running through my head.
So, I laid there feeling restless,
helpless,
useless.

Tossing and turning I shifted
from one side of my bed to the other,
from one end of my bed to the other,
and then back in the middle.
My feeling of restlessness.

My own imagination consumed my every being.
I couldn't manage to control my own thoughts,
my own creations.
My mind more awake and conscious
than my own body.
My feeling of helplessness.

The night dragged on,
my body more awake than the moment before it.
Nothing I could do,
but lay there and ponder.
My feeling of uselessness.

I looked back up at the clock:
five more hours,
I told myself.



Dream Marks on my Pillow

There are always those restless nights I have every once in awhile where I just can't seem to sleep and my head won't hit the pillow just right. It seems as if the hours of the night drag on for eternity, as I just lay there tossing and turning for the majority of my restless night. I lay there wishing I could fall asleep or that it would be morning already so that I would't be the only one wide awake, so that I would't be so alone. Sometimes it's my thoughts that keep me up, other times I am just restless and uncomfortable. I dread nights like these. It is one thing to be awake and consumed in your own thoughts, but it is dreadful to be awake in the middle of the night with not even your thoughts to keep you company. Other nights my own nightmares keep me awake and I can't fall back asleep because my brain won't quit wondering- "What if it were real?" I hate restless nights like these, spent tossing and turning until the sun finally rises. It is as if I can only finally let my body rest when I see the sunshine coming thru my window.

If I Were in Charge of the World

If I Were in Charge of the World...

If I were in charge of the world
I'd cancel Monday mornings,
Sunday afternoon blues,
long essay assignments, and also
decaf coffee.

If I were in charge of the world
there'd be longer summers,
shorter winters, and
more college football Saturdays.

If I were in charge of the world
you wouldn't have stressful days.
You wouldn't have credit card limits.
You wouldn't have bad attitudes.
Or "Make sure you eat your vegetables."
You wouldn't even have vegetables.

If I were in charge of the world
a chocolate chip cookie cake
loaded with thick icing would be a vegetable.
All alarms and deadlines would be silenced
and a person who sometimes forgot special occasions
and sometimes forgot to say "I'm sorry"
would
still be allowed to be
in charge of the world.

Monday, February 6, 2017

Color Collage Poem

The faint peach pink of the dress swayed as she danced,
just as elegantly and gracefully as her.
The ballroom stopped just to watch her feet grace the floor.
Fast and swaying just like the train of the dress.
As if her feet were telling a story,
that everyone should follow and listen along to.
Without rhyme or reason she danced,
but its all she wanted to do.

Sunday, February 5, 2017

Color Story

Blink Of An Eye
The sky gaped with different shades of cold blue, swirled together like it was a painting from Vincent Van Gough’s blue period. Eva walked down the beach in a slow manner, in sync with the churning waves to her left. She would stop every so often to pick up a musty shell she would find buried deep in the sand. Only to pick it up and then throw it back down when the shell lost its beauty to her. After throwing the shell down into the dewey sand, she noticed a roaring of violent waves coming from the once calming, slow moving waves just moments before. Looking up, she noticed the once sedative sky, now had clouds turning and roaming in violent patterns.
A mukey light olive green had now filled the sky. The one true sign of a violent storm approaching. Eva had made it inside to her beach house, not much protection from the storm brewing just outside the four walls of her shabby, siding house. She didn’t know where to go, who to turn to, so she found the best protective corner of her house and decided to wait out the storm. Tucked away in the back closet corner, the walls painted various shades of dark colors, she listened as the waves slapped on the back and sides of her beach house.
The turning of the waves against her house seemed liked it had lasted a lifetime to Eva. Only when she saw the peach orange of a sun shining through the blinds was her hope restored. She removed herself from the dark corner of her house and onto the back deck of her house, where she saw the sun shining in a sky that was once dark with hate just moments before. She wondered how a place that was so calming, could be so violent in the blink of an eye. As she stood on her back deck, looking out at the now settled waves, she realized every other house torn to shreds as her’s was still standing.
The beige siding of her house was now chipped and torn in places, spots were flooded, and the amber wood surrounding the house was worn, but it was still standing. Still standing in the midst of a storm. Eva quickly snapped out of her trance and ran from house to house checking on the neighbors who lived in the houses that once stood next to her. She stumbled up and down the beach searching, stumbling over her own two feet as she was still in such shock.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Paint Chip Poems

Haiku:

Nature's sky covered
in a hazey, purple fog
refusing the sun.


A dream in the mind
restlessly and magically
keeping the mind alert.


The sky oh so pale
not shining after the rain
drifting helplessly.

Acrostic:

Soft and restless
Easing along with the current
Aimlessly headed for no where

Sand in the air
Purple in the sky
Rage in the current
All swirled together
Young and restless

Free Verse:

A penny for your thoughts
carelessly waving through your mind.
Allegories of your mind
tossed together
without rhyme or reason.
Just searching
for a heirloom
to tie the memories together.

Narrative: Charming Pink

Covered in rose she walked
down the staircase towards
her prince charming.
His face dropped in reverence
of what appeared before him
breathlessly and without words
they swept across
the lonely dance floor.