telling stories...

Now there are some things we all know, but we don’t take’m out and look at’m very often. We all know that something is eternal. And it ain’t houses and it ain’t names, and it ain’t earth, and it ain’t even the stars…everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings…There’s something way down deep that’s eternal about every human being (III.25).

Our Town

Thornton Wilder

"Maybe sometimes we should be story facilitators and help others tell their own stories instead of doing it for them."

Jordan Bryon

     Everyone has a story in them, waiting to be told. As we finish our section on the short story, I have selected two pieces for you. May they bless you as they have me.


One Moment
A true story by Ella Rosenberg

     My life was shattering. My father was diagnosed with stage 4 Metastatic Melanoma on April 21, 2011. He was 40.

     After Dad's surgery to remove a swollen lymph node, Mom offered to take me out for ice cream while Dad rested.
     "Sure," I said happily. 
     It wasn't often we went for ice cream, so naturally I thought we were celebrating Dad's successful surgery. Mom and I pulled out of the driveway and merrily made our way down the road. Or, so I thought. Instead of turning onto the main road we kept straight.
     "Mom?" I asked nervously, feeling an ominous dread creeping into me.
     Mom pulled the car onto the shoulder of the street, gently took both of my hands, and choked out, "Ella, Daddy has cancer. I am so sorry baby."
     My mind was taking in every detail of that one moment. The day was warm, sunny. Flowers were coming up- new life reaching, pushing, through the dull, dead grass. The pond had geese, a family stopping for a quick rest as they flew home to the north. I looked at Mom, my eyes widening. "What did you just say?"
     A sob escaped her lips as she squeezed my hands, softly. "It's bad, Ella. It's really, really bad, darling. I stared at her. Surely, I thought, this is a dream.
     "No... No, it can't... Oh, No..." Tears stung my eyes which were filling rapidly.
     "I love you so much, Ella," Mom quietly whimpered.
     Dads are supposed to be invincible. They don't die. They're anchors, strong, permanent. 'He never gets sick,' I thought to myself, vainly trying to hold myself together. 'He's so strong and tough.' I was shaking. Sobs of despair, like monsters, beat against my ribcage trying to get free. Mom unbuckled her seatbelt and cradled me to her chest. "I'm so sorry, my dear Ella. I'm so sorry, my baby. I'm so sorry..." She babbled mindlessly, trying to soothe both herself and me with kind nothings. I knew in the moment before she held my hands, before she told me, that this moment- this snag in time, a moment smaller than a grain of sand in the Desert of Time... less than a drop in the Ocean of Significance... this moment would forever change my life. 'I love Daddy so much,' I thought. 'I don't want him to leave us...' I inwardly scorned myself for thinking such thoughts, for wallowing in self pity. 'He's not dead yet. You have to be strong. For Mom. For Lucy. For yourself. For him. For the bravest man you know.
For Daddy.'

Recollections

by Connor Phillips

One day my Daddy and Billy Yarbrough were shooting at a bird on a pond. Then Billy thought it would be funny to shoot at Daddy. So, when Daddy found out what was happening, he said, “Hey! I'm over here!” and Billy said, “I know!” So Daddy shot back. I reckin they ran out of shells.

Back in the 1920's, my Grandpaw's daddy sent him to the country store to get a can of sardines. So, while he was up there, a couple of his buddies were there. He stayed and talked 'til it got dark. Back then, the roads were sand. There was an old man that had died out in the woods along the road. This thought got to workin' on his nerves and he got scared. So he pedaled his bike faster and faster 'til he ran into the back of a wagon. The man driving the wagon got scared and started whipping his mule and Grandpaw dumped out of the wagon and had to crawl around in the dark to find his sardines.

Daddy and his friend were goin' somewhere one day and they stopped by a KFC and Daddy's friend said, “What do you want?” Daddy said, “Nothing” 'cause he didn't have any money and he wasn't hungry. So when Daddy's friend came back he had two chicken dinner buckets and Daddy said, “I told you I didn't want anything.” His friend said, “I didn't get you none!”  

   

What is the Purpose?

Harlem Summer Day

by Leonard Freed

"Ancient religion and modern science agree: we are here to give praise, or, to slightly tip the expression, to pay attention." 

John Updike

pur·pose[pur-puh s]- the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.

The question posed to today's class-

Does everything have a purpose?

Four topics were presented in the form of questions:

What is the purpose of a smile?

What is the purpose of tears?

What is the purpose of laughter?

What is the purpose of love?

Here are a few thoughts from the students:

"A smile can speak things that words cannot possibly convey."

Ella Rosenberg

"God blessed humankind with smiles so that life would hurt a little bit less."

Madeline Keller

"The purpose of a smile is to bring peace and happiness to the receiver."
Mike Guin

"Tears will set you free."

Emma Carter

"Laughter is a specific noise."

Ian Fisher

"Laughter makes you live longer."

Daniel Smith

"The purpose of love is life."

Cuinn McDermott

and this, from Elizabeth Hemingway-

weap·on [ wéppən ]

device designed to injure or kill: a device designed to inflict injury or death on an opponent

That is the definition for the word "weapon". A device designed to injure or kill. A smile can be this. This can come from a bully laughing at his victim, the smile on his face wide and insulting, saying "its funny how pathetic you are" and, "I will always be better." It is a smile designed to injure his victim, or "opponent", from the inside, to even wipe out the others self esteem, "killing" his self image.

Thus, is a smile's purpose to be a weapon?

Shield [ sheeld ]

protection or defense: somebody or something that serves as protection or acts as a defense

That is the definition of a shield- protection or defense, the opposite of a weapon. While the bullie's smile is "designed to injure or kill", the victim has a small protection, a defense against the shoving that was sure to come if he lets his opponent see him break. If he shows that his bully was getting to him, that would be an opportunity, even an invitation for more. So he puts up his defense, the shaky, false smile on his face to make them think he doesn't care. They have the same thing, a smile, but they are opposite from each other.

Therefore, a smile's purpose is to be a weapon and a defense, a hideout for evil and a stronghold of good.

A smile's purpose is whatever you want it to be.

Six Words Can Say It All

"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."

Edgar Allan Poe

Eleonora

"I believe that we are meant to move through the world with interest, and writing keeps me interested.

It is like comparing notes."

Julia Cameron

The Right to Write

     This quarter begins  our study of the short story and to kick-off the section students wrote six-word stories, a concept made famous by Ernest Hemingway when he wrote-

For sale: baby shoes, never used.

Here are a few student examples:

Angels are my type of thing.

Carly McGirt

Finally flying so high, I fell.

William Lampke

Falling in reverse is very confusing.

Ella Rosenberg

Lemurs go swimming, crocodiles get full.

Ian Fisher

Man killed by Subway at dinner.

Mike Guinn

He thought he could swim. Sinking...

Christian Giglia

Rides roller coaster, sleeps in hospital.

Sophia Kalyuzhnaya

Paperboy missing? Didn't hear the news.

Alexander Jones

Best cantrip: sing yourself to sleep.

Emma Carter

     Another assignment asked students to write a paragraph using a first line from one of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories. Here are two examples: 

     Misery is manifold. It is too much to handle. People. Making others mad and sad is not what we are made for. Why can't we work on an agreement to make things right, and not make hate the thing between families around the planet?

-Jake Dudzik

It was a chilly November afternoon. I saw it, small and insignificant to some. But not to me. It was a shining beam of hope. I picked up the small diamond ring and put it in my pocket. If I sell it, I may have just enough money to get to America.

-Emma Carter

Words of the Week
click on word for definition

recusant
delate
uncanny
teratoid
cantrip

End of the Quarter

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
Howard Thurman




Here are three exceptional pieces from this week:



I assoil you for hurting me

and walking away with glee

for in this world of hate and crime

being angry is for another time

William Lampke


The chameleon is a versicolor animal
that will draggle itself
they are fascinating to some
but not to me

Darian Bolten


He tried and he toiled
my plan was foiled
ruined the soup I boiled
but as a saint I chose to assoil

Emma Carter

January, 1953

New York, NY

Vivian Maier

"I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing

than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance."

E.E. Cummings

     Graham Cooke said, 

"A paradox is two conflicting ideas contained within one truth." 

A skeptic might say that a High-School student with a passion to work is paradoxical. I would say, "You have not experienced some of my students." Here are a few 'evidences' of the proof:

A Villanelle
by Cuinn McDermott


Light forever shall shine in the shadow.

Darkness shall fall when light shines in the dark,
when darkness rises and all is hollow.

When light shall fall and all will have sorrow.

The darkness destroys like a great whit shark,
light forever shall shine in the shadow.

Good people fall when land becomes shallow.

Their frail bodies decaying become dark,
when darkness rises and all is hollow.

When blinding sun shines cleansing all shadow.

Heavens rays obliterating the dark,
Light forever shall shine in the shadow.

The light will come restoring what's hollow.

Light rises when dark falls but some stay dark,
when darkness rises and all is hollow.

Light rises when darkness falls to shadow.

The light will rise but some always stay dark.
Light forever shall shine in the shadow,
when darkness rises and all is hollow.


A Villanelle
by Isaac Catchatoorian

Going day by day

Feeling so alone
Colors looking so gray

Drowning in my own blood

Thinking about my death
Going day by day

Lost, always wanting more

Basically living invisible
Colors looking so gray

Save me from this darkness

Blades are getting deeper
Going day by day

Does happiness even exist?

Puff,puff goes the smoke
Colors looking so gray

I am almost dead now

Someone save me quick
Going day by day
Colors looking so gray

Journey
by Alexander Jones

I was out of town, in a little village,

and I happened upon a general store.

I stepped in to buy a cool cola

but I found something more.

The store was being held up for money,

an old man said, "Do something, son."

He gave me a bat and I knocked out the robber

and then I knew I had won.

Everyone cheered and my cola was free

in fact, of the store I was given free roam.

But soon my adventures came to a close

and I proudly made my way home.

To Palter
by David King

She palters the poor merchant
for little does she know
karma is bad
for people who verbally slaughter

Two Poems

Inspired by the photography of Vivian Maier

Just For Fun

by Ella Rosenberg

Promise me, promise me

you'll be safe, write me

letters, think of me

when your days are dark,

just think of coming home

just remember the spark

Peaches a plenty, wine a full,

and then a shoe, so random and bold.

Maybe it's magic, maybe it's lies,

maybe an illusion, so funny, so old.

Perhaps it's a joke, maybe a prank,

maybe perhaps and jokes, illusions,

but still magic for a little mind.

-Cuinn McDermott

Paradox

by Sophia Kalyuzhnaya

You can be loud with silence

whispering a scream

quiet- a concert

talkative when mute

Paradox
by Christian Giglia

You have to lose to win
play golf on the course
The front is like the back
the driver is loud with the silence

Paradox
by Sara Ofenloch

you have to die to live
after death, life is found
end starts a beginning
when you live, you die

Paradox

by Jacob Dudzik

The front is backward

going, somewhere, just to return

going there for hours, days, months

leaving those forward, you know

Hamartia

by Carly McGirt

It wasn't hamartia
to find no gold
At least some of us tried
still, we had a great time
I can have a time popsicle
it was not that cold
It was a nice trip
with awesome minerals

Angel Falling
by Elizabeth Hemingway

She is an angel falling

How much pain her heart has shown
How much her heart is calling

How bright her spirit shining

For quite sure she does not know
She is an angel falling

Her soul rains, her spirit rising

Tries to escape from the cold
But she won't stop crying

Saving those, though she's breaking

Her voice rises, her sad song singing
Reaching the heart of the darkest foe

She lifts them, she is falling

She gives, they are free to go
It's sad that they keep calling
She is an angel falling

New Haiku

"To live is so startling

it leaves little time for anything else."

Emily Dickinson

1830-1886

     A few weeks ago, Nick Nunziata asked, "Mr. Carter, why don't we have a lecture day in Creative Writing like we do in Art? You could tell us about writers." A great idea. So, these past two weeks we have heard words and stories from Emily Dickinson and Langston Hughes- two giants in the field of poetry. We also discussed and practiced free-verse, the Sestina and Haiku. Will Durant said, "Nothing is new except arrangement."

Here are a few new arrangements:

the whiteness and snow

it tends to always go slow

flowers spring again

William Lampke

snow starting to fall

the wind starting to blow now

it's time to get warm

Lindsay Frasciello

hot and blistering

kids playing in the water

long days with no school

Darian Bolten

red blossoms falling

morning dew is sweet and warm

the sun is rising

Cuinn McDermott

black ice and white snow

then the searing wind blows

snow melts, sidewalk shows

Elizabeth Hemingway

top corner, hard shot

can't stand baseball, too boring

back of the net, goal

Brad Andrews

the celadon tree

pale grey green I will miss

that tree will be missed

Jake Dudzik

he was a ruler

yet he was very spleenful

he will fall one day

Sara Ofenloch

don't eat celadon

wait, can you eat a color?

yes, I think you can

Emma Carter

his celadon skin

made me worry about him

go to the doctor

John Chirchirillo

Elements of Style

"Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style."

Kurt Vonnegut

"The words of the wise prod us to live well. They're like nails hammered home, holding life together. They are given by God, the one Shepherd."

Ecclesiastes 12:11

The Message

     Oh, the power twenty-six letters can wield. Writers know that it is the arrangement of the words which constitutes style- the writer's voice. Trinity students are seeking their voice and I am blessed to hear their early notes.

Maddie's Ability to Drown Out Noise

Madeline Keller

I struggle deeply

to focus

on things like

Math, Science, and Art

when people 

never stop talking

to leave me alone

with my thoughts.

A Prose Poem

Carly McGirt

     A long time ago there was a lady I knew who had cancer and was in the hospital for weeks. She had cancer and she died. My family and I prayed for her and I would always comfort, protect, feel sorry and show her love. She was one of my favorite people. I loved her like I love almost everyone the way they are. I really cared about her. I would take care of her while she was laying peacefully in the hospital dying. I started to cry because it's sad when people or animals die and I loved her so much. She was happy, good hearted and she loved the Lord, like me. She would always make me smile and feel joy. My family and I would go and visit her. She died from cancer. But she is peacefully with our awesome God.

My Love

John Chirchirillo

Love is painfully dry

but also moist, in a wonderful matrimony of

flour, berries, and sometimes chocolate.

From flat to puffy.

From England to France.

Scones and crepes are my love.

I Love You

Sophia Kalyuzhnaya

Funnel cake filled my festive mood,

when I saw you I went right to the counter

smiling.

I powdered that powdered sugar,

oh how I adore.

I make then I bake.

My love for funnel cakes is extraordinary.

Just the juicy, oily but delicious pieces of the

whole thing

make me happy.

Especially when you are accessorized with strawberries and ice

cream.

Oh, how I only

see you in carnivals, circuses, and festivals,

let's find each other.

We will be together one day, I promise.

I love you,

funnel cakes.

Poem

Alexander Jones

Two lovers, once young and lively, had now come far from delicious, flavorful bread. They sat in the toaster too long. They were now nothing but burnt toast. They popped out of the toaster oven after about twenty years, and they were both rock solid. They had been there for so long that they had nowhere to go. They were stuck with each other, burnt and still burning.

Love

Aaron McPeak

Love is hard and crunchy,

love is soft.

Love is cooked on a skillet,

love is brown.

Love is delicious.

Love is

bacon.

Untitled

Isaac Catchatoorian

Precariously opening her heart

scars that will hopefully fade

she has been fearful from the start

looking for the one God has made

lonely here and there

just one more chance would be fair

Untitled

Nick Miller

in the sun's glare

I was laying in the grass,

thinking, and sleeping.

looking at the clouds and wondering,

'how was the world created?'

Who was the creator?

and I wonder if the are happy with the

world.

Love

Jake Dudzik

Love is like a chocolate bar.

It tastes good

but it makes you lose control

when you have had too much.

With its milk chocolate outside

and wafer filling inside,

you are sure to have a sugar rush.

So much love

and so much chocolate

in this world.

But not everyone likes it.

This is the End

By Elizabeth Hemingway

This is the end

I can see it now

My death is upon me

My heart starts to pound

Im thirsty

Im hungry

But theres no food or water in sight

This is the end

I can see a bright light

I look up at my captor

And I then i start to beg

For him to grant me mercy

But he just shakes his head.

I fall to the floor

For sure I am finished

Then my captor says "Get up son"

"Youve only been in timeout for ten minutes."