tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73571994510524167632024-03-05T01:45:56.875-08:00HERE, WHERE I AMKathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.comBlogger473125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-86137342293900685312016-05-24T08:25:00.004-07:002016-05-24T08:40:57.359-07:00VOICE LESSONS: Craft Tip and Prompt<div style="background-color: white; font-family: helvetica; margin: 0px;">
<b>Below you will find my Craft Tip from Diane Lockward's Poetry Newsletter, Oct. 2011. I highly recommend that you get your name on her email list to receive this Newsletter every month and also order a copy of her revised edition of The Crafty Poet. You can find more information on this site: </b><a href="http://www.terrapinbooks.com/the-crafty-poet-a-portable-workshop.html">http://www.terrapinbooks.com/the-crafty-poet-a-portable-workshop.html.<b> </b></a></div>
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<b>Diane has gathered together a trove of poems from which she has drawn prompts, followed by a Craft Tip by a well-known poet, including Cecilia Woloch, Baron Wormser, Dorianne Laux, and Lola Haskins. A second collection of prompts and poems will be published soon, <i>The Crafty Poet, II. </i></b><br />
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<b>Here's more about Diane at her</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><a href="http://www.dianelockward.com/" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" target="_blank">website</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> and her</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.dianelockward.blogspot.com/" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" target="_blank">blog</a>.<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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Sign up for her free monthly <a href="http://eepurl.com/bfoCw" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank">Poetry Newsletter</a> and</div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">visit</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.terrapinbooks.com/" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Terrapin Books</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, her small press for poetry.</span><b> I blurbed her latest book, <i>The Uneaten Apples of Atonement,</i> which I heartily recommend. </b><br />
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<b>VOICE LESSONS</b></div>
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I grew up wanting to be a singer. I sang solos in church. I sang to the cows in the pastures. I sang quietly into the window of the bus as it made its long journey home from school every afternoon. Neither the window nor the cows gave me stage fright. Singing solo in church did. Would my voice be there? What would I hear? Anything at all? Remembering my anxiety as I opened my mouth to begin “In the Garden,”I recall Fred Chappell’s comment that the blank, mute page makes every honest writer feel a surge of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">doubt</span></span>. Even opera singers confess to an occasional loss of voice that renders them unable to sing what was once their signature arias. </div>
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Like most young poets I worried about “finding my voice.” Now in middle age, after serving for five years as our state’s Poet Laureate, concentrating more on a public voice t<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">h</span></span>an my inner one, I<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> now </span></span>worr<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">y</span></span> about finding it again<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">.</span></span></div>
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Reading <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">soprano </span></span>Renee Fleming’s <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">memoir </span></span><b><i>The</i></b><i> </i><b><i>Inner Voice</i></b> set me wondering about what advice she might give. Maybe she would tell me I ought to take this mystery of voice literally. Maybe I should try to think of voice as a real singer might. “Stop worrying about having lost your voice and start singing,” she <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">suggested</span></span>. “Try singing your own lines from earlier poems when you were ‘in voice,’ even if only as recitative and not aria. Really hear those lines, bodily, in every part of you “ </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span>“Oh, and by the way, sing along with the cd player while driving. If you keep punching back to a song numerous times because you love the way it <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">feels</span></span> in your ear and in your mouth, you are on to something important. Take the song that makes your hair stand on end and write from it, generating words that rise out of the song’s lyrics. “</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span>So, ok, I took Renee’s <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">imagined </span></span>advice. On walks, I’d sing, quietly, lines from my poems<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">, when I was sure nobody else was around. </span></span>In the car I sang along with Etta James, Nina Simone, and even Renee herself<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span>on her <i>Dark Hope</i> album. Driving back over the Blue Ridge mountains, I listened to Dolly Part<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">o</span></span>n’s version of “Silver Dagger”<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> from her bluegrass collection. </span></span> I listened to it over and over again, goose bumps rising on my arms every time, and when I got home, I began singing it onto the page, letting the first word of the song become the title.</div>
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sing love songs to me </div>
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lest you waken the blade </div>
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that seeks marrow, my heart’s</div>
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muscle, bone-chain</div>
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that carries me deep</div>
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into shady groves where </div>
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I hear naught but my own</div>
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blood dissembling. </div>
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I hadn't<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span>a clue where this poem was going, where this woman’s voice was leading my own, but lead me it did. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(</span></span>You can find out where <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">it</span></span> carried me at <i>Blue Fifth Review</i>, where it’s just been published<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">--</span></span><a href="http://bluefifthreview.wordpress.com.)" style="color: blue; cursor: pointer;" target="_blank">http://bluefifthreview.wordpress.com.) </a>;</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span>With the impetus of language that approximated the original lyrics, I suddenly <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">heard</span></span> wildflower names bursting through, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">along with words </span></span>like “reft” and “dissembling” that I’d never used in a poem before. I heard --no<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">,</span></span> I <i>felt </i>my “voice” cracking the whip, a live wire again. Living as I do in the Blue Ridge mountains, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">I find that </span></span>old ballads and folk songs wield special power for me, but jazz and blues do, too. I’m sure that Nina Simone’s “Lilac Wine” is waiting for a poem. Maybe “Vissi d’arte”? “Nessun dorma”?</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Wait a minute, though. </span></span> If I’m going to <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">continue to </span></span>think like a real singer, I have to practice don’t I? I can see Madame Fleming nodding her head, like my piano teacher, who <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">once</span></span> told me I didn’t practice hard enough.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Thanks to </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">n</span></span>ewsletters like this one, suggestions for poetic practice <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">aren't</span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">difficult</span></span> to find. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">O</span></span>ne of the best ideas I’ve heard lately<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">, however, </span></span> came from a renowned pianist who des<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">cribed</span></span> his daily practice as playing the same Mozart sonata, finding something to learn from it each time. Why not come back each day to a poem that has stirred us, reading it aloud, learning it by heart, listening to its inner voice<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> over and over again?</span></span> Our own voices will respond to that voice, taking shape on the page, in our mouths, in our ears. After all, voices long to sing back to other voices. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">My inner</span></span> Diva’s advice? Let them. </div>
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Here's Dolly singing her version of Silver Dagger, followed by Joan Baez, whose version I first heard many years ago. I still like that first haunting version the best. <br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=009vp-2bB84">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=009vp-2bB84</a><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xlmb8gG7HU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Xlmb8gG7HU</a><br />
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<b>PROMPT:</b></div>
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<b>WITHOUT THINKING TOO MUCH, CALL UP A SONG THAT GIVES YOU GOOSEBUMPS, THAT HAUNTS YOU, ONE THAT YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO AGAIN AND AGAIN. AFTER LISTENING TO IT AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT, FIND THE LYRICS AND LISTEN TO THEM IN YOUR OWN VOICE. BEGIN TO WRITE FROM WHAT HAUNTS YOU, LETTING THE LYRICS OF THE ORIGINAL POEM LEAD YOU ON….AND ON INTO YOUR OWN MUSIC. </b></div>
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<b>RIGHT NOW I'M WORKING ON A POEM THAT IS ITSELF HAUNTED BY "THE DEMON LOVER," AS WELL AS ONE IN THE VOICE OF "PRETTY POLLY. " </b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3ofwL6FZGjmdqf3iRf2tBpAPu_hkSQbeX8OS-bPJCUaFutXpZQRhn4lMNCV2f4j-G90QnH02cqNBhqixfN9Gubq1zPtkidR3J0HPVktyllajHxQ4TzFrklkEwjock1r613UYmqkaS51q/s1600/blshawl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3ofwL6FZGjmdqf3iRf2tBpAPu_hkSQbeX8OS-bPJCUaFutXpZQRhn4lMNCV2f4j-G90QnH02cqNBhqixfN9Gubq1zPtkidR3J0HPVktyllajHxQ4TzFrklkEwjock1r613UYmqkaS51q/s200/blshawl.jpg" width="138" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>My ancient black shawl</i></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12px;"> </span>Here is one that grew out of "Long Black Veil," particularly these lines.</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><i>She walks these hills in a long black veil</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><i>She visits my grave when the night winds wail</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><i>Nobody knows, nobody sees</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;"><i>Nobody knows but me</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Long Black Veil</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>“She walks these hills in a long black veil,</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i> visits my grave while the night winds wail...”</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She could never herself weep</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">above any man’s grave for so many </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">bad nights, unmindful of hailstones </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and wind wailings. Where’s the woman</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">who would? Still, she wonders who</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">wrote this song, who set it roaming. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She’s glad to be done with her own </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">bad nights drawing her out</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">where the wind can whip</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">even the slightest of lacy threads</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">wild at the edge of a shawl. She </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">had thought it was flesh to flesh</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">she wanted, long as the nights lasted.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">That was before she pulled back</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">from the heat of him seeking her own</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and saw limbs thrashing outside </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">like nothing that she could recall</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">ever hearing a woman sing.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">No wailing romance in that vision,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">only the locust leaves hammered</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">by lightning to quicksilver</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">tongue-shapes that silenced her.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">How dare a woman walk out</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">into such revelation, much less</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">set it throbbing to music </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">that’s even now winding its song round her, </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">length after length of it, her hand</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">reaching out for the door handle?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">first published in <b><a href="http://www.poemeleon.org/kathryn-stripling-byer">Poemeleon</a></b></span></div>
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Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-67550881182866944772016-05-22T07:25:00.001-07:002016-05-22T13:24:26.966-07:00WHEN I STOPPED WANTING TO BE EMMYLOU HARRIS<h2 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: Bitter, serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Here's a recent blog post on </span>South85journal.com<span style="font-weight: normal;">, a literary site well worth visiting. I'm using this post to begin some commentary on my workshop at "The Gathering" in Winston-Salem, NC, back at the beginning of April. This popular literary event, sponsored and presented by Jacar Press (whose founder Richard Krawiec, is a man of many talents) in Durham, NC, has become one of North Carolina's most welcoming and enjoyable literary events. The title of my class was <i>The Legato Line,</i> and its presumed focus was the music of the poetic line and how one can weave a poem together in ways that approach the art of singing. Each participant had an individual approach to structuring a poem, so in the posts to follow I hope to touch on a few of those poems, featuring lines that made my ear take heed and listen. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Why not submit some of your own work? Or just enjoy the various offerings here, especially the blogs. Here's the link. <a href="http://south85journal.com/blog/"><span style="color: #021eaa; letter-spacing: 0px;">http://south85journal.com/blog/</span></a></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://south85journal.com/2016/04/stopped-wanting-emmylou-harris/" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in; border: 0px; color: #bc2026; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in;">When I Stopped Wanting to Be Emmylou Harris</a></h2>
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<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 14pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Kathryn Stripling Byer</strong></div>
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It took me a while. After all, who wouldn’t want to wear fancy boots, lots of fringe, and sing, not to mention write, songs like “From Boulder to Birmingham”? Even now I marvel at how long it took me to realize that the poetry I was writing was my way of singing. After years of Emmylou envy, I began to hear my voice, as I gave readings, approach song. I began to focus on poetry as sound, as what Richard Wagner came to call even years before he’d inscribed the first note of an opera, “sound landscapes.” Of course this poetic landscape encompasses all the elements of poetry, syntax, image, lineation and so forth, but more and more I began to listen, really listen to where the language was leading me.</div>
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This listening can take its own sweet time, and waiting is, as far as I’m concerned, a key component of good writing. Several years ago, while visiting a good friend in Oregon, I joined her and a few of her poet-friends for a workshop. As a prompt, she offered up a poem with a train in it. I can’t recall much of the poem, but the sound of that train pulled me into the first line of a poem that took me a long time to sing to its closing notes. “So long, so long, the train sang,” I wrote in my notebook. And so began the first notes that kept calling and calling to me, haunting me, even down to the final days of my father’s life, as I lay in my childhood bed, trying to weave this poem together, finally. I was, as I now realize, “listening” this poem to completion.</div>
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“Legato,” that is what I was trying to achieve–the legato line. Singers know it well, and so indeed do poets, though they may not know it…..yet. The opposite of legato is staccato, and I knew the sound landscape for this poem was not at all staccato. This poem’s legato line was a moaning, all the way down through the flatlands, sounding like Georgia blues singer Precious Bryant singing, “I’m goin’ home on the morning train. That evening train may be too late, so I’m goin’ home on the morning train.”</div>
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I was going home, too. I’d been going home since that first line jotted down quickly so many years ago in Portland, Oregon. “So long, so long, the train sang/ deep in the piney woods, well out of sight…. As sound only, it found me…long vowel reaching for nobody I knew as yet,</div>
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sounding an emptiness</div>
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deeper than I thought could blow through</div>
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the cracks of this song where I’m kindling a fire</div>
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for my fingers to reach toward,</div>
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a kindling that transforms whatever it touches</div>
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to pure sound, a pearl, say,</div>
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that’s cupped in my palm</div>
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like a kernel my teeth cannot crack,</div>
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the pulse of it strung note by note round my neck,</div>
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that old rhythm and blues beat</div>
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I can’t stop from singing me home</div>
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on this slow morning train</div>
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of a poem, its voice calling</div>
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downwind, What took you so long?</div>
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This morning train of a poem became the first poem in my most recent book,<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Descent.</em> And its question still haunts me. What took me so long to give up Emmylou and let go into my own legato line? My own lifeline bearing me home again? Maybe it’s the same journey we take over and over again with each new poem we write.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Precious Bryant. More about her on a later post. </td></tr>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://south85journal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Kathryn-Byer.jpg" rel="prettyPhoto" style="-webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in; border: 0px; color: #bc2026; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in;"><img alt="Kathryn Byer" class="alignleft wp-image-2728" src="http://south85journal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Kathryn-Byer.jpg" height="100" sizes="(max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px" srcset="http://south85journal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Kathryn-Byer.jpg 250w, http://south85journal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Kathryn-Byer-150x150.jpg 150w, http://south85journal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Kathryn-Byer-90x90.jpg 90w" style="border: 0px; display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin: 4px 20px 10px 1px !important; padding: 0px;" width="100" /></a>Kathryn Stripling Byer</strong>, a native of Southwest Georgia, lives in the mountains of North Carolina. Her poetry, prose, and fiction have appeared widely, including <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Hudson Review</em>, <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Poetry</em>, <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Atlantic</em>, <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Georgia Review</em>, and <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Shenandoah</em>. Her first book of poetry, <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The Girl in the Midst of the Harvest</em>, was published in the AWP Award Series, followed by the Lamont (now Laughlin) prize-winning <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Wildwood Flower</em>, from LSU Press. Her subsequent collections have been published in the LSU Press Poetry Series. She served for five years as North Carolina’s first woman poet laureate.</div>
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<strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Photo credit:</strong> By Yogibones from (Flickr) [CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons</div>
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Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-61731592022108275492016-05-15T06:27:00.001-07:002016-05-16T05:39:57.476-07:00Greening Up the Mountains Student Poetry Celebration, 2016<div style="font-family: 'Corsiva Hebrew'; font-size: 36px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Greening Up the Mountains </b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Student Poetry Celebration,</b></span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b> 2016</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'BookmanOldStyle'; font-size: 12.000000pt; font-weight: 700;">SPECIAL NOTE
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<span style="font-family: 'BookmanOldStyle'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'BookmanOldStyle'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">This marks the third year for the
Greening Up The Mountains Poetry Contest.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'BookmanOldStyle'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">The contest celebrates our mountains<br />
and our connection to them in our everyday lives.
All Jackson County students in kindergarten through
12th grade were invited to participate.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'BookmanOldStyle'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">We offer special thanks to our judge this year,
Ms. Darnell Arnoult,<br />
poet, novelist, short story writer,<br />
and professor of English and creative writing
at Lincoln Memorial University.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'BookmanOldStyle'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">All of the students who participated in the contest
are to be commended for their creativity and effort.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'BookmanOldStyle'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">We also appreciate the participants’
teachers and parents for encouraging them
to write and share<br />
these wonderful poems with all of us.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'BookmanOldStyle'; font-size: 12.000000pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'BookmanOldStyle'; font-size: 12.000000pt;">Kathryn Byer and City Lights Bookstore </span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">FINAL JUDGE: Darnell Arnoult, poet, novelist, short story writer, Professor of English and Creative Writing at Lincoln Memorial University.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNWBaHPgecrs1yacTkWWL3RU3F7hJ0PID5pj0nOYMSCgc3q-7mbl6BF3W6qb7m43NunGGXt9g-xeAMycGHA19PkoZYcXGTmmkk95yXweCoYeE0xV60AsF6Oao0Ds7GKtrh7lkZMNsrBo-/s1600/Darnell_Arnoult_2016_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBNWBaHPgecrs1yacTkWWL3RU3F7hJ0PID5pj0nOYMSCgc3q-7mbl6BF3W6qb7m43NunGGXt9g-xeAMycGHA19PkoZYcXGTmmkk95yXweCoYeE0xV60AsF6Oao0Ds7GKtrh7lkZMNsrBo-/s320/Darnell_Arnoult_2016_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Darnell Arnoult</td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sponsored by City Lights Bookstore, Sylva, NC, and Kathryn Stripling Byer, NC Poet Laureate Emerita.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV14QDQZWKHLWjhJqcIzSZChnIWPyDBLWq51mE5CanFyvrJX9yz7a5cZS2KeGgHnhrDxH27ldGD7A9Ji61Q_R-rzQB1DmKMPy5IHxwL3hymI1_FGIx5G42z7VePiyYEGKsE3o4Od2yrHe0/s1600/chrisphoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV14QDQZWKHLWjhJqcIzSZChnIWPyDBLWq51mE5CanFyvrJX9yz7a5cZS2KeGgHnhrDxH27ldGD7A9Ji61Q_R-rzQB1DmKMPy5IHxwL3hymI1_FGIx5G42z7VePiyYEGKsE3o4Od2yrHe0/s200/chrisphoto.jpg" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chris Wilcox</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtBIghyphenhyphene0o47FkXBFhNdFxaAhcB8KgreyfDvjHC4S5yzuBivoNFWfqBNVC0Ai96_N4nxpTbYFWzFBDXLz6bAxY6MG9eGRm5Dd8ALeCthwZF6KuExhWqM1yxEj6NRja3LdCT_jj0CKeigKR/s1600/byertree-1-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtBIghyphenhyphene0o47FkXBFhNdFxaAhcB8KgreyfDvjHC4S5yzuBivoNFWfqBNVC0Ai96_N4nxpTbYFWzFBDXLz6bAxY6MG9eGRm5Dd8ALeCthwZF6KuExhWqM1yxEj6NRja3LdCT_jj0CKeigKR/s200/byertree-1-4.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kathryn Byer</td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">With invaluable assistance from Jackie Methven, Smoky Mountain High School Media Coordinator. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJTgxqhA7orWpbBKXwRqL0vhOlmcD-l6vRvuIG9FgjF7QUZwrAHyoepwI5P9oPyRDDqlHUeC8vENYEckXnXT6WdW9PfVtnkRF9WsKxwXkka10nNEsi-z55A776GBaBzwRd37HhkQeXef5S/s1600/IMG_3656.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJTgxqhA7orWpbBKXwRqL0vhOlmcD-l6vRvuIG9FgjF7QUZwrAHyoepwI5P9oPyRDDqlHUeC8vENYEckXnXT6WdW9PfVtnkRF9WsKxwXkka10nNEsi-z55A776GBaBzwRd37HhkQeXef5S/s320/IMG_3656.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jackie Methven</td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Grades 9-12</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Brittney Davis, 11th grade, SMHS, Dedicated to Dianne Gholson.</b></span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>COLORS OF THE WORLD</i></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The world is shaded in many colors.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Each contains emotion.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And that emotion is significant to each and every living thing.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Pacific blue; the rapids of the sea with beauty and veracity.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Mahogany; the wood floor you pattered on as a child.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Outer space; wonder in a universe that we have yet to know.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Robin egg blue; the memory of your numerous Easter holidays.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sunset blood orange; the unspeakable gorgeousness as the sun goes down.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Scarlet; the color of lust and secrecy.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">All hold the world's secrets.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">You just have to be willing to uncover them.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1H8fHA9sfK2stSD9nh5-WvFBD2GKQWFUNwmB4qZF0XyegJV147aYZ1OuAiza90FfUF7VD8LQ4CHulrarM44zJBLwPIdyjv4d-CE826phdXpWLbzvGGNXU_OO32PyL-Wm3mJA6w_2xOXL9/s1600/IMG_3655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1H8fHA9sfK2stSD9nh5-WvFBD2GKQWFUNwmB4qZF0XyegJV147aYZ1OuAiza90FfUF7VD8LQ4CHulrarM44zJBLwPIdyjv4d-CE826phdXpWLbzvGGNXU_OO32PyL-Wm3mJA6w_2xOXL9/s320/IMG_3655.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dianne Gholson and friend</td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Kelly Morgan, 10th grade, SMHS, Ms. April Bryson’s class </b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Lullaby</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She said to him: tread carefully, my love,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">For the weight of our feet can break the world.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">He said to her: I will walk on a beam of silver glass</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Treading carefully, for all the world below.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A girl whispered to her friend: I cannot,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It is too much to hold in a single hand.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Her friend whispered back: take it,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">You can, you need not use only your hand.</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The brother cried: onwards! to the sky!</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Brandishing his mighty silver sword.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">His brother yelled: let us charge!</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And pressed his fist against the mighty sun.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Rocking back and forth, she crooned:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Lullaby, lullaby, I will carry you to the moon and sky.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I will wrap you in stars, my little one,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">You will have all the world spread below.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And the child in her arms lay with eyes closed,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Small fingers curled around her hand.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Brandi McDonald, 9th grade, SMHS, Ms. April Bryson’s class</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>A Blank Page is a Playground for Imagination</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i></i></b></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A blank page is a playground for imagination </span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">you can go on the journey of a lifetime</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">or find your true love.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">You can do anything, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">or be anything.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Go travel the world, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">or maybe other worlds.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Go as far as your imagination</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> can take you.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; min-height: 18px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Become </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">a <b> </b>knight,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> fairy,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">or whatever your mind can create. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> There are no limits in this new world</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> you can do whatever</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">you set your heart to do.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Enjoy these days on that playground </span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">because soon,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">it will fill up with dreams</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">but you can always </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">get a new blank page</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0px;">.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Become that knight again </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">travel the world again</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> just don't stop dreaming.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Let your imagination </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">flow through you </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and be happy. </span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMoce7K0Eq867JNgaabqrGrlqW2pUFLCigU3RdMd26C7hN_foP1u0UwElrNyEv6kMam4BqMZlzy_gaT-IXL9ReSa2LOX1m3n3yns4KccJgCXRMYuhkCT-UXoFtV_iyjcARedtMMNF79bw/s1600/IMG_0942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMoce7K0Eq867JNgaabqrGrlqW2pUFLCigU3RdMd26C7hN_foP1u0UwElrNyEv6kMam4BqMZlzy_gaT-IXL9ReSa2LOX1m3n3yns4KccJgCXRMYuhkCT-UXoFtV_iyjcARedtMMNF79bw/s400/IMG_0942.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Grades 5-8</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Dan Hacskaylo,</b></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b> </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Fairview School, Ms. Pamela Martin’s class</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>We Would</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We would braid each other’s hair,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Twisting and knotting.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We weren’t allowed around sharp objects, like scissors, so our hair grew long,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But that’s okay because you always wanted me to have long hair,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And I loved the way the caramel feathers fell soft around your face</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We would run through the rain,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Skipping in puddles and racing for awnings,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Laughing when our braided hair got wet</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I didn’t like being damp, but that’s okay</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Because it just meant huddling up in duvet forts later in the afternoon.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We would weave daisy chains,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Building them into flower crowns and knisthing each other in turn</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I didn’t deserve to be prince,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But that’s okay because you though I did,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And the glittering assurance in your eyes was hard to resist</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We would gaze at the stars,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The unfathomably distant fairy lights making us feel small</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I would breathe into your neck and know that someday I would lose you,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But that’s okay because you would be happy,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And that’s all that really concerned me.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBB3MUDKpZWpUagi_ls-XOtXIzFlrMQy_g0b7fbbBABOxRf30YhXs80kaDpjGykqjHAPvM86WMSbZdwdhzRaxMiQWurD9RC7c8_b25Km-rgHiekcduJ1C3jiiqOzzbvhvJd3zhIyIA8qY/s1600/IMG_3665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHBB3MUDKpZWpUagi_ls-XOtXIzFlrMQy_g0b7fbbBABOxRf30YhXs80kaDpjGykqjHAPvM86WMSbZdwdhzRaxMiQWurD9RC7c8_b25Km-rgHiekcduJ1C3jiiqOzzbvhvJd3zhIyIA8qY/s320/IMG_3665.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dan Hacskaylo, in hoodie, with teacher Pamela Martin to her right</td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sarah Grider, 8th grade, Cullowhee Valley, Ms. Paula Fox’s class</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Winter is Coming</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">See the world through different eyes</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Not of another person</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But from the eyes of the world itself</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">See the trees sleep during a freezing winter</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Dreading the aching cold it brings</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Hear the selfish birds calling</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Mememe me me mememe</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Look up and see the clouds</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And how they look like they’ve been painted on the sky</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Hear how the water is calling</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Calling everything to its freezing death</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The trees are burned a darkened coal black</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Waiting for the cold to drown them in sorrow</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They cry tears for the flowers that will</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Never bloom; and the dry air laughing at the world</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The trees are alone, a ripple</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A simple drop of water in a lake</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Lane Owen--8th grade, Cullowhee Valley, Paula Fox</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>I am a Fraser Fir</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Up high I stand</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Hidden in plain sight</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Six or seven feet tall when young</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sixty to seventy feet tall when mature</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I am known as the Mountain Balsam</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">With pinecones all in my spiked up hair</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My skin is pale as if I were a ghost</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The blisters on my skin, ooze a sticky sap</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It is sweet honey to some creatures</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Popular as I am</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Celebrations are what make me who I am</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Attacked by enemies I might be but</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I stand tall</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Gazing over the mountains and seas</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Up high I stand</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Looking out at the populated land</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Keanu Ammons, 8th grade, Cullowhee Valley, Paula Fox</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; min-height: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">"A Sightless City"</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And I walk</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">through the peace and quiet of nature</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as the wind booms through the mountains.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It is soft and forgiving as it flows through my hair.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The crunch of sticks beneath my feet is sharp,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">like chips in a blender. I see the grass flow in the wind</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and watch as a leaf falls to a small pond</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">like a city on water, it stays.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">a single cloud in a bright blue sky </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">like a zeppelin spying on me, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">could it be what I see it to be?</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I hear a sharp buzz of a nearby power line </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">its sound is quite like a spaceship coming in for a landing, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">its sound leaves an echoing buzz in my head.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I hear a harsh rumble of cars on a highway </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">blaring and screaming along the way;</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I can hear the vibrations from far away.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A clanking sound of a truck is loud and almost disturbing. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The truck is an earthquake</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">rumbling through the highway.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I see a large and powerful city in the distance,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">it’s along the mountaintops,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">it’s in the flat plains bright and standing tall.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A towering space elevator litters the skyline.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A wingless plane darts effortlessly over my head; Is it possible?</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> It’s an impressive sight to see for those who can see it.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Buildings are towering leaving there impressive shadow over me.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Then I realize it’s a sightless city </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">darker than the darkest night </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">for those who try to see it with their eyes,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">it’s always been here but only until now have I noticed it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHRr8xIDosWqgdgXywITELU-Zufzj2x8G7dVxTYyZrkwxA7t5y8gFeXGR_aO3MJCkCJxrcjPuA867BFydCMfsS6IbmLo_DJ6qe6Uz9mrrTpNx8OCvBzMdNH3uMMOqy6P73LssiMBRbLvml/s1600/IMG_3668.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHRr8xIDosWqgdgXywITELU-Zufzj2x8G7dVxTYyZrkwxA7t5y8gFeXGR_aO3MJCkCJxrcjPuA867BFydCMfsS6IbmLo_DJ6qe6Uz9mrrTpNx8OCvBzMdNH3uMMOqy6P73LssiMBRbLvml/s200/IMG_3668.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Honorable Mentions:</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Madelyn Tracy, 5th grade, Fairview, Pam Martin’s class</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Music Makers</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Music</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">There is music in the mountains</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The mountains make the music</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I hear the music of the mountains every day</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It will be in my heart and in my soul forever</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But not everyone knows the music of the mountains</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They don’t know the swaying of the trees</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They don’t know the rushing of the river</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Or the tweeting of the birds</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">That’s what makes the music</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The music of the mountains never dies</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Just like the love for it.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Jared Mincey, 7th Grade, Cullowhee Valley, Kristin Caplinger</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Fishing</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My grandpa taught my dad how to fish</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">He passed it down through father and son</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Jack Cabe taught my dad</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">How to tie flies</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Fishing has taught me</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Many life lessons</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Fishing has taught me about my dad</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My dad taught me to from age 12</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Through all the catches</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">All the hangs</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Through all the ties</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And all the flies</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I haven’t given up</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">On me and my dad fishing</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">One day I hope</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To pass it down</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And it starts over</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">again</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJjiTT3bHsalYKnw44i-LaDY4BzwwCgTPeWhx0cehE1DOAlk7Ke0OexGRkCPs_KDveROF3uJKnjHUHJlOt-ImUM0TtLwzvROBDlRy3Uqu-J0DHi8W7uI62s_LVQV2t67EiqG3fZMcLLY/s1600/Buck+Creek+swimming+hole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJjiTT3bHsalYKnw44i-LaDY4BzwwCgTPeWhx0cehE1DOAlk7Ke0OexGRkCPs_KDveROF3uJKnjHUHJlOt-ImUM0TtLwzvROBDlRy3Uqu-J0DHi8W7uI62s_LVQV2t67EiqG3fZMcLLY/s320/Buck+Creek+swimming+hole.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Nicholas Boone, 6th grade, Scotts Creek School, Ms. Kim Fiskeaux’s class</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">"Little Rusted SailBoat"</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">little rusted sail boat</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">you sit on the shelf</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">rusted and torn</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">you watch the toymaker</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">make and fix shiny new toys</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">when will it be your turn</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">maybe maybe</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">could it be</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">there you go...no</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">wait for me!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Emma Fox, 6th grade, Cullowhee Valley, Kristen Caplinger</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">HOME</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My home.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My mountain solitude.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sparkling dew in the morning.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Shadows in the afternoon.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The place where I was born,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My love laced in the rafters</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Of our house,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My room.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Others might love people,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Some might not.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I love the solitude where I can sit and</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Write, and hopefully</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Inspire others.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoIcju3xHIyHukxEgVFdLYekbKF7rS5WbTdpiDMo80p-okNLwvaXmLnT4lDTk3-Ep_nwsyp_myMAbqDQSO4msHKHxOJrFk0px4KoZ0Q9Y91CwReHLlh-M8ju3biZCTL-QSk7SV_qbTzEo/s1600/IMG_2925.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoIcju3xHIyHukxEgVFdLYekbKF7rS5WbTdpiDMo80p-okNLwvaXmLnT4lDTk3-Ep_nwsyp_myMAbqDQSO4msHKHxOJrFk0px4KoZ0Q9Y91CwReHLlh-M8ju3biZCTL-QSk7SV_qbTzEo/s320/IMG_2925.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Freedom Franks, 6th grade, Fairview, Ms. Kirsten Morgan’s class </b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>Silver Tears</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Rain is an amazing weather</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.6px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">You feel like someone is there</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.6px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The rain has emotions</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Soft rain is sad and hard rain is mad</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.6px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">When it rains it feels like someone else is crying with you</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.6px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Rain feels like a person and it changes moods</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sometimes it feels like the rain understands</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sometimes rain can be like a comforting hand</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.6px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sometimes it feels like rain listens to you</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.6px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Rain is a good weather because when you cry no one can tell</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Rain is like a mom’s or a BFF’s shoulder</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.6px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They’ll let you cry and then they’ll wash you up afterwards </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Raindrops look like teardrops, so people mistake tears for rain</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">When you cry in the rain, the rain washes your face like a wet rag</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">When it rains your hair gets in your face and hides your face from other people</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Rain is beautiful</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It’s transparent, which can take color of anything</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Rain looks like teardrops which are special because they are like snowflakes</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Each one is unique</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In the moonlight raindrops twinkle and glow like fallen stars</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I love the way raindrops look on a spider web</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It’s saying, “Look, God gave you the opportunity to see something amazing”</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I also love the way raindrops look on a rose</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Rain always makes things greener</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">At night in the moonlight the raindrops look like silver tears</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Bailey McMahan, 8th grade, Cullowhee Valley, Paula Fox</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Nature at its Best</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The sun shines brightly on my back</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">a gentle breeze blows though my jacket</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as I stroll down the gritty path</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the trees, soldiers, stands tall</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as the eagle flies in the a clear sky</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">boys on the baseball field crouch </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in anticipation of a pop fly</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">they wait for their chance to shine</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">a plane roars over head</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">cars zoom by on their journey to their destitution</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">my heart, a box of chocolates, waits to be consumed </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">by the girl of my dreams</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b> Grades K-4</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Berkley Albritton, Fairview, Ms. Holly Rowan’s class</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">SPRING</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The deer are out in the spring</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and the flowers are growing it’s such a beautiful thing</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">when the flowers are ready to be picked I go and pick them</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and when I’m done</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I give them to my parents and they give me hugs</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and I hear birds singing</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and I sing along and it’s such a beautiful song.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Autumn Coggins, Fairview, Holly Rowan’s class</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Spring</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In spring the grass turns green as the tree leaves.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The sun is bright as burning hot lava.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The clouds are like cotton balls floating in the sky</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the wind blows on my face like it is sahing hi.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">People laugh like it is Christmas.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">People get andy like it is Valentines when it is Easter</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The flowers are beaming little baby animals are born</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The birds chip like beautiful music.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Larry Hernandez, Fairview, Ms. Holly Rowan’s class</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Spring</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The grass is as soft as a pillow.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The sun is as warm as a jacket,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sunflowers are are a bright sun.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The golden finches were a flying loop of school buses,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Bees are getting the honey,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The butterfly is getting the nectar,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The bees live in the beehive.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The flowers are purple gems.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The people are playing in the rain,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In the grass there is a bunny in the hole,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It is warm outside and kids play on a slide. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Miguel Cisneros, first grade, Smoky Mt. Elementary, Ms. Clement</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Spring makes everybody happy.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Playing in the park</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Riding on my bike in the spring</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In spring I always play in the dirt.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">No more school soon, summer break</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Good flowers in the spring.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDeHBj2sJxTK9ZPV5zz_VS95ZPVabU6WbVBzDaVBQJAPUvyqZmwcZ8AYGtPHKze0Y3S-4baA2k40bPgtBHps6RtJlvKdyslMZ8LNFHVh8qBkNrGUIDm13eV_DnVPPkY1GVCSsB-Rkh0XZz/s1600/IMG_3658.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDeHBj2sJxTK9ZPV5zz_VS95ZPVabU6WbVBzDaVBQJAPUvyqZmwcZ8AYGtPHKze0Y3S-4baA2k40bPgtBHps6RtJlvKdyslMZ8LNFHVh8qBkNrGUIDm13eV_DnVPPkY1GVCSsB-Rkh0XZz/s320/IMG_3658.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ms. Leah Clement</td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Honorable Mentions</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Damien Hermida, Fairview, Holly Rowan’s class</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Spring</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I have a power like a flower.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I’m a bunny that is very funny.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I’m a deer with one ear.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I’m a clover so scoot over.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My sister</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So very</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Very</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Funny</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My sister </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Is a monkey</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So very, very funky.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It’s raining pigs and noodles.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It’s pouring frogs and hats.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Banana brooms and poodles.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I think I have a crack.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Janet Juarez Torres, Fairview, Holly Rowan’s class</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>In Spring</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In spring bees sting me.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In the spring I bring cookies to my mom.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In the spring I sing.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In the spring I bring things to school.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In the spring animals look for food.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In the spring flowers are colorful and pretty.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In the spring deer look for food.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In the spring I see a snake crawling in the grass.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In the spring I see worms in the mud</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Addison Blankenship, first grade, Smoky Mt. Elementary, Ms. Leah Clement’s class</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 24px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> Spring</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Rain showers and sunshine make rainbows.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In the spring it’s so pretty!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">No more winter.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Gardening is fun.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Elle Williams, first grade, Smoky Mt. Elementary, Leah Clement’s class</b> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Spring</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sunshine makes me warm.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Playing on the rocks.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Riding my bike is fun.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Insects are cool bugs.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Now it’s time for spring.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Gardening makes me happy.</span></div>
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Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-49943942810751131142016-03-25T14:18:00.001-07:002016-03-25T14:18:20.441-07:00HOLY WATERHOLY WATER<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SUZANNE CLEARY</td></tr>
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In January of this year I had the good fortune to meet poet Suzanne Cleary, who teaches in the low residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Converse College. I had known of Suzanne's work earlier, but being a Visiting Writer during this winter's residency gave me the opportunity to get to know her personally, if only for a little while. Her warmth, her intelligence, and her obvious engagement with the students in the MFA program impressed me. And, of course, her poetry. A couple of weeks after my visit, she sent me a signed copy of her latest book, <b>Beauty Mark</b>, from BkMk Press.<br />
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Dorianne Laux, of the Creative Writing department at NC State, has described Suzanne's work as reflecting "a keen and sensitive mind, her images gleaned from the tangible world. " This is undeniably true, so trying to select only one poem to feature on this blog has been difficult. Nevertheless, onsidering that today is Good Friday, with Easter Sunday a mere hours away, no poem has resonated as strongly for me right now as the one titled <i>Holy Water.</i> "God," she declares, through her grandmother's small vial of holy water, has been transformed into "something close, and ordinary,/ and simple, and here." The concluding descriptives overflow, like water itself, spilling into the all-important "here." As Richard Wilbur once wrote, "Love calls us to the things of this world." And isn't "God" nothing less than love? On this holy weekend, I hope we can find that love in the smallest, most everyday things, "a little pocket of heaven" in a hairbrush resting on the dressing table, a stray sock, the smell of clean towels, the first stroke of light on the bedroom wall come Easter morning.<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">HOLY WATER</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">At Easter every year</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the priest poured a small vial of it</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">for each family in the parish</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">my grandmother pouring hers</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">into a silvery blue font</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">inside her bedroom door</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">a little pocket of Heaven</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">into which she dipped her hand</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">touching just her fingertips</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to the ordinary water</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">blessed by the priest</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and surely blessed also</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">by my grandmother</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as she took the water</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to her forehead and to her heart</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and then to each shoulder</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of her plaid housedress</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">then pressed her fingertips</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to her mouth</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">for a quick kiss</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">never stopping, never breaking her stride</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as she balanced a pile of folded towels</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">or swept my grandfather's </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">slippers</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to their place beside the bed,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">or gave me the fancy hairbrush</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">she kept on top of the bureau</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">my grandmother never wondering, it seemed,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">what miracle had transpired</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to make the water holy</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">perhaps her wonder taken entirely</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">by the powdery smell of the towels</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">or the clean scent of my hair</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">but that would be to doubt</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the capacity of my grandmother</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">for wonder, for love,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">for love and wonder are the same thing,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">what the priest felt, I believe,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as he held his hands above the water</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and felt the transformation</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">from the tips of his fingers</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and all down his arms</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as the water changed God</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">into something close, and ordinary,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and simple, and here.</span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Suzanne Cleary, from <i>Beauty Mark,</i> BkMk Press, 2013</span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Visit Suzanne's website at <a href="http://suzanneclearypoet.com/">suzanneclearypoet.com</a></span></div>
Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-26491545290793136612016-03-18T11:55:00.000-07:002016-03-18T11:55:46.091-07:00SLEEPING IN THE FOREST, STUDENT PROMPT # 5 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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AS WE DRAW CLOSER TO THE APRIL 1 DEADLINE FOR THE GREENING UP THE MOUNTAINS POETRY CONTEST, I'D LIKE TO SHARE ONE OF MY FAVORITE POEMS BY THE POET MARY OLIVER. SHE HAS WON BOTH THE PULITZER PRIZE AND THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR HER WORK. SHE VISITED WCU QUITE A FEW YEARS AGO TO READ AND VISIT CLASSES.<br />
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I'VE ALWAYS LOVED TO CAMP, WATCHING THE FIRE DIE OUT, CRAWLING INTO OUR TENT, AND LISTENING TO THE FOREST SOUNDS AROUND ME (IF THE NEARBY CAMPERS ARE NOT PLAYING THEIR MUSIC TOO LOUD!) BEFORE I FELL ASLEEP.<br />
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ONCE A MOTHER BEAR AND HER TWO CUBS WOKE US UP, AND THAT WAS NOT A PEACEFUL EXPERIENCE. THE TENT WAS SHAKING, THE BEARS WERE GRUNTING AND SNUFFLING. NEXT MORNING, OUR NEIGHBOR TOLD US THAT THE MOTHER HAD CLIMBED UP ON HIS MOTOR CYCLE AND LOOKED AS IF SHE WAS GETTING READY TO ROAR OFF. <br />
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TRY TO CALL UP SOME OF YOUR SENSORY EXPERIENCES WHILE SLEEPING OUTSIDE, WHETHER IN YOUR BACKYARD OR AT A CAMPGROUND. WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO SLEEP ON THE EARTH, WHAT SORTS OF THOUGHTS DO YOU HAVE? DO THEY FLOAT LIGHT AS MOTHS, AS OLIVER WRITES, OR DO THEY SKITTER AROUND LIKE MOSQUITOES? OR HAUNT YOU, LIKE THE HOOT OF AN OWL? WHAT DO YOU HEAR? WHAT DO YOU SMELL? IS THERE A CREEK NEARBY? CAN YOU HEAR THUNDER? OR RAIN? <br />
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THEN WRITE YOUR OWN POEM ABOUT SLEEPING IN THE FOREST, RIGHT HERE IN OUR BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS. <br />
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<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>Sleeping in the Forest </i></b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 24px; min-height: 28px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I thought the earth remembered me,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">she took me back so tenderly,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">arranging her dark skirts, her pockets</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">full of lichens and seeds.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I slept as never before, a stone on the river bed,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">nothing between me and the white fire of the stars</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">but my thoughts, and they floated light as moths</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">among the branches of the perfect trees.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">All night I heard the small kingdoms</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">breathing around me, the insects,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and the birds who do their work in the darkness.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">All night I rose and fell, as if in water,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">grappling with a luminous doom. By morning</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I had vanished at least a dozen times</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">into something better.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; min-height: 19px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">from <i>Sleeping In The Forest </i>by Mary Oliver </span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">© Mary Oliver</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
<br />Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-51007364157628994542016-02-25T16:49:00.001-08:002016-02-25T16:49:51.125-08:00My Laureate's Lasso: Renga Journalskathrynstriplingbyer.blogspot.comKathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-13674929308438084992016-02-24T18:26:00.001-08:002016-02-25T17:02:09.356-08:002016 GREENING UP THE MOUNTAINS STUDENT POETRY AWARDS NOW OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">THE 2016 GREENING UP THE MOUNTAINS STUDENT POETRY AWARDS IS NOW OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS BY JACKSON COUNTY STUDENTS. THE FOLLOWING POSTS WILL BE DEVOTED TO FORMER WINNERS OF THE CONTEST, AS WELL AS SUGGESTIONS FOR POETRY PROMPTS FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS. I will be posting the guidelines for submission in the next couple of days. Deadline is April 1. Stay tuned. </span></b>Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-28935765395680024342016-02-24T18:18:00.002-08:002016-02-25T06:51:52.833-08:002015 GREENING UP THE MOUNTAINS STUDENT POETRY AWARDS<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b> </b></span><b style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Greening Up The Mountains Student Poetry Contest</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b> April 25, 2015</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-j-AobSQV69hi7lMMGz2XyTQymljNoTQKSGSw05WNe_ofhfw2Yxoh9zeXaOBl4ZbtJThxWijoci8S862-sXoEq6vdLhD8RbGtvhfhfg2n4N91HqBlERaLzrCRlyp9nx81SAhz7Un6Khs/s1600/green.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-j-AobSQV69hi7lMMGz2XyTQymljNoTQKSGSw05WNe_ofhfw2Yxoh9zeXaOBl4ZbtJThxWijoci8S862-sXoEq6vdLhD8RbGtvhfhfg2n4N91HqBlERaLzrCRlyp9nx81SAhz7Un6Khs/s400/green.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>High School Winners: </b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Abigail Zuelch, SMHS, Dianne Gholson</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Brittany Davis, SMHS, Gholson</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Chasity Bark, SMHS, Gholson </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Kayla Cochran, SMHS, Gholson</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>High School Honorable Mentions:</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Tiffany Bennett, SMHS, Gholson</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Kendall Rhymer, SMHS, Gholson</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>5-8 Winners:</b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Cierra Wolfe, SME, Faithe Giaquinto </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Anna Ruth Hills, SC, Tara Williams</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Taleigh Verrault, SC, Amanda Eichhorn</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Shea Wargo, CV, Lora Cox</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>5-8 Honorable Mentions:</b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Calista Cruea, CV, Lora Cox</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Alice Stephens, CV, Kristin Menickelli</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Carson Frady, CV, Jennifer Patten</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>K-4 Winners:</b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Katona Fabian, CV, Lori Wright</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Tyra Sterling, CV, Gretchen McCue</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Lulu Garcia Santiago, CV, Gretchen McCue</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Class Poem, CV, Carly Borchelt and Jennifer Powell</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Class Poem, CV, Sandra McMahan</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>K-4 Honorable Mentions:</b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Zeke Brown, CV, Erin McDaniel</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Carly Hester, CV, Drew Solesbee</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Elijah Morgan, CV, Gretchen McCue</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="color: #141923; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>On display: poetry and artwork by Holly Rowan’s third- and fourth-graders at Fairview School.</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">High School:</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Winter</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And so you lay there,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">ragged and raw, bleeding</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">brown, orange, red, copper blood,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> jagged droplets</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">that trace a phantom breeze.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">There are the evergreens.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They’re watching, mourning.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">When the sun sets chill</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and snowfall</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">will forge a frozen casket.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">There’s a sort of sleep</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">that isn’t sleep,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">a death that isn’t death.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Shivering and alone</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the mind embraces hollow shadows.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But cuts are closing.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">You are rocked</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">by the ice that burns your skin.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It will hold you, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and kiss your head with ever bluing lips.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Then the snow melts</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">you will reach</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">like a flower towards the sun.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Scars cast shadows,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">but like the roots only show where you’re coming from.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And if the summer</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">burns you slowly</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and you drown in autumn blood,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">breathe, just breathe;</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The ice only lasts ‘till the healing’s done.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Abigail Zuelch, 10th grade, SMHS</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizSHpahDbH9oPr8QT9cpYRYLYUySlCarsOga5AJl4yPgXP-Qs5WD6_34Ex72DXaPRiXMIwI3J3og8m3ZZToiQZXeNRp4xf95_rlpB160uRdl8CiIj4Twm3bDKA3lxy-YWApPArE7cB4LE/s1600/snowydawn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizSHpahDbH9oPr8QT9cpYRYLYUySlCarsOga5AJl4yPgXP-Qs5WD6_34Ex72DXaPRiXMIwI3J3og8m3ZZToiQZXeNRp4xf95_rlpB160uRdl8CiIj4Twm3bDKA3lxy-YWApPArE7cB4LE/s320/snowydawn.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Comparison</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Maybe it was the slurring words of women</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Or the meaty hand of a man.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Maybe it was the bruises or stinging skin</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Or the dark, brooding skies.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Maybe it was the low self-esteem</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Or the hopeless feeling.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Just maybe it could be the laughter</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Or the way the sun heats the world with rays.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Maybe it’s the birds’ song</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Or the feeling of lips on my skin.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Maybe it’s the tall green grass</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">or the patter of a horse’s hooves</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A mix of both, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Coating the only world we knew.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Brittney Davis, 10th grade, SMHS</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">About</span><span style="font-family: "arial hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Rain</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It’s dark and cloudy as the rain comes in.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It’s like the sky is crying for us.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The rain is like tears of the small children who have been forgotten.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Hearing the rain hit the roof reminds me of the ticking</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">clock in a small class room.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The splashes from the cars are like the forgotten children</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">playing in the rain puddles.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">When the rain goes away it’s as if the children leave with it.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Chasity Bark, 12h grade, SMHS</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She Is Me But She is Not Me</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She has beaten me many times.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She is stronger than me.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She knows everything about me.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Including my deepest secrets.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She takes advantage of my strength.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She has taken the last little bit of voice I have.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She haunts my dreams.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Always lurking in the shadows of every twist and turn.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But no more will I be scared.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I will beat her.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I know her.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I know all of her moves.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Every day I will get stronger.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">EVery day I will bring in more light, so she can no longer linger in my dreams.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">For she will not be there.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I have pushed away her bad thoughts.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She will no longer control MY life.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I am better than she is.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I will win this time.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I know she will lose, because she is the old me.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I AM THE NEW ME!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Kayla Cochran, 9th grade, SMHS</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Honorable Mentions:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sweet Sadness</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It felt like a hand</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Was crushing my</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">heart.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Yet I took it</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And welcomed </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">An old friend.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sadness swept</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Over me</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Like a blanket</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Of Snow</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">on a cold morning.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I did not run.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">There was he</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Helping this</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Lonely depression.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">All you can do</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Is climb out of</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The black hole or</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Slip deeper in.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It is never easy.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It is always there.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sometimes hiding out,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Other times you let it</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Consume you whole.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">You do not deserve</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This treatment,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But you think</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">You do.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Tiffany Bennett, 10 grade, SMHS</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Luminescent</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This is no longer a book;</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Its pages have been cut, ripped, torn, taped and painted.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Its stories are no longer here.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But they still live on in the hearts of whoever has read this book.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This book has been transformed into a work of art.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It now holds a new story...</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A story about my dreams, my hopes and my hard work.</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This book is a stage where my imagination can roam freely.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Where it is allowed to take the form of anything it wants.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This is no longer a book.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It’s a portal to my soul, this is where my soul is illuminated.</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This is a window to the workings of my brain the the thoughts</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">that pass through it.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Kendall Rhymer, 12th grade, SMHS</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">GRADES 4-8 Top Four:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> UNTITLED 1-3 </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Untitled #1 </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Each night Father fills me with dread</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> When he sits on the foot of my bed, </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> I’d not mind that he speaks</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> In gibbers and squeaks,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> But for seventeen years he’s been dead.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> <i> All Monsters Are Human</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> It’s all a nightmare</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> And you can’t wake up</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Lies like scars on your soul</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> They destroy you</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Monsters</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Don’t sleep under</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Your bed</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> They scream</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Inside your head.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> You’re the only light I’ve ever known.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> <b> Untitled #2</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Growing up is a scary, scary thing</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> The real world is a scary, scary place</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> I’m starting to wonder if anyone is actually</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Prepared for real life.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> <b> Untitled #3</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Beauty is also</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> About the way you</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Move, speak and</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Express yourself.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> It’s about good health,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Warmth, spontaneity</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> And charisma.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Cierra Wolfe, 8th grade, Smokey Mountain Elementary</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She was beautiful</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in her very own way</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She never cared what others</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Had to say</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She dreamed and</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">with the flowers she would sway</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She thought of places </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And just like pollen</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in the summer breeze</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It would pick her up</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And carry her away.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Anna Ruth Hill, 8th grade, Scotts Creek School</i></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHYcYv5FNkhDURPiiF5DkfGgg04fPH6DaYErwRWwDQa6XkivNqAaVljjFhEArYLTllTQyhEsIK40W-sUM6o54zPOp4oNmn9tCAglA2I3oHSgyEwSJkvor4Z7gRKSl6Z04_Ru8yNxAMz0k/s1600/IMG_0044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHYcYv5FNkhDURPiiF5DkfGgg04fPH6DaYErwRWwDQa6XkivNqAaVljjFhEArYLTllTQyhEsIK40W-sUM6o54zPOp4oNmn9tCAglA2I3oHSgyEwSJkvor4Z7gRKSl6Z04_Ru8yNxAMz0k/s320/IMG_0044.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>The Whispering Trees</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The whispering ttress high in the mountains</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">If you listen you can hear</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">why I gallop to and fro, why do I, you ask, well...</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Here’s a little secret</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">For the whispering trees well</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">You may know them as the...</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Smoky Mountain Trees.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i></i></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i></i></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Shea Vargo, 5th grade, Cullowhee VAlley</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i></i></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Wonders of Spring</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The grass so green</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The sky so blue</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Wonders of spring</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">For me and you</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The mist fades away</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The joys of spring we share</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Flowers start to sprout</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And bloom everywhere</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">As the sun goes away</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The moon will come out</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Crickets start to chirp</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The fireflies fly about</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This was the end</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Of a perfect spring day</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But maybe next time</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The sun will come and stay</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i></i></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i></i></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Taleigh Verrault, 8th grade, Scotts Creek School, </i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Honorable Mentions:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Prayer: for the Mountains</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sometimes I wonder why bears are bears</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and why fish are fish, but I love the mountains, that’s all</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I got to say. I love the mountains every day.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sometimes I can’t help sticking my toes in the water</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> and eating the honeysuckle blossoms. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> I love the mountains and the birds as they sing. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> I love watching my dog leap and be free</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> And watching my sister run away from the bees!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Calista Cruea, 5th grade, Cullowhee Valley</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The Smoky Mountains</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">These tall giants tower over us like skyscrapers.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Their rich soil grows lush plants and trees.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">These mountains protect us from the dangers of the storms.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They give us humans and animals shelter.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The see these mountains as just chunks of land</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">but they are more than that, they are a part of our heritage.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">These are the Great Smoky Mountains.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Carson Frady, 6th grade, Cullowhee Valley</span></div>
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<b style="font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0px;">Mountains</b><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They live taller than a skyscraper!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> I grew up in the mountains.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They can be GIGANTIC and they can be small.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But the most beautiful thing about them is </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> that they are not man-made. They grow by themselves.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> It doesn’t matter about their size or beauty.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> I just matters that we keep them healthy</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and not throw trash on the ground of our beautiful mountains.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> So please don’t mess them up!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Please help them stay how they are</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">so they can keep their beautiful animals and rivers</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> trees and grass!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Please love and take care of them!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Alice Stephens, Cullowhee Valley</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i> </i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijCS86s_T8UzLTB5apBWzU1YgpcrljnKN8FQjmCHDxg510L00wHD7hSI4iJF_qE2vIYWubTNLt8V1iG9aSrZKE7Zjilf7jsO3xizmXkpAfr4eeu8oCoBUk72QUIcB8ABrYwRG_UxamVIc/s1600/decsunset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijCS86s_T8UzLTB5apBWzU1YgpcrljnKN8FQjmCHDxg510L00wHD7hSI4iJF_qE2vIYWubTNLt8V1iG9aSrZKE7Zjilf7jsO3xizmXkpAfr4eeu8oCoBUk72QUIcB8ABrYwRG_UxamVIc/s320/decsunset.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Grades K-4: </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Song</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b> </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">for</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b> </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b> </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Mountains</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">laugh</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">cry</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">dance</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">around</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">mountains</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">run</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">play</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">sing</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">a</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">song</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">for</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">mountains</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">live</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">love</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">love</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">mountains</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0px;"><i> </i></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Lulu Garcia Santiago, Cullowhee Valley</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>My Stinky Feet</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My feet my feet my stinky feet</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I light and I play on</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My feet All day</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Nothing can stop me oh not today</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I go to the mountains</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To play all day</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I go to my bed and shut my</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And then pet my sheep.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Katona Fabian</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Cullowhee VAlley, 3rd grade</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPR-u4GA3R-8WloNLJp36FiCRPtTud0TmcAeu7U2jCpGJz-bhRPX1IfAh7Dk68oB4yXAZM4ZC47alFH2Nw0pHWGGV0LBG63Ken6PJmm1h0fIaxiP63Ygd96zxAGFBtW_4kcBIZaNDx01o/s1600/IMG_1356.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPR-u4GA3R-8WloNLJp36FiCRPtTud0TmcAeu7U2jCpGJz-bhRPX1IfAh7Dk68oB4yXAZM4ZC47alFH2Nw0pHWGGV0LBG63Ken6PJmm1h0fIaxiP63Ygd96zxAGFBtW_4kcBIZaNDx01o/s320/IMG_1356.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The Mountains</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I run</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I play</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I dance all day</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I laugh</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I sing a lullaby</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I roll in the grass so fine</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I wish it could be mine</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">All these things I do are fun</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I do them in the mountains</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Tyra Sterling, 4th grade, Cullowhee VAlley</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My Mountains (Class Poem)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Make Me Happy</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Oh I love the Mountains</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Under the Shiny Stars</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Never stay the Same</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The Mountains are Beautiful</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Amazing to Mee</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It’s Spring on the Mountain</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">New Leaves on the Trees</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sometimes Blue</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i>Mrs. Madill & Mrs. Irwin’s Kindergarten, Cullowhee Valley School</i></b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; min-height: 17px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><i></i></b></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">MOUNTAINS (Class poem)</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Morning fog</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">On the river going by</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Under the cloudy sky</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Nothing else comes</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They are so beautiful</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And the sun peeps through</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I love mornings on the mountain</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Never stays the same</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Stars come</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px; min-height: 22px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Mrs. Borchelt’s & Mrs. Powell’s Kindergarten</b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Cullowhee Valley School</b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; min-height: 17px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13.3px; min-height: 15px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 18px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Honorable Mentions:</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; min-height: 21px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; min-height: 21px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>The Smoky Mountains</b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The Smoky Mountains are home to many rivers</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">but none like the Tuckasegee.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I love to play in the river because</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">it brings back many memories</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of when my papa George used to play</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> in the river,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">but he died of cancer.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I fish in the river where I caught my first fish.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">But when the rain raises the river, it can get very dangerous.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> When my life is done, I’ll ask the Lord</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">for me to see one last river</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'; font-size: 18px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and it will be the Tuckasegee.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Big Caslon'; font-size: 14px; min-height: 17px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Zeke Brown, Cullowhee Valley, 3rd grade</i></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; min-height: 17px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; min-height: 17px; text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCLgYvaB0iu4QhGUYH4cMJympiJ9q9kQYhu74d070flVOmg08qaZHZQTCWXTj0hgnObt9uG4ahyphenhyphenN6JdPyKa-jfx0mKmSji-BFBlbbG6QNFIpwL5-WPgvg3ztTGOvFoC9K7jaUzWsjIKLs/s1600/Buck+Creek+swimming+hole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCLgYvaB0iu4QhGUYH4cMJympiJ9q9kQYhu74d070flVOmg08qaZHZQTCWXTj0hgnObt9uG4ahyphenhyphenN6JdPyKa-jfx0mKmSji-BFBlbbG6QNFIpwL5-WPgvg3ztTGOvFoC9K7jaUzWsjIKLs/s320/Buck+Creek+swimming+hole.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Brush Script MT'; font-size: 24px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I HEAR MUSIC</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Apple Chancery'; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">HEAR</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">MUSIC</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">ACROSS</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">THE</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">STREET</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;">.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Apple Chancery'; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">START</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">TAPPING</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">THE</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">BEAT</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Apple Chancery'; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">WITH</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">MY</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">FEET</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Apple Chancery'; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">HEAR</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> “</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">OLD</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">JOE</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">CLARK</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">AND</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">THE</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">CRAWDAD</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">SONG</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;">,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Apple Chancery'; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 13.3px;">
<span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">THEN</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">GET</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">MY</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">GUITAR</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">AND</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">PLAY</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">ALONG</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Corsiva Hebrew'; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 13.3px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "apple chancery"; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">FIDDLE</span><span style="font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">, </span><span style="font-family: "apple chancery"; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">BANJO</span><span style="font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">, </span><span style="font-family: "apple chancery"; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">MANDOLIN</span><span style="font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "apple chancery"; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">TOO</span><span style="font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Apple Chancery'; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 13.3px;">
<span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">THE</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">SONG</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">IS</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">SO</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">HAPPY</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">SO</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">WHY</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">ARE</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">YOU</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">BLUE</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;">?</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Apple Chancery'; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">THE</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">SONGS</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">ARE</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">TRADITIONAL</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;">, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">YOU</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">CAN</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">SAY</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">THAT</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">AGAIN</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;">.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Corsiva Hebrew'; font-size: 12px; min-height: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Apple Chancery'; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">HAVE</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">TO</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">END</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">AND</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">SAY</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">GOODBYE</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;">, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Corsiva Hebrew'; font-size: 12px; min-height: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Apple Chancery'; font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">BUT</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">WILL</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">KEEP</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">SINGING</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">TILL</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">MORNING</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">IS</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">NIGHT</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;">.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Corsiva Hebrew'; font-size: 12px; min-height: 12px; text-align: center;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">CARLY HESTER, 4TH GRADE, CULLOWHEE VALLEY</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Flowing</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Gloryland</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">step</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">into</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">rushing</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">water</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;">,<br />
</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">As</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">feel</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">scales</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">fish</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;">, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">start</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">slip</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">on</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">a</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">wet</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">stone</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;">.<br />
</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Swept</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">edge</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">know</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">must</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">jump</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;">!<br />
</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Leaping</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">from</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">that</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">spot</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">soar</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">with</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">eagle</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;">...<br />
</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">winged</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">warrior</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br />
</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">guide</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">salvation</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"><br />
</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">He</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">leads</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">me</span><span style="font-family: "corsiva hebrew"; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">home</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Elijah Cooper Morgan, Cullowhee Valley, 4th grade</i></span></div>
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Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-41062717360230217552016-02-24T17:20:00.001-08:002016-02-24T17:20:25.799-08:00HERE, WHERE I AM: BRING ME ALL OF YOUR GREEN DREAMS<a href="http://kathrynstriplingbyer.blogspot.com/2015/03/bring-me-all-of-your-green-dreams.html#links">HERE, WHERE I AM: BRING ME ALL OF YOUR GREEN DREAMS</a>Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-20155202192975615742016-02-24T17:10:00.001-08:002016-02-24T17:10:50.456-08:00HERE, WHERE I AM: STUDENT POET OF THE DAY: SARA JENKINS<a href="http://kathrynstriplingbyer.blogspot.com/2010/06/student-poet-of-day-sara-jenkins.html">HERE, WHERE I AM: STUDENT POET OF THE DAY: SARA JENKINS</a>Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-79958717488433397022016-02-24T16:57:00.001-08:002016-02-24T16:57:56.526-08:00My Laureate's Lasso: THE BASKETBALL POETS: Springboards for Students and Teachers: #1<a href="http://ncpoetlaureate.blogspot.com/2008/10/springboards-for-students-and-teachers.html">My Laureate's Lasso: THE BASKETBALL POETS: Springboards for Students and Teachers: #1</a>Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-24466724937900403062015-03-20T06:11:00.002-07:002016-02-25T07:59:32.687-08:00HOW DO THE ANIMALS CELEBRATE SPRING? Prompt #2<span style="font-size: large;">Too often we forget that we share these mountains with others, the wildlife that our Native American neighbors have often called our brothers and sisters. How would a bear, a salamander, or a raven celebrate spring? Here are a few poems by Bill Griffin to help us begin to imagine some answers to that question. This would be a great exercise for K-12 science teachers to use to stretch their students imaginations. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0nJfc4lNy21o8GJLBEEi-oDkNlZEiCxXC7ECJZ0QJkH1ywA7im8XkeyeC_SgGnsDyjjy4rW94Pi4PfHGf1BTsXzObDSHOjUZHP8YH5n3SutGjmyEozBt_q9-Qgiq-pv_N6pIudgsrJ2Q/s1600-h/thegriffins.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274956553457648002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0nJfc4lNy21o8GJLBEEi-oDkNlZEiCxXC7ECJZ0QJkH1ywA7im8XkeyeC_SgGnsDyjjy4rW94Pi4PfHGf1BTsXzObDSHOjUZHP8YH5n3SutGjmyEozBt_q9-Qgiq-pv_N6pIudgsrJ2Q/s400/thegriffins.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: undefinedpx; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: undefinedpx;" /></a><br />
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BILL GRIFFIN is a family doctor in rural North Carolina, where his ‘writers’ group’ is a hawkswept footpath that wanders the crest of the Blue Ridge. His poems have appeared in many regional and national journals, including Tar River Poetry, POEM, NC Literary Review, Pembroke Magazine, and Illuminations. He has two chapbooks in print: Barb Quill Down (Pudding House 2004) and Changing Woman (Main Street Rag 2006).<br />
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Every summer Bill assists Mike Barnett with High Adventure Camp, leading a small crew of teenagers on their first backpacking experience in the southern Appalachian wilderness. They hope to instill in the young people not only a greater sense of self-reliance and teamwork, but also a deep sense of connection to earth, water, sky, and all life. For a week in 2007 Bill and Mike hiked Snake Den Mountain and its connecting trails; they encountered most of the creatures that speak in this collection (especially Mouse!).<br />
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Bill and his wife Linda have collaborated on plenty of creative endeavors during their 35-year marriage (including raising their two children, creative in their own right), but Snake Den Ridge: A Bestiary is their first book project undertaken together.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqxqTzZgL1CEV8RcXPKEZAExuLYnSuA_fDNH9O4c2XYnYdyX7pbMnI_pFJVzW3M7wzCeMXmVAlHGejDr7acD4MfGssaKASUfhmVpwb7LiTw8J_7uLDYH54jUlDrPtJVoIFAdRdckk1vgA/s1600-h/griffin-snakeDenRidge.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274956550302276514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqxqTzZgL1CEV8RcXPKEZAExuLYnSuA_fDNH9O4c2XYnYdyX7pbMnI_pFJVzW3M7wzCeMXmVAlHGejDr7acD4MfGssaKASUfhmVpwb7LiTw8J_7uLDYH54jUlDrPtJVoIFAdRdckk1vgA/s400/griffin-snakeDenRidge.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: undefinedpx; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: undefinedpx;" /></a><br />
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RAVEN<br />
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Listen.<br />
I’m not going to say this twice.<br />
The sum and product of words<br />
is no mark of intelligence.<br />
Case in point – cousin Crow,<br />
not half as smart as all his talk.<br />
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So listen,<br />
I know three things:<br />
Sky, that small kiss of warm air<br />
that rises through my primaries;<br />
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the Water on its breath, ridgeblown mist<br />
that bathes us all and makes springs<br />
overflow into Inadu Creek;<br />
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and Earth, slope and cup of cove,<br />
the steep that gathers with wide black wings<br />
to draw down Sky,<br />
draw Water up,<br />
that sets free all things green<br />
into a world first fledged.<br />
<br />
But listen.<br />
I know from twenty circles<br />
of snowdeep and hungry moons<br />
and twenty circles of fresh shoots<br />
that Sky . . . Water . . . Earth . . .<br />
none of them are mine.<br />
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And I know none are yours.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDXOqqfavspj9Fos8OzPzOqtZmWCNAqZwK1-OoGrRYnp8wUvyH-odqwlaEncHJz9o6cERsRzrrKPz8mH0EiErQqxy5EVY2FSvtf11qwhvsHDBxnIneZiYq9nNAaxJ61foEzsHWJtojSnQ/s1600-h/Raven+small+01.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275405384630862898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDXOqqfavspj9Fos8OzPzOqtZmWCNAqZwK1-OoGrRYnp8wUvyH-odqwlaEncHJz9o6cERsRzrrKPz8mH0EiErQqxy5EVY2FSvtf11qwhvsHDBxnIneZiYq9nNAaxJ61foEzsHWJtojSnQ/s400/Raven+small+01.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: undefinedpx; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: undefinedpx;" /></a><br />
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SALAMANDER<br />
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This is my gift –<br />
to change.<br />
From Inadu Creek I leave behind<br />
my frilly gills and climb<br />
the spire of blue-eyed grass.<br />
Having become a creature of air bathing<br />
myself in dew, am I not still<br />
a creature of water?<br />
<br />
I invite you to discover<br />
in each of my family our variations,<br />
discern that every runnel, every spring,<br />
every palm-sized cup of moisture<br />
holds its lithe expectation, for this<br />
is my gift to you –<br />
to notice changes.<br />
<br />
I will let you lightly touch<br />
the welcome of my smoothness<br />
while I drink a little warmth<br />
from your hand. Now count<br />
the dapples down my length,<br />
measure the blush of my cheek,<br />
<br />
then find when you descend<br />
the eastern face of Snake Den Ridge<br />
those subtle alterations my cousins<br />
are accumulating until finally<br />
they acquire a new name.<br />
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And when you have returned me<br />
to my bed of blue-bead lily, then touch<br />
a smooth place within yourself<br />
and carry with you into the world<br />
your own changes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXMCgH4u5sPMYtIJyCshbSQcAUL8BjCI7NnuEGsEKlG9FEUllmfUUJjZuBHxGU94mWIs3LdKJVNZn2NFhIOZKDY0yPAljrwRDLsvR5Xn9fxa7g-7pF9PJdyoPe5P-0S6OwxUCj3jhyphenhyphenDzg/s1600-h/Salamander+small+01.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275405388945939378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXMCgH4u5sPMYtIJyCshbSQcAUL8BjCI7NnuEGsEKlG9FEUllmfUUJjZuBHxGU94mWIs3LdKJVNZn2NFhIOZKDY0yPAljrwRDLsvR5Xn9fxa7g-7pF9PJdyoPe5P-0S6OwxUCj3jhyphenhyphenDzg/s400/Salamander+small+01.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: undefinedpx; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: undefinedpx;" /></a><br />
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TROUT<br />
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Today Inadu Creek’s so clear<br />
it’s like swimming in the sky.<br />
Oh yes, sky . . . for even Trout<br />
look up, if usually for the hopeful<br />
rainfall of Mayflies, then again sometimes<br />
to dream of discovering<br />
a hatching out of stars<br />
that sprinkle down the stream of night<br />
between the blackgum leaves.<br />
Heaven isn’t the other side<br />
of darkness, it’s here<br />
above the rocky spray that holds<br />
piscivorous Brown and Rainbow down<br />
in Cosby Creek, and here below<br />
the love embrace of shade<br />
that drips manna<br />
every morning from its leaves.<br />
Look closely. Learn heaven’s language<br />
scripted on my sides –<br />
ripple shadow of pure water,<br />
lace of insect wings,<br />
gold and silver speckle stars –<br />
kisses of God.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_EYZG_I-AuhxxBuZBdzZvs_AbaMu2uT2f0WyQJImLmYjBqIxDZa4h4WYLGp_hIRgAurlO8NQQqQy_5vzwTPlLTcDK4HLkL6IkjFo4ibroHr5gK6Q7khbaPolwu-yVN9v52WVFi2mGw8/s1600-h/trout+small+01.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275405390988524002" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_EYZG_I-AuhxxBuZBdzZvs_AbaMu2uT2f0WyQJImLmYjBqIxDZa4h4WYLGp_hIRgAurlO8NQQqQy_5vzwTPlLTcDK4HLkL6IkjFo4ibroHr5gK6Q7khbaPolwu-yVN9v52WVFi2mGw8/s400/trout+small+01.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: undefinedpx; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: undefinedpx;" /></a><br />
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BEAR<br />
<br />
If you hear me, it will be a nut falling<br />
from the buckeye. If you hear me,<br />
it will be a dry branch<br />
seeking earth,<br />
it will be slender fingers<br />
of mountain ash waving praises<br />
to the ridgelined sky.<br />
<br />
If you see me, it will be a shadow<br />
only one breath deeper<br />
than twilight.<br />
If you see me, it will be the twist<br />
of heart that skips<br />
a beat, the stark<br />
of pupils gone abruptly wide.<br />
<br />
I am mist that enfolds the laurel.<br />
I am stone that reclines beneath black hemlocks.<br />
I am a rumor at Maddron Bald,<br />
a tremor at Mt. Guyot.<br />
<br />
Raven is mistaken – this Ridge is mine.<br />
<br />
And if you hear me, it will be the rising chest<br />
of the mountain and its timeless slow<br />
exhale,<br />
and if you hear me<br />
it will only be because<br />
I didn’t hear you first.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRQRt4fT6srLM6G3ONebaGMXeeQXPSK7yb87QJjAUE7nJWU0LlS1EN6DAOGq76WdndKK6whVVolV9_gd6wTN7oTBd7dyhIEQuZj0bgAwAPmw5k8naJU7ueCsyPqvDfiqqekn51n1sU3M/s1600-h/bear+small+01.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275405384163367314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRQRt4fT6srLM6G3ONebaGMXeeQXPSK7yb87QJjAUE7nJWU0LlS1EN6DAOGq76WdndKK6whVVolV9_gd6wTN7oTBd7dyhIEQuZj0bgAwAPmw5k8naJU7ueCsyPqvDfiqqekn51n1sU3M/s400/bear+small+01.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: undefinedpx; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: undefinedpx;" /></a>Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-34488794494329628772015-03-18T05:44:00.000-07:002016-02-25T08:00:56.198-08:00BRING ME ALL OF YOUR GREEN DREAMS, springboard # 3This poem by Langston Hughes has inspired poets, especially young ones, by the dozens. If you go to my October post on The Basketball Poets in Supply, NC, you will find Alyssa Miller’s poem inspired by this particular piece. ( <a href="http://ncpoetlaureate.blogspot.com/2008/10/springboards-for-students-and-teachers.html">http://ncpoetlaureate.blogspot.com/2008/10/springboards-for-students-and-teachers.html</a>. )I suggested students take this poem as a model and see what they themselves could bring to their own poetry. Liz Cronan’s 5th Graders at Sugar Loaf Elementary School in Taylorsville accepted the invitation and soon I received 48 poems in response. Here as one long post are their poems, preceded by Hughes’ poem. And a poem I just this minute wrote, using Hughes' poem as a springboard. I hope to see some poems using this prompt in our Greening Up the Mountains gathering of poems.<br />
<br />
Bring me all of your dreams,<br />
You dreamer,<br />
Bring me all your<br />
Heart melodies<br />
That I may wrap them<br />
In a blue cloud-cloth<br />
Away from the too-rough fingers<br />
Of the world.<br />
<br />
--by Langston Hughes<br />
<br />
Bring me all of your heavenly scent<br />
Lady Lilac<br />
Bring me all your new buds<br />
about to unfold<br />
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another spring shivaree,<br />
follow me everywhere when<br />
I walk out to the garden,<br />
and wrap me in your all too<br />
ephemeral negligee,<br />
lavendar lace round the edges,<br />
let me dream I wake up<br />
swathed in sunlight and silk.<br />
<br />
KSB<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Thought keeper<br />
Bring me all your thoughts,<br />
you thinkers.<br />
Bring me all your brain storms,<br />
that I can put them in a safe.<br />
Only for you to see. -SD<br />
<br />
<br />
Moon keeper<br />
Bring me all your craters.<br />
Keep away all the cold memories<br />
So I can be free of nightmares,<br />
That haunt me at midnight. -AB<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your happiness,<br />
you happy people.<br />
All your happiness will come to me.<br />
I will wrap it in a green cloth,<br />
So I can keep it away from the hands of the sad. -LS<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all of your beliefs<br />
Bring me everything you believe in.<br />
So I may wrap them up in a green cloud cloth,<br />
Away from the bad minds of the world. -ES<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your madness.<br />
Bring me all your bad memories.<br />
So I can lock them in a dark jail cell.<br />
So you can carry on with your life. --DS<br />
<br />
<br />
Faithkeeper<br />
Bring me your faith,<br />
You religious people.<br />
So I can put them in a box.<br />
Where only God can see. -MW<br />
<br />
<br />
The Laughkeeper<br />
Bring me all of your warm laughs,<br />
You laughers.<br />
Bring me all of your feelings,<br />
So I may wrap them in a soft yellow cloth<br />
Where only hearts who see happiness may see. -LW<br />
<br />
Bring me your happy thoughts,<br />
Bring me the fun times.<br />
So that I may wrap them in cool feelings<br />
and be in peace from the world. -PT<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your faithfulness,<br />
Bring me all your warm memories,<br />
I may take them away to a<br />
World of freedom so you may keep all. -MC<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your beliefs,<br />
you believers.<br />
Bring me all your desires,<br />
so that I can soak them up with a gentle touch of feeling<br />
and no enemies will lay eyes on these faithful gifts. -KC<br />
<br />
Bring me all your braveness,<br />
Bring me all your good times,<br />
So I may wrap them in a brown cloth<br />
and keep them away from the darkness. -ZD<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your hopes,<br />
you hopers.<br />
Bring me all your heart beats of hope.<br />
That I may wrap them in a deep red cloth,<br />
Away from the rejecting souls of the world. -CB<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me your courage,<br />
The fall of your faith,<br />
The wish of your commands,<br />
however the small act of kindness.<br />
I shall wrap them up in the crystal cloth<br />
And they shall stay mine. -KL<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your thoughts,<br />
Bring me all your ideas,<br />
So I can put them in a box<br />
Away from the evil world. -SW<br />
<br />
<br />
The Wishkeeper<br />
Bring me all of your wishes,<br />
Bring me all of your hopes,<br />
So I may pack them in a small brown box,<br />
Where only the person who seeks them may see. -HF<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your wisdom,<br />
Bring me all you know.<br />
So that I may hide them from the world,<br />
so no one else can see. -LO<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your courage,<br />
Bring me all of your braveness,<br />
that I can cover them,<br />
away from evil. -NR<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your knowledge<br />
Bring me all your wisdom,<br />
So I may wrap them up in bly sky cloth<br />
Away from those untrusted. -TS<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your worries,<br />
Bring me all the bad ones,<br />
So I may wrap them up in a light blue cloth and replace<br />
Them with good thoughts. -AB<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your warm memories of your hearts’ desire.<br />
Bring me all the sweet melodies<br />
That I may wrap them in all the hearts’ love<br />
Where no one will see. -AM<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Couragetaker<br />
Bring me all your courage,<br />
Bring me all your bravery<br />
So you can have it when you need it,<br />
To climb a tree. -MC<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your love,<br />
Bring me all your sadness,<br />
Bring me all your hopes,<br />
Bring me all your failures,<br />
So I can lock them all away,<br />
From the negative world around. -KB<br />
<br />
Bring me all your beliefs in politics,<br />
So that I may fix them to be right<br />
And cast the wrong ones in fiery depths<br />
So the world can be fresh with Republicans. -CGN<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your knowledge<br />
Bring me all your wisdom<br />
So I can wrap them in a cloud cloth,<br />
Away from the hands of the world. -CR<br />
November 12, 2008 11:54 AM<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your happiness,<br />
Bring me all your laughter,<br />
So I may wrap it in peacock feathers,<br />
Where good people can see it. -JF<br />
<br />
Bring me all your love,<br />
Bring me all your kindness,<br />
So I may wrap it in soft black and white cloth,<br />
Where only people that deserve it can see. -JC<br />
<br />
Bring me your beliefs,<br />
Bring me your faith,<br />
So I may keep them in my heart,<br />
Where only I can see them. -TD<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your secrets,<br />
Bring me all your thoughts,<br />
So I may lay them in a pink blanket,<br />
Where only worthy ears can hear them. -KB<br />
<br />
Bring me all your happiness,<br />
Bring me all your joy,<br />
So I may keep it safe,<br />
Where I can listen to them. -JL<br />
<br />
Bring me all your respect,<br />
Bring me your honor,<br />
So I may respect other people,<br />
Where I can be respected too. -DD<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your memories,<br />
Bring me the best memories you've ever had,<br />
So I may keep them in a little box,<br />
Where no one will ever see them. -KC<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me your memories,<br />
Bring me your thoughts,<br />
So I may wrap them up<br />
Where I can keep them safe. -MF<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me the memories of your heart,<br />
Bring me all your happiness and all your sadness,<br />
So I amy wrap them up in a red cloth,<br />
Where I will keep them for all my hearts desire. -MF<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your hopes,<br />
Bring me all the things you are dreaming of doing,<br />
So I may lock them away in my heart,<br />
Where only I can see them. -JeF<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your angry feelings,<br />
Bring me all you madness,<br />
So I may wrap them in a black cloth,<br />
Where no one can touch them. -HD<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all of your sweet love,<br />
Bring me all of your lost love,<br />
So I may spread it throughout the world,<br />
Where everyone can experience it. -KE<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your feelings,<br />
Bring me all your happiness and sadness,<br />
So I may wrap them up in a purple silky cloth,<br />
Where others can't get to them. -CB<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me your feelings,<br />
Bring me your sadness, happiness and love,<br />
SO I may wrap them in soft yellow sun,<br />
Where only you may seee. -AC<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your happy thoughts,<br />
Bring me all your memories,<br />
So I may keep them warm and safe,<br />
Where anyone can't see them. -MM<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your sadness,<br />
Bring me all your bad feelings,<br />
So i may make them into great feelings,<br />
Where only happiness can grow. -JacB<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all your love,<br />
Bring me your heart,<br />
So I may respect you,<br />
Where ever you are. -CD<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me happiness,<br />
Bring me all your joy,<br />
So I may wrap them in an orange cloth,<br />
Where I can give it to Jesus. -HB<br />
<br />
<br />
Bring me all of your sunlight,<br />
Bring me all of your warmth,<br />
So I may keep it<br />
Where I like best, in a blanket of safeness and warmth. -DBKathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-40001353150740549872015-03-17T06:45:00.000-07:002016-02-25T08:01:55.069-08:00WRITING KWANSABA POEMS, student prompt # 4<div id="main-wrapper" style="color: #333333; float: left; font-family: Georgia, serif; overflow: hidden; width: 410px; word-wrap: break-word;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First daffodil in my front yard!</td></tr>
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My friend Lenard Moore, one of this year's North Carolina Awards</div>
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winners in Literature, introduced me to the Kwansaba poetry form. Go to this link on my laureate blog, My Laureate's Lasso, to read more about Lenard and the the <a href="http://ncpoetlaureate.blogspot.com/2009/05/kwansaba-poems-by-lenard-moores.html">http://ncpoetlaureate.blogspot.com/2009/05/kwansaba-poems-by-lenard-moores.html</a></div>
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The Kwansaba came into being as a praise song.</div>
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<span style="background-color: #f1e6ff; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; line-height: 1.6em;">The Kwansaba is a poem consisting of seven lines. Each line has no more than seven words. Each word has no more than seven letters. Thus, the form, revolving around the number 7, adding up to 49 words, is based on the seven principles of the Kwanzaa celebration.</span></div>
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Here is a Kwansaba I just wrote, after looking up at the leafless trees outside my window, waiting to turn green again.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">March 18</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Spring is almost here. I can smell</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">it in the wind. See my dog's </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">nose twitch! He sniffs the valley air</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">and dreams the red fox we saw</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">last spring runs again along the ridge</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">where green gets ready to leaf out</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">and we get ready to sing praise!</span></div>
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Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-15658632860744324432014-08-29T12:28:00.002-07:002014-08-29T17:46:01.455-07:00Black Work<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Georgia Bold, serif;">Published in The Georgia Review, Summer 2014</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;"><span style="font-family: Georgia Bold, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Black
Work </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">She
stood at the window and watched me.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">How
long she had waited for me to wake up</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">I
dared not ask, nor could she have answered, </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">her
jaws woven shut by the undertaker’s twine,</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">a
trade she knew well, having taught herself </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">black
work by night in the attic,</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">bodies
laid down like her quilts lifted</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">out
of the chest come the first killing frost,</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">dry
ice tucked under their torsos to keep their corruption</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">from
drifting downstairs to the breakfast nook</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">where
she'd have set out a plate for my father,</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">her
only child, knowing he rose early. </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="background: transparent;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Last
summer I found the quilts,</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">gnawed
to batting by rats.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">I
sat awhile at her Singer that stitched</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">gowns
and frocks during Hoover days,</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">the
treadle still singing its rusty toil under</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">the
soles of my feet as I pedaled it briefly. </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Side-stepping
chamberpots, I turned</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">the
key left behind in her book case</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 100%;">where
I might have rummaged through Latin</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">and
palmistry volumes, ignored those</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">that
detailed with stark illustration the inexorable</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">death
of the tissues that swaddle</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">our
bones, the journey of blood</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="background: transparent;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">that
keeps trying to push its way down to the toes</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="background: transparent;"> <span style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">before
giving up. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">To
give</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">up
the ghost</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">as
the Bible describes the last breath--</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">how
those words used to frighten me,</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">sleepless
for fear I could hear her still</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">stitching
and snipping, the body upon</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">which
she lavished her skill not protesting</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">one
last knot to pull its smile tighter,</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">so
the bereaved might exclaim, as in life</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">they
had never, “So pretty! </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;">Look
at her smiling for Jesus.”</span></span></span></span></div>
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Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-24027197731753440802014-06-23T06:09:00.001-07:002014-06-23T06:10:04.647-07:00WHO SPEAKS FOR OUR MOUNTAINS? WHO SINGS THEIR SONGS? POEM #4<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
This morning I decided to take an early morning walk down by the Cullowhee Community Garden, along the side road where my daughter and I used to stroll when she was a child. There was a rusted swing set that we liked to visit, with a mountain meadow rising up behind it. A few years ago we saw a fox, all flaming elegance, running up toward tree line. "Running" comes nowhere close to how the fox flowed through the twilight, disappearing into the trees at the meadow's edge. Yes, this morning the wire was fresh and the critters were skittering, mostly rabbits. Two hefty black Labs came charging out of the tall wet grass to investigate me, a stranger on their turf. They were wet and shiny from the heavy dew. All sorts of birds were making a racket, the most vociferous being, of course, the crows. The Queen Anne's Lace was in full bloom. As I turned back toward home, someone had pulled into the Community Garden parking lot, ready to till her plot in the fresh morning air. </div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Bold, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><b>Mountain
air</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><i>By
Skyler Sutton---Cullowhee Valley</i></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Fresh
air in the morning</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Critters
running</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Tall
trees</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">With
small leaves</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Slimy
fish in cold water </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Little
birds</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Blue
green yellow</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Plowing
fields </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">In
the </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Mountains</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-72482998780719947712014-06-21T04:46:00.000-07:002014-06-21T04:46:43.011-07:00Singing the Mountains on Summer Solstice<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Bold, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Bold, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Bold, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5FP83xxpbeJOZRDnq0UwZxvY2n-sykoagdsgilkpBtLiQjvEbUP6HBYAcE1ahmc_Y5G8dj0Qs4Ye3uFoBBKO1lhk_Eu-fZY5cymHJpFFbeeDWMbdjh2x_W0yM0t8Em1688EsI_Bi21ujy/s1600/walkingintosun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5FP83xxpbeJOZRDnq0UwZxvY2n-sykoagdsgilkpBtLiQjvEbUP6HBYAcE1ahmc_Y5G8dj0Qs4Ye3uFoBBKO1lhk_Eu-fZY5cymHJpFFbeeDWMbdjh2x_W0yM0t8Em1688EsI_Bi21ujy/s1600/walkingintosun.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Bold, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Bold, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><b>Beauty
Surrounds Me</b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">By
Rebecca Pechman--Cullowhee Valley School</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Wind</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Whispers</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Sings
and calls</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Creeks
rush and race</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Barred
owls dance and hoot</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Flowers
burst and blossom</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Stars
sparkle, twinkle, and twirl</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Crickets
are chirping and calling</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">And
the moonlight does a little jig,</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman Italic', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 24px;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman Italic', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 24px;">Casti</span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">ng
shadows on the mountains above me</span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
sun peeks out from behind the mountains</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">The
first rays of sunlight hit the slopes</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">As
if the sun is calling them,</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman Italic', serif; font-size: large;">Wo</span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">rms
wiggle and bluebirds chirp</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Salamanders
scurry</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Clouds
drift to and fro</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Butterflies
dance</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">And
beauty</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Surrounds</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Italic, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;">Me</span></span></span></span></div>
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Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-24089525527325357412014-06-20T05:46:00.000-07:002014-06-20T05:46:09.995-07:00Who Speaks for Our Mountains? Who Sings Their Songs: Poem 2<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px;">
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To reach the summit at last, to lie down in the grass, in spite of icky bugs, and breathe in the sky itself, all that blue, all those clouds swimming overhead, the wind wrapping you inside its blanket, yes, that's what "up the trail" means, what 3rd grader Blaine Steely wants us to see and feel in this poem. </div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">UP</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Many trees to climb</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>On top of the world</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Up so high you can touch the sky</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Narrow paths you can fall off of</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Tricky trails to walk up</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Alone time by yourself</i></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Icky bugs you step on</i></span></div>
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<i><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Nice an</span><span style="font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0px;">d</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> quiet place</span></i></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Sunsets at night sunrise in the morning</i></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwS1zmeOHVq7NcNWRoD0Vs2XYVA75t4ymlOdilOsZ0K5Mk9f5KfBch4_VcrqaXqHrN5Kh8JnYvB531jKZbSRR7oGd7Q7r-o83t8PI2rB_YVrYMmbvQBk9wLyHElGywcpMQi8bCeHuyiaya/s1600/IMG_0576.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwS1zmeOHVq7NcNWRoD0Vs2XYVA75t4ymlOdilOsZ0K5Mk9f5KfBch4_VcrqaXqHrN5Kh8JnYvB531jKZbSRR7oGd7Q7r-o83t8PI2rB_YVrYMmbvQBk9wLyHElGywcpMQi8bCeHuyiaya/s1600/IMG_0576.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">by: Blaine Steely, 3rd grade</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Smoky Mountain Elementary School</span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Cherokee Language class</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">J</span></div>
Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-45770223197645538122014-06-19T10:50:00.001-07:002014-06-19T11:09:46.630-07:00Who Speaks for Our Mountains? Who Sings Their Songs?<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Bold, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><b>During April, City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, NC and I sponsored a poetry contest for Jackson County school students to help them--and all of us--- join in our annual Greening up the Mountains celebration. Over the next few weeks I will be sharing the poems by some of these students. These are the voices we should be heeding as we meet the challenges--- environmental and cultural--- that confront us here in our mountains.</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Bold, serif;"><b> </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent;">Maia Wilde, who attends Cullowhee Valley School, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> weaves a tapestry of images that invites us to enter the natural world, the wild home where she lives. I particularly like the rocks "like wise old men and women," their presence being the bedrock of these ancient mountains. That the smell of pine sap gives her courage gives me hope that our children will grow into adulthood looking to the natural world for the strength to take care of the places they love. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxYiR3ItU7Wk3nJiQEtQZ8WDiduQYRj97cd1G3sqrCO6WFp2nRJLbXmuqoOmVJlTY6IUEtJUuwyUa2nD0By_T4l5Agi43byPd2rDH6DEkXurh491chIqARY8PbznWgTANhwZ4oI42VbQM/s1600/IMG_0951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxYiR3ItU7Wk3nJiQEtQZ8WDiduQYRj97cd1G3sqrCO6WFp2nRJLbXmuqoOmVJlTY6IUEtJUuwyUa2nD0By_T4l5Agi43byPd2rDH6DEkXurh491chIqARY8PbznWgTANhwZ4oI42VbQM/s1600/IMG_0951.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Bold, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Bold, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Bold, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><b><br /></b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman Bold, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><b>Wild
Home</b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: transparent;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><i>By
Maia Wilde--Cullowhee Valley School</i></span></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background: transparent; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><i>Sun
rays like stars at night</i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i>Dew
shining</i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i>Wild
flowers blooming</i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i>Twittering
birds say hello to me</i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i>Snow
falling</i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i>Wind
like a warm</i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i>Blanket</i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i>Mountains
cast a shadow on the valley</i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i>Rocks
like wise old men and women</i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i>The
sun is like fire at night</i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i>The
smell of sap and pine gives me courage</i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"> </span></span></i></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="line-height: 100%;">The
mountains I live in are vast and tricky</span></i></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i> </i></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: transparent;"><i>Get
lost</i></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i> </i></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Good
luck</i></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en-US" style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; page-break-after: auto; page-break-before: auto; page-break-inside: auto; widows: 2;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-64181241563945396092013-09-11T10:43:00.002-07:002013-09-11T10:43:24.604-07:00Another 9/ll Anniversary<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqjrxiThnBktBhTJ5se56Isxit3Z9YjO7pgbHsIiSCLD30wDZiY_bdTHR8DpX7ZyQ3MMrHa2lFsgfr15ov-RLcJFO4ZeCVecG0gd8LiRNVNWTXWLJqoGtBgoP69K8qP5g0I3pDHPTk3lSb/s1600/earth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqjrxiThnBktBhTJ5se56Isxit3Z9YjO7pgbHsIiSCLD30wDZiY_bdTHR8DpX7ZyQ3MMrHa2lFsgfr15ov-RLcJFO4ZeCVecG0gd8LiRNVNWTXWLJqoGtBgoP69K8qP5g0I3pDHPTk3lSb/s320/earth.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd6nXumDtzj4w9nvSQD2mEtopGZgwYJ9oG9Gup3LnSPFShGtxaLiFk__CbW7zaga7D1g2Gb93o00mxmbICAJvKflcNc5oTiDWeHBFEE969IEBOd3yhUp9KVoXPl_bwVz2UN3RqgqLHjuUD/s1600/220px-MyLai_Haeberle_P33_BodiesNearBurningHouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd6nXumDtzj4w9nvSQD2mEtopGZgwYJ9oG9Gup3LnSPFShGtxaLiFk__CbW7zaga7D1g2Gb93o00mxmbICAJvKflcNc5oTiDWeHBFEE969IEBOd3yhUp9KVoXPl_bwVz2UN3RqgqLHjuUD/s1600/220px-MyLai_Haeberle_P33_BodiesNearBurningHouse.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burned out village in MyLai, Vietnam</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">I am writing this on the anniversary of September 11 because I am still trying to answer the question raised by a young Pakistani girl in an article years ago, "Why is an Afghan’s life worth any less than an American’s?"</span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">The easy answer is, of course, that the life any member of the more powerful group is always perceived as worth more than that of a less powerful group.</span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">Growing up in the deep South taught</span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">me that. </span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">Still, I can’t stop asking why, as Americans , we cannot seem to come to terms with the suffering of other groups besides Americans and Israelis.</span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">Why, as this anniversary has come and gone for a decade, are we not also recognizing the horrible toll in suffering and death both the Taliban and our own bombs have taken on a poor and oppressed people?</span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">These people too are victims of 9/11.</span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">Many have had their villages destroyed, parents and children killed or maimed by our response to Al Quaeda’s terrorism.</span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">Our government’s acknowledgement of their suffering has been minimal.</span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;"> "</span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;">War is hell," W.T. Sherman said or was it Donald Rumsfield, John McCain, and any number of others who are all too ready to engage in that hell?</span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-size: large; letter-spacing: 0px; text-align: left;"> </span></li>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">As an answer to the young Pakistani woman’s question, I would like to ask another, Is an Afghan’s life really worth less than an American’s?</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Are the members of the Afghan wedding party killed by American bombs worth less than the innocent people killed in the Word Trade Center Attacks?</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We all know the answer, don’t we? </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Well, don’t we?</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">And if we do, what better way to answer that accusatory question than by memorializing the innocent Afghan civilians killed in the War on Terror, civilians who had nothing to do with Osama bin Laden, mothers, fathers, children, trying to live as best they could, going about their daily routines and celebrations, much like the janitors, and the secretaries, and the stock brokers, the passengers on that clear, sunny morning of Sept. 11, 2001.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtBpp_fGpIBo-sLVO52Xv6CC7vy97QcZqdvqN7tjuFyfAVF80OcfzG92mNgiawSwKG_PMZRzvzD-YvhHxdAFzjCBVKHzs1QwUot_cqHExIcfJS-xjhBgpGiK1Ixl5GBpOfM638g8jUEMWC/s1600/WTC9COOLCDS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtBpp_fGpIBo-sLVO52Xv6CC7vy97QcZqdvqN7tjuFyfAVF80OcfzG92mNgiawSwKG_PMZRzvzD-YvhHxdAFzjCBVKHzs1QwUot_cqHExIcfJS-xjhBgpGiK1Ixl5GBpOfM638g8jUEMWC/s320/WTC9COOLCDS.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-38429325437740615482013-01-21T06:36:00.000-08:002013-01-21T06:40:04.891-08:00A CELEBRATION OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR AND THE MUSIC OF THE DEEP SOUTH<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJ5omyvC1Mf4sjCle0SUubrHI9g95ApsyODQNUjT_DHJj41P4lmQTnbECwkWXDL07m6UBxm9RudNwHqYSOpcY8h-lK3dCU2J4vR7_VQJC6-zRYUK0mUUXv9_kMUyfTp1oVH-AG-1HpitH/s1600/mlk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJ5omyvC1Mf4sjCle0SUubrHI9g95ApsyODQNUjT_DHJj41P4lmQTnbECwkWXDL07m6UBxm9RudNwHqYSOpcY8h-lK3dCU2J4vR7_VQJC6-zRYUK0mUUXv9_kMUyfTp1oVH-AG-1HpitH/s320/mlk.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Growing up in the deep South, I heard a lot of story-telling, on front porches, on the party-line, in kitchens, in beauty shops. But the singing I heard (outside of church, I mean) was sung by our black neighbors and farm workers. </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Background music</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, I grew up thinking of it, but when my friend, poet doris davenport, scolded me, saying, "We are tired of being background music for white people," I realized she was right, and more important, that I was wrong in thinking of that singing as "background music." It was, as Evie Shockley sings in her poem, "</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">a background in music. " </span></span></i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">On this day when we celebrate the life and words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I remember those voices, how their songs wove their way into my deepest self without my knowing it, and how I am still trying to learn how to harmonize with them. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font: 14.0px Helvetica;"> </span><span style="font: 14.0px Georgia;"> </span><b>Legato</b></div>
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.”..we sang everything there was to say.”</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizdhgS6acvAAX28GF95EV-lnbYiLpEPYex5wmMr-bgZrERm0Bcz3bLQEfzhwFamvfiUsCvtX1KHYx2Hf_bmpXRCz4Sd3jYOPhGC831dxcOijVTTWkdYgQ31Jedv7jMV2GaNnjj_Rf1Zyn5/s1600/doris" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizdhgS6acvAAX28GF95EV-lnbYiLpEPYex5wmMr-bgZrERm0Bcz3bLQEfzhwFamvfiUsCvtX1KHYx2Hf_bmpXRCz4Sd3jYOPhGC831dxcOijVTTWkdYgQ31Jedv7jMV2GaNnjj_Rf1Zyn5/s200/doris" width="154" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">doris</td></tr>
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---Evie Shockley</div>
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<i>---a background in music (from t</i><b><i>he new black, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Wesleyan U.P.</span></i></b><i>)</i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjDWJm28UTuo9fbyBNxsY9MuveU03gk78_EBUyTphYRbodOn4-RfYuIzbXZPwPkhlEXDjCX6KUfDmKXNXMlOQOUlyv7OHh1hws-ZQShNwzO3vPaRYCPBw2lmEFgW7VSzXBGn2ZXR3TcFx1/s1600/evie-shockley-with-tonya-foster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjDWJm28UTuo9fbyBNxsY9MuveU03gk78_EBUyTphYRbodOn4-RfYuIzbXZPwPkhlEXDjCX6KUfDmKXNXMlOQOUlyv7OHh1hws-ZQShNwzO3vPaRYCPBw2lmEFgW7VSzXBGn2ZXR3TcFx1/s200/evie-shockley-with-tonya-foster.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evie</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">When the bell </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">rang out noontime,</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">they lounged under oak trees</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">and drank from a mason jar</span></span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Georgia; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">sweet tea the taste</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Georgia; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">of a lemon slice lingering</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">at stovetops</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Georgia; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and wash basins</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">cradles</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and deathbeds</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">their voices kept</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">rising and falling </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Georgia; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">like wind riffling </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">cotton fields </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">folding sheets</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">scrubbing floors,</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Georgia; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">spinning mayhaw juice</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Georgia; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">into a red thread</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Georgia; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">they were all the time</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> singing</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Georgia; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">but we didn't listen</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Georgia; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">because it was backdrop</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Georgia; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">to what we sang</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">back ground</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and ground back into</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">darkest leaf mold</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Georgia; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that covered </span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Georgia; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the root of our other</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Georgia; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">life theirs</span></div>
<div style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Georgia; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">with which we never learned</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">how to harmonize.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>Pembroke Magazine</i>, 2012</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGiBJf_vqoZBi4Lv1n_gmnnKpA72Gp3nkuHIcJ5pmGHKwwhDdnhTGX_2pryWMml-JSKV4TljWOqDa8x_jlezgfRf5TxdYJcq8gdWOSMydyiV51p8moC7T0AF8MTwk_UVG16rGoyZW5LUVf/s1600/doll,+lois,etc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGiBJf_vqoZBi4Lv1n_gmnnKpA72Gp3nkuHIcJ5pmGHKwwhDdnhTGX_2pryWMml-JSKV4TljWOqDa8x_jlezgfRf5TxdYJcq8gdWOSMydyiV51p8moC7T0AF8MTwk_UVG16rGoyZW5LUVf/s320/doll,+lois,etc.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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With Doll, Patsy, and Lois, at a wedding celebration for Lois's son. </div>
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Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-8580981446209117632012-12-31T08:47:00.001-08:002012-12-31T12:46:59.682-08:00NEW YEAR'S EVE, 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Roaming around the yard with my camera, I couldn't let 2011 go and had to photograph the sunset on New Year's Eve last year. The trees stood fast, casting their sarabande of naked limbs against the sky.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWIOvOVbteczQEGeWJk3UFPOwh1CYwOFGfw9J4mb1kZb7vbadW2ztrO7P5ZAw4tmLItZTh1BY2iWjpvTODvE-SSWkrNc-h8jd0Y1addOX85gNbOLeBhwAvbAdYNqJa1-g2olgxzLifNdE/s1600/IMG_0576.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWIOvOVbteczQEGeWJk3UFPOwh1CYwOFGfw9J4mb1kZb7vbadW2ztrO7P5ZAw4tmLItZTh1BY2iWjpvTODvE-SSWkrNc-h8jd0Y1addOX85gNbOLeBhwAvbAdYNqJa1-g2olgxzLifNdE/s320/IMG_0576.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I love how the sun hangs on, throwing all its passionate self into its leavetaking, especially on a day like this, pulling dust, clouds, all shades of the spectrum into its farewell. The brush and limbs weave a tapestry, an embroidery needing no human handiwork.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCY9VAUqj3JLbW8-94ngZTUHhA3oby_TFuFvtqBi3-XIk0yf-LbR8vbv7zhk2SuoTn836f7pTF48f7Kmyd2d0yQ0yBLw1fJ0WUzzy2zY4vL6sV-7owwvXhloKlE8tgImPIvAov8wID3AZU/s1600/IMG_0572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCY9VAUqj3JLbW8-94ngZTUHhA3oby_TFuFvtqBi3-XIk0yf-LbR8vbv7zhk2SuoTn836f7pTF48f7Kmyd2d0yQ0yBLw1fJ0WUzzy2zY4vL6sV-7owwvXhloKlE8tgImPIvAov8wID3AZU/s320/IMG_0572.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The dogs at the door way wonder what the heck I'm doing wandering around in the near dark. Have I found a cache of bones, a buried secret, an intruder to chase? Why won't I come back in and scratch their bellies?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWOF1QCmgbbhS6ZX1SJdjKvz7v0M6iPr3dW4fDttB0rN0hmtA8UzzYsd9o30L-7O-_t6KgJAknGLflKUNoZuWJ9-JnjV0Wa0-nWN-tZ2L_Nhcgw4DqXV_INX27kRA8TUoqnHEaMxvtWmi4/s1600/IMG_0579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWOF1QCmgbbhS6ZX1SJdjKvz7v0M6iPr3dW4fDttB0rN0hmtA8UzzYsd9o30L-7O-_t6KgJAknGLflKUNoZuWJ9-JnjV0Wa0-nWN-tZ2L_Nhcgw4DqXV_INX27kRA8TUoqnHEaMxvtWmi4/s320/IMG_0579.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I think, too, of the friends we've lost over the past year, caught up now in whatever lies within this glorious light of leavetaking. Patrick Morris, J.P. Holmes, my dear friend Elizabeth's son, too young to be taken away, Harriette's husband Don, Jean Pittillo, Richard's Peggy, so many....<br />
<br />
"Walk in the world for us, " they ask. And so in this New Year, we set forth.Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-68587809578049173282012-12-30T08:53:00.004-08:002012-12-30T10:52:52.826-08:00TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7wBRj6RPUlkrT6QUSN_6d5kJoDZfgwnUBkh7JMXFDhtUdmk3W_1C2Yp8NhwLBHAbKKu8HraqWaBOA3_sfGDhYcf4XlFfSPP38lpWRpKj56XbrcNsaa7GPvGjMYrX14wxRkAvyz80kQhC/s1600/IMG_1712.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7wBRj6RPUlkrT6QUSN_6d5kJoDZfgwnUBkh7JMXFDhtUdmk3W_1C2Yp8NhwLBHAbKKu8HraqWaBOA3_sfGDhYcf4XlFfSPP38lpWRpKj56XbrcNsaa7GPvGjMYrX14wxRkAvyz80kQhC/s320/IMG_1712.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Trees through the blue glass on my kitchen window sill}</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<i>To blog or not to blog</i>, that is the question several of my facebook friends' posts. Blogging uses up a lot of time, and in the midst of a busy life, not to mention in the midst of late middle age, I feel the urge to blog less than before.</div>
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Still, here it is, a clear sunny morning at the end of 2012, and I'm sitting in my easy chair looking out at the mountains. And the trees. The trees I watch every morning, noon, and evening as they settle into darkness, which now that the solstice has passed, will be shorter and shorter until in July I can look out my bedroom window at trees I dream of climbing, winding my soul around, as I drift off to an early bedtime. </div>
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I've tried to write poems about this, the mountains and the trees framed by my windows. "The magic of windows and doors," as my novelist friend Vicki Lane calls it. The magic is in the calling. <i>Come here, come here</i>, our windows and doors beckon. Here is darkness falling, here is light rising up, here is your own face in the glass after dark has taken hold. Your own face through which what is left of outside flows through just enough to haunt, to beckon to you. <i>Come inside yourself.</i></div>
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<i> </i></div>
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<i></i>At the year's turn, we do that, whether we want or not. Resolutions, what are they but an inner journey into what we believe we desire. Fewer pounds, more friends, less moralizing and judging each other, including ourselves. "Help me not to be so mean," a Flannery O'Connor character prays. I pray the same, that the meanness that so easily seeps into everyday can be kept at bay. </div>
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</div>
Meanwhile the sun journeys across the clear sky, the bare trees shine like silver, and I sit here blogging my way through the short while before noon. <br />
<br />
Another lunch to prepare. Butternut soup,<br />
turkey sandwiches.<br />
A glass of wine.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8DlWNxXKeH4vDpuuHAulSNUmJ-M9i2uhrIu80Oyx8voc7zUuzuxVBiIiBv3I-lbZW-pZlOnVdgO93duJ-8FqedYQ-qCnD8HDF9izwRgunC86X6lSMvDrrpbS75cFQXAaXEmjh6p2sJUZB/s1600/IMG_2406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8DlWNxXKeH4vDpuuHAulSNUmJ-M9i2uhrIu80Oyx8voc7zUuzuxVBiIiBv3I-lbZW-pZlOnVdgO93duJ-8FqedYQ-qCnD8HDF9izwRgunC86X6lSMvDrrpbS75cFQXAaXEmjh6p2sJUZB/s320/IMG_2406.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Winter dawn through my bedroom window)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Another year's window about to open. <br />
Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-82179689265648897222012-12-23T06:21:00.002-08:002012-12-25T11:05:43.165-08:00A Sheaf of Christmas Poems<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4mtK7ThIUWMjIHY6-Fc6W9CwxwxSvRdEjr3ZYKoxVgQbvHVi-Zypxdf8tFTOs3dGEBN9q5cURj-BiEhvoWeZYJmxG5upvgXO3Xja4KpXWcE3rziHD7prlu5yiOkYoLhfo_jrgTkT1HJc/s1600-h/IMG_0744.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282743939276161522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4mtK7ThIUWMjIHY6-Fc6W9CwxwxSvRdEjr3ZYKoxVgQbvHVi-Zypxdf8tFTOs3dGEBN9q5cURj-BiEhvoWeZYJmxG5upvgXO3Xja4KpXWcE3rziHD7prlu5yiOkYoLhfo_jrgTkT1HJc/s320/IMG_0744.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;" /></a></div>
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Going through old computer files yesterday, I found these Christmas poems, originally part of the manuscript that became BLACK SHAWL. I saw Mary in these pieces as being here in the NC mountains rather than being a young girl in Nazareth over 2000 years ago. The reader at LSU Press suggested they be dropped, that they functioned better as a small chapbook of poems to be published later. They've waited ever since. As well as I can remember, they were first printed years ago in a journal whose poetry editor was my friend Janice Townley Moore. The Georgia Journal, I believe was its name. Anyway, here they are again, two days before another Christmas. The photos come from sunsets in S. Georgia and holly bushes, as well as waxing and full moons, here in the mountains.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-PkBsgfa2fjHmR94SCHlPb45ChhyphenhyphenFyYRid8DWIEb4rU2buAqnMd0XrWtknWh2nU-RWwlYNp4wkVAO-CgsbHXVCBBAWrhCuIEK4kXzUjGRA9BV1OiMEx69_Jsql_eXbOysmL-FTBIob2M/s1600-h/IMG_0731.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282743914296869186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-PkBsgfa2fjHmR94SCHlPb45ChhyphenhyphenFyYRid8DWIEb4rU2buAqnMd0XrWtknWh2nU-RWwlYNp4wkVAO-CgsbHXVCBBAWrhCuIEK4kXzUjGRA9BV1OiMEx69_Jsql_eXbOysmL-FTBIob2M/s320/IMG_0731.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;" /></a></div>
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BLUE</div>
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is her color</div>
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because it was always the last</div>
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thing she saw through</div>
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<br /></div>
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her window before losing</div>
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count of the heddle’s</div>
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beat. Blue hem</div>
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<br /></div>
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beyond reach, she</div>
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dreamed herself</div>
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wearing it, skirt flaring</div>
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out of the narrow glass</div>
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where she saw turning</div>
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and turning her own image</div>
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till in a swoon</div>
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she might gather up into the blue</div>
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lap of heaven</div>
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<br /></div>
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the stars and the moon</div>
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as if they were no more than</div>
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the first fruits of May,</div>
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the wild strawberries</div>
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she loved to eat as she carried</div>
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them home to her table.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupMeiEgG44TRMiMDTNZoIWmThdJgORzyT9EB7hS3TA-6W5VpPbhDTGDBDSBj16O9aHKyth5L80rkKkti2B0lEYAPrg50Uazhd911a6nuESDwBaYGVgSNeEpAQX16jcgfHQSNjXQSQRek/s1600-h/IMG_0742.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282741380273813954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupMeiEgG44TRMiMDTNZoIWmThdJgORzyT9EB7hS3TA-6W5VpPbhDTGDBDSBj16O9aHKyth5L80rkKkti2B0lEYAPrg50Uazhd911a6nuESDwBaYGVgSNeEpAQX16jcgfHQSNjXQSQRek/s400/IMG_0742.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;" /></a></div>
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AVE</div>
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This wind!</div>
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She cannot hold her bonnet</div>
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against it and lets go</div>
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the sashes. A kite of blue</div>
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calico sails away over</div>
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the fields while a child laughs</div>
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and points at the spectacle,</div>
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blustery March making light</div>
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of her modesty till not a hairpin’s</div>
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left clinging, her heavy braids</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
tumbling like bell-ropes</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
around her. So here she stands,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
skirt swelling forth in its manifold</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
emptiness, as if she’s come</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
to the edge of a sea</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
and hears far out a voice</div>
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calling, gull maybe,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
though she lives nowhere near</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
water and she knows her name</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
is not BEATA.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyd-gGx8NcWtYdo4Y8ny-vu7zE90RHwFWxG7qtYMLlJLJfv-xs9gld4aMd9UTxJV19HiJmqbpLFrymfmhu8DPxQEHsfgQzmqTg2prlCbRIT2uXwNlWJkdpUPiKDv0bCSkQ-12-CXrpHaY/s1600-h/IMG_0721.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282742270718518866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyd-gGx8NcWtYdo4Y8ny-vu7zE90RHwFWxG7qtYMLlJLJfv-xs9gld4aMd9UTxJV19HiJmqbpLFrymfmhu8DPxQEHsfgQzmqTg2prlCbRIT2uXwNlWJkdpUPiKDv0bCSkQ-12-CXrpHaY/s320/IMG_0721.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;" /></a></div>
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OH MARIA, MARIS STELLA</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
what have we made of you,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
when you were happy enough to be nursing</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
your baby, ignoring the tumult of heaven,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
the scuffle of shepherd’s feet.</div>
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Wise men on camels meant little to you,</div>
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their frankincense, myrrh.</div>
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You could take it or leave it.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
What good would it do you</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
whose only concern was the milk you felt</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
slowly beginning to thicken your breasts?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
Or the worry that Joseph had not eaten,</div>
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you should have brought along more</div>
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of your grandmother’s journey-cake,</div>
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more of her dried figs and almonds.</div>
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<br /></div>
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No seafarer's daughter, you grew up</div>
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to quail at the stories of drowning men</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
merchants brought back from the sea ports,</div>
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for you were no braver than most women.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
You liked to think of yourself as a drop</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
in the Lord’s deep and, save for a scribe’s</div>
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error, you might have stayed "stilla maris"</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
forever. You had no desire to be star</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
to whom mariners cried out</div>
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for centuries, struggling to grab</div>
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hold your sleeve as they’re sinking.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
YOU SIT</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
looking out at the straggle</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
of sheepherders leading their flock</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
to the hovel where you are still groggy</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
from childbirth. You wish they would go away,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
seek out some other to worship,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
for you are too tired to look blessed.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
But it is expected of you.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
Now and for two thousand years you must</div>
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lift up your eyes from your infant</div>
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and hear us out, bearing</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
such words as could almost make you</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
believe you are beautiful.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-rE-MNzW3whSYSUJG9XsMY9tj3BxmXH7HFX5yz_eY07JcaTnXNa2v1PWIAQ7emcmFndLJKbyrXr-wgaDAr9eaYovMuTz5PXBzNf6ObIighruKFtcJEUTtVLWQ1oZB2m5wPQLy4hHBoEA/s1600-h/redmoon2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282743906928247906" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-rE-MNzW3whSYSUJG9XsMY9tj3BxmXH7HFX5yz_eY07JcaTnXNa2v1PWIAQ7emcmFndLJKbyrXr-wgaDAr9eaYovMuTz5PXBzNf6ObIighruKFtcJEUTtVLWQ1oZB2m5wPQLy4hHBoEA/s320/redmoon2.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
JOSEPH</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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And what of you, Joseph? Still lost in the barn</div>
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shadows, stroking your beard</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
while the curious goats crowd about her,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
as if they have already guessed who she is,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
not just any poor country girl born</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
to the tending of livestock. When she calls,</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
you do not go near.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
Is the sight of such bringing forth</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
more than you fear you can bear?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
Not to mention her blood</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
and the odor of animal everywhere.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
All night you stand in the dark stall knowing</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
your name never crosses</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
her lips. How much longer before you will go</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
to her, man enough at last to look</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
upon God in His baffling dependency?</div>
Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7357199451052416763.post-10296971386565178602012-11-29T10:49:00.002-08:002012-11-29T10:49:24.629-08:00 LARA TUCKER COTTRELL: BRING JOY<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj30xPbQ0WG2bdtSZcVOn_gNkY8aENQHnwpH9v7Yx4IIB5xCTI3xbqVZqjI2BVwttu1DfcIODVhMgkRdlSUBzaqMXKBTJ23rwgDG-gq5wOLRJNjA4p4RbvZyh3ieQ7iGDUazKDHwe1aRPa6/s1600/lara2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj30xPbQ0WG2bdtSZcVOn_gNkY8aENQHnwpH9v7Yx4IIB5xCTI3xbqVZqjI2BVwttu1DfcIODVhMgkRdlSUBzaqMXKBTJ23rwgDG-gq5wOLRJNjA4p4RbvZyh3ieQ7iGDUazKDHwe1aRPa6/s320/lara2.jpg" width="252" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
(FOCUS ON) HEALING<br />
<br />
When your life<br />
Becomes a butterfly<br />
Resting on a palm--<br />
And all its color<br />
Becomes the moment of your truth--<br />
Then your heartbeat will call your hand to your chest<br />
And you will feel that you have always been loved--<br />
<br />
Hear me--<br />
You come into this world<br />
Knowing all the answers--<br />
Here is the time to take them all<br />
And fling them up, up into the sky<br />
Where they fly together--and call themselves home.<br />
<br />
What you think about, you bring about. Bring joy.<br />
<br />
<br />
from <b>Indicia,</b> by Lara Tucker Cottrell<br />
<br />
<br />
This is the last poem in Lara's posthumous collection of poems. The butterfly reminds me of Mahmoud Darwish's image of butterfly, the flinging of all the answers into the sky, of Rainer Maria Rilke, but Lara has made the images her own. The answers flying, calling themselves home....one of her last visions of joy. Kathryn Stripling Byerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.com0