A Tribute to Daisy

The daisy-hued labrador
who once danced,
face turned toward the sun


now withered
on searing metal tracks
pale petals drift across the taconite
caught in eddies of melting snow.


* * *


It's been over a year now since my family's beloved young labrador retriever, Daisy, was hit by a train. It was a traumatic experience, but I finally feel like I can write about it. I took this photo of her only a couple of hours before the tragic event.


She was the smartest dog I've ever known, and loved to be with everybody, young or old or anywhere in between. Sometimes it seemed like she thought she was a human. She would sit on your lap if you let her, even though she was several times larger than a cat, and she would play fetch for hours if she could get you to cooperate. She never whined or barked for attention, and yet when the vacuum or the broom was nearby, she'd growl something fierce until it went away. She loved to chase squirrels away from my mom's birdfeeder, and she would sit at the deck door waiting for the rodents to appear.


When I was home alone, she would follow me around like a second shadow, keeping me company and making me feel safe. I loved to go on long walks with her in the woods, watching her antics and laughing at her boundless energy. She was able to cheer me up with her goofy frolics and happy face. I've never known such a truly happy dog.


I'll miss her, but now I'm able to remember the good times I had with her. I thank God for his gift during those years, and hope that perhaps one day, when I arrive at heaven's gates, a daisy-colored dog will be there to greet me with her happy smile, frolicking in celestial meadows.


~~~~~~~

Some Autumn Poetry

I tend to write more poetry in the spring and fall than during any other time of the year. Here are some of the songs and poems that I came up with these past couple of months.

Dancing
Let go
Spin away from the others
Let them follow
Together twirling
To the rhythm of the wind.
Pirouette with me
A whirling cyclone
Faster
Faster
Sail along the ground
Never touching it
Until...
The wind slows
     and drifts away
My friends whisper farewell
     and settle down to sleep
Only I remain
     carried by the echoes
Far from the tree
from which I fell.


Untitled
Jumbled thoughts
can steal the day
When your mind is lost
Imagination will play
But it won't get you anywhere
Until you let go
Of the thought of controlling air
And follow the flow...

chorus:
Soar with the butterflies
Through the ever-changing skies
Drop down sparks of inspiration
The world needs to catch some imagination.

A bit of fun
can banish the pain
When your heart is broken
See the sun through the rain
You can get about anywhere
If you let go
Of the thought of controlling air
And follow the flow...

When one spark finds a home
      in an open hand
When a free and roaming
      wandering band
With a shout the rising sound
      will command
A movement beyond that which you
      can imagine...

(chorus)

Follow the flow
Let the air currents hold you
The stars all aglow
Let the melody mold you

Soar with the butterflies
Through the ever-changing skies
Drop down sparks of inspiration
And the whole world will catch some
Imagination.



I wrote this last one while we were driving through Illinois farmland, and thinking about our own family's farm back home, as the soybeans were getting harvested. (I'll put some pictures of the harvest on my photo blog as soon as I get a chance)

Harvest Song
Flat, flat farmland
Stretchin' to tomorrow
The beans are gettin' combined
I know that this land is mine
The dirt is turned
The sky is clear
No rain until next week I hear
Gotta get the crops in store
I only got one field more
And I'll be ready for winter's roar.

Bits 'n' Pieces of Random Poetry

My computer is sick.
*sob*
I'm taking it in to the Apple Store this evening. Hopefully they can fix it (cheaply and quickly!)

Anyway...
I thought I'd share some of the poetry and song lyrics I've been writing lately. A lot of it is about strange topics, like Antarctica and flipping pencils. Some of these are incomplete. Some of them have tunes that I'm in the process of composing. All of them are random.

First of all, a rumination on poetry itself:

Poetry is what pours forth from your head, your heart, your hand as you sprawl on a window-seat and watch the world change colors and live, live like a sunflower and age as a stone and laugh like a toddler who has found a Daddy Longlegs in a crack in the wall, flow like clouds in a sunset or maybe it's a sunrise but it doesn't really matter, who cares, because your poetry belongs to you, not the library, not uncle, not the public unless you shout it from the rooftops in bold letters earning the right to call yourself
poet.

The Dancer
I lift my hands to the sky
Around and around I fly
My bare feet in the flowers
As my shadow cowers
But I am free,
Free, free.

My eyes are raised to the sun
As I twirl around and run
My heart soars as I leap
Though my shadow fear will keep
But I am alive
Alive, alive.

Kicking up Dust
On a summer Sunday -afternoon-
When I was only six years old
My mother sent me out to play
I went peacefully
But when I got outside
-and this was a sunny day-
I went out to the driveway...

Chorus:
Kicking up dust
Shuffling my bare feet
Kicking up dust
   as I danced in the heat
Kicking up dust
I played and had lots of fun
Kicking up dust
   and dirt and sand in the sun.

I was very dusty -it covered me-
Of course I had to have a bath
My mother sent me to the tub
I went peacefully
But when I got all dry
I dashed right back out the door
To the driveway for some more...

(Chorus)

Now that I am older -all grown up-
I know that I should not kick dust
My mother will not clean me up
I walk peacefully
But when I see a dirt road
'specially when it's sunny
I suddenly get all funny...

Final chorus:
Kicking up dust
Shuffling my shod feet
Kicking up dust
   as I dance in the heat
Kicking up dust
I play and have lots of fun
Kicking up dust
   and dirt and sand in the sun.

South Pole Dreaming
Waiting for the sun to go to sleep
As I watch with bleary eyes
I think I'll be counting sheep
For a really long time, I realize
'Cause this night
is a really long night
It'll last for months, it seems
How I love Antarctic dreams

Stars above in the velvet sky
Time to sit and wonder why?
The sun has gone on his vacation
And I'm here at the South Pole Station
Dreaming of you...
In my everlasting Antarctic dreams.

It'll be a long, cold summer without you
Cooped up in this building with no room to run
I really don't know what I'll do
I really need to see the sun
'Cause this night
is a really long night
It's lasting for centuries, it seems
How I loathe Antarctic dreams.

Pencil
I walk into the classroom
Take a seat in the back
Wish I could hide in the bathroom
But then I see the guy in a black
   t-shirt in the front row
Showing off how his pencil can fly
Around his fingers
And then I really have to try...

Flippin' it around
It hits the ground
   again and again
What's the use of being prehensile
if I can't flip a pencil?

Stickers
When you're having a bad day
and the world gets you down
I take a smiley-face sticker
And turn that frown around

Stickers, stickers everywhere
On my wall and in my hair
I gotta have those tacky little pictures
I live in a world of stickers

It's just a small piece of life
To brighten the day and cheer the night
Stickers wait in my drawer
And whenever you're feeling poor
I break out my stickers

I've got 'em for every personality
They come from every nationality
To bring some whimsicality...

Stickers, stickers everywhere

On my wall and in my hair

I gotta have those tacky little pictures

I live in a world of stickers.

Midnight

Writing songs at midnight

You prob'ly think I'm crazy, right?

But when inspiration blows in

On the evening wind

And I hear the inklings of a song

I know, here I belong.

Whispers of lyrics chime in my head

How could I think of going to bed?

Now is the time for my ink to run

And my eyes both glint with imagination

As I feel the rumblings of a song

I know, here I belong.

This is the time when the world is alive

When the bullfrogs thrum

   and the junebugs hum

   and the sound of the wind on

   the flagpole clanking

And a lonely dog across the lake

I know I was meant to make

   music tonight...

At midnight.

All poems © 2010 Rachel H. Please don't copy or re-post without permission.

Symbols of Christmas

I've been so busy getting ready for Christmas, but I took the time to write this poem to remind myself of the importance of all the aspects of the celebration. And so, it's now my gift to all of you! Merry Christmas!

Symbols

To give someone a gift

Is a symbol of love

Just as the snow

Is a gift from above.

To light up the house

With colors so bright

Is a symbol of triumph

Over Satan's dark night.

To sing carols together

'Round Advent flame

Is a symbol of worship

Why the Lord Jesus came.

To ring bells in the morning

Spreading news of his birth

Is a symbol of joy

Ringing out to the earth.

THE END! And some excerpts!

I'm DONE! Yesterday, I finally finished my NaNoWriMo novel, Bluewillow! I'm so relieved and glad to be done writing for awhile. The final word-count is 76,114, which is only a thousand words over what I estimated it would be. That's almost 200 hand-written pages!

Here's a brief synopsis of the plot:

Bluewillow

The Flicker Chronicles book 2
A girl with blue hair wakes up under a willow tree and can only remember other people's memories. She sets out to find a mysterious inter-dimensional portal that could somehow be the key to her past, but she gets caught up in a struggle between colorful worlds. Will she turn to the true King before it's too late?

Here's the banner I made for the book: 

And here are a couple of short poems from my novel. I wasn't expecting to write any poetry, but these just appeared on the page without me really thinking about it. :) And then I put them to music, and turned them both into songs.

"In the wings of the morning, in the depths of the earth

Ring songs of great value and words of great worth

The birds of the air and the fish will cry out

When the people are silent, even stones will shout."

And then a silly one:

"My honey went away, away, away,

In search of another day, away, away.

My dear sweet girlie

Went all a-twirly

And fell into a portal swirly

And made my head turn gray, away, away."

Later, when I type out my book and start editing (it needs a LOT of editing), I'll post some longer excerpts. But for now, I need to turn my attention to other things, namely Christmas. I enjoy making gifts for my family, but that will require a lot of time and energy, so I'm putting my finished draft aside for awhile. 

A New Song

To my Grandfather, who went to be with Jesus

On this earth you no more roam

I know that you are home

Where it is always day

Where the sky is never gray

This life is not the end

I'll see you once again-

my grandpa,

my friend.

The King is there to greet you

At his table he will seat you

I know that you'll be blessed

With joyous, song-filled rest

This life is not the end

I'll see you once again-

my grandpa,

my friend.

Spring Song #2

Spring Song 2

It's fun to watch snow

melt

melt

m

    e

l

   t

down, down

into the ground

like a shrinking island

like Atlantis

like a vanishing cloud

poof

poof

plop.

The snow is no more

I can't wait to see

what spring has

in store.

more

puddles?

plop

plop

SPLAT.

Snow is wetter

on days

no better

than a haze

of clouds.

melt

melt

m

    e

l

    t

down, down

into the ground.

Tiny stranded islands

like white white sands

soon they will 

melt

melt

m

    e

l

   t

down, down

into the ground

icicles fall

and hit people

on the 

head-

like that

plink

plink

-smack-

The sun laughs at me

I jump over a snowdrift

it will

melt

melt

m

    e

l

   t

down, down

into the ground

where the gophers dig

where the worms hum

where life

stirs

stirs

stirs...

Spring Songs

The stirring of spring has urged me to write poetry about March and Spring. Here is the first of my  "Spring Songs."

Spring Song 1

March

snow marches

Fall

snow falls

Spring

snow springs

March.

March

lion marches

Blow

lion blows

Sleep

lion sleeps

March.

March

flowers come dancing in like a song,

like a robin-bird,

dancing, singing, blooming flowers

March

birds come in flocks from warm places,

coconut beaches,

winging, singing, gliding birds

March.

Winter Night

The stars are a box of gems so bright

On this clear winter night.

The rising moon is a smiling face

Laughing at the snowflakes' lace.

The leafless trees are statues grand,

Entwining branches hand-in-hand.

The searching wind sings a taunting song

Reminding of cold months so long,

But his cruel threats fall on ears

That are deaf to his terrible sting

They are full of birthday cheers

For the wonderful Savior-King.