The Ocean Experience

Swimming in the ocean

Splashing in the waves

Tasting the salty water

Current pulling you farther

Clear blue water

Almost like glass

Sand from the floor

In between your toes

Diving beneath the water

Searching for treasure underwater

Every moment is a new adventure

The beautiful ocean

Sweeping you away

Only for a little while

Until stepping out

Onto the beach

Leaving behind the experience

Of swimming in the ocean

When the Day is Done

When the day is done
And the sun is setting
Below the trees
Colors fill the sky
Oranges, yellows, pinks
Blues, purples, reds

Moving quickly
More and more each minute
My eyes capture its beauty
To remember forever

When the day is done
The world becomes dark
Just waiting
Waiting for dawn
When the sun will rise again

Christopher's Innocence

This is a response to the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, about how the author uses Christopher as a symbol of innocence.

In the novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the author Mark Haddon uses the main character Christopher as symbol of innocence. Christopher is a young special-needs boy, who has certain rules that define how he lives his life. For instance, if he sees a certain number of red cars, or a certain number of yellow cars he believes it will determine how his day will turn out. He refuses to eat anything yellow, and he doesn't like the color brown. Many of us wish we could be like Christopher, having black and white lives, never telling lies. Christopher is lucky that he has lived for so long, holding onto his innocence.

The Power and the Glory Essay

Here is a link to my The Power and the Glory essay. Please read it and comment with any suggestions you may have.

Ironic Opposites

Author's Note - a response to the novel The Power and the Glory
In the novel The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene the priest who is being hunted by the government is portrayed as the opposite of what a priest is supposed to be. Many call him a "whiskey priest," because of how much and how often he drinks alcohol. Normal priests live by the rule that they are not allowed to drink an excess amount, because if people see them drinking they could believe that it is okay and lead these people off course. Priests are people who are meant to guide people away from sin, not straight towards it. Another ironic aspect of the priest's life would be that he has a daughter, a family. When men decide to become priests, they essentially give up being able to have a family or get married. The whiskey priest goes against all rules and has this daughter, who doesn't even seem to like him. Graham Greene uses him as an ironic symbol of how sometimes the people in life we believe are good and pure are the complete opposite.

All Alone

Author's Note: this is a poem about when the main character Novalee in Where the Heart Is is left by her boyfriend at a Wal-Mart

Left all alone
With no way to get home
Out on your own
In a strange new place
Scared and confused
Wondering what to do

Wandering the streets
Unsure of what comes next
Searching for someone
Searching for anyone

Along comes help
A family, a home
People who are there for you
Through the good and the bad

Thinking about the times
When you used to be on your own
Remembering the day
When you found a home
And didn't feel all alone

The Number Seven

Author's Note: this is a response to the novel Where the Heart Is

In the novel Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts, the main character Novalee Nation is extremely superstitious about the number seven. The young girl had a bad history with the number, starting with her seventh birthday--the day when her mom ran away with a baseball umpire. In 7th grade, Novalee's only friend stole an ice cream truck and was sent away to a state school for girls. Then, after she had dropped out of school she began waitressing at a diner, and one night a regular customer went crazy. Novalee had tried to calm her down, but the woman stabbed her with a steak knife, and it took seventy-seven stitches to close up the wound on her arm.

The fact that sevens were unlucky for Novalee seems quite strange, because they are usually lucky for others and are used as good symbols in several instances. For example, in the bible, when God was creating the world, he rested on the seventh day because his work of creation was complete, entire, and perfect. Therefore the seventh day of the week, Sunday or the Sabbath, is a day of rest and peace. There are also several other occasions in the bible where patterns of sevens have been mentioned. The idea that the number is inauspicious for Novalee is very ironic, because of their normally fortunate implication.