The 11 Game

I decided to post my 11 Game on my creative writing blog because my writing is the most personal aspect of my digital identity. Also, I decide it would be fun to play to see how my connections expand in this digital world.  I was tagged on Twitter by Craig Dunlap, someone I only know through Twitter.  In his post, I know only one other person, my good friend Craig Badura.  Interesting to see the web we create... (yes, pun intended)

My 11 Facts

1. My biggest goal is to have my novel published (I am editing it at this moment).

2. Black (then purple) is my favorite color.

3. I want to get my Ph.D. in literature.

4. I cried during the part in Remember the Titans when Coach Yoast says the famous line, "...they remember the night they played the Titans."

5. I love Birkenstock shoes.

6. I had five jobs my senior year in college.

7. Three is my lucky number.

8. I truly believe we can do life better.

9. I can still Breakdance.

10. I have grown to actually appreciate cool ties.

11. I still like cruising with my music loud... just isn't as cool in a minivan.

11 Questions
1. What's your favorite book character?  Why?
Catcher in the Rye. I understand Holden's view of the phoniness of this world.  But the book is deeper than that, and I love seeing my students get to that level.  It changes how you see Holden.

2. If you could have a super power, what would it be?

Traveling like Doctor Who.

3. What's your favorite 'get to know someone new" question?
"What's your favorite song of all time?"

4. Would you ever consider a job that required an out of country relocation?
Not at this moment.  But once my kids are grown, yes.

5. What did you think you'd be as an adult when you were 8?
A writer.

6. Now, what's your dream job?
A writer.

7. How long does it take you to get to work?
35 minutes. Shortest commute in the last 10 years.

8. What was your proudest moment thus far?
Seeing my own kids, and my students do what they love in this life.

 
9. What's your favorite thing to cook?

Frozen Pizza... and then eat it like a boss. (Family joke).

10. Android or iOS?
 iOS.

11. What's the last thing you said out loud?

"Don't make me turn this classroom around!"

11 Other Bloggers

OK, this is going to be tough...
 If you are tagged below you are supposed to do the same thing on your blog. Answer the same 11 questions.

Craig Badura

Craig Dunlap

Stacie Loeffelholz 

Emily 

Beth Still

Vicki Davis

Laura Huntimer 

Amanda Schneider

Brent Catlett

Rachel Haider

Kyle Steinkuhler

End of the Day

A rare early day home

The sun was sitting off the horizon

My children playing in the yard

Asking for nothing more than my time

Pushing the swings, throwing a ball

Supper still an hour away

I take a minute to watch the sky

In the grass we all lay

Look at that one, daddy!

The colors are beautiful

I see a rabbit, I see a girl

My children’s views are real

As I agree with their imagination

It is only clouds I can see

Some time ago it seems

I lost the ability to believe

A Fading Photo

You are kneeling down

   With a 2-year-old version of me

            Standing in front of you

            Grasping your left wrist with one hand

            And your hand in the other

A wedding ring reflecting back

   But the love would soon lose its spark

            (I wonder what you did with the ring)

We are both smiling

  Cheeks puffy

    High on our cheekbones

I don’t recognize myself

   The little one in the picture

   Is the spitting image of my second son

Looking at the picture I recognize the hollow echo of

   Pain when I concentrate on your smile

I had never seen this picture of us until today

A picture from the 70’s

            No filter needed

It is a beautiful moment of a happy father and son

I wonder when you really let go of my hand

   Because I feel like I’ve been walking

            Alone since I was born

But the picture shows me holding on to you

            Like any son would

            Like any son should in this world

                        Because we might stumble and fall

But I’ve walked myself to this moment

Some hard roads traveled

   Stumbled and fell

            treaded so many miles

            I’ve forgotten where I started

Until today

Until I saw this fading photo

   Of a father kneeling

   And a son standing in front of him

Grasping his hand for support

  So that I won’t stumble and fall

No Tomorrow

Courtesy of Flickr user Lee Jordan

A crumbled receipt

Crumbs brushed off the table

Coffee grinds stuck to the side

   of a cracked cup

Nothing left to say

The dinner plates removed

The silence heavy between

   the past and the present

Life around is filled with

Clinks of silverware

And rings of glasses

   tapped at the end of private toasts

“Should we go?”

“Yes,” as chairs move back

“Dinner was good.”

    each raising a hand goodbye

One More Minute

I wish there was just one more minute

Just one more

Hold the second hand until I can say

All the things

Everyone wishes they would have said

But again life takes the minutes from our hands

and we let them slip

and fall without a word

and wonder why moments take our breath away

Wishing we could have spoken when

Our eyes were dry

and our throats clear

But now I'm crying... just one more minute

One more ball teed up

A laugh

A song

Something to keep my regrets at bay

Just one more minute

Just one more

I promise I won't let it go...

Now

A hand is raised in anger

Tears are shed in fear

A finger on a trigger

About to release a bullet

The chain reactions to follow

Are, for a moment, frozen

If I could stop time

To watch all the world unfold

This moment would reveal a 1000 stories

That even tomorrow will still be untold

Hand shaking while holding another glass

A smile captured after a kiss

The letter falls to the floor

Decisions made

Picture fades in unopen albums

There is everything in this moment

And then the second hand moves

Clouds

Blue Sky

We try so hard to make the world

revolve around us

To make the clouds move

when we wave our hands

We can't stop the rain or

change the hours on the clock

The sun burns our skin

and the stars make us feel lost

I scream "What about me?"

Why can't you see

that I want to believe

that all this is free

Traffic lights turn red as we drive

Stop signs control us all

The people in front of us

have too many items in their cart

We have GPS

but the cities keep expanding

We want so much more

than all the things behind our front door

I scream "What about me?"

But I don't see

that the world beneath my feet

is for me to walk free

The sun sets to show us the horizon

so we can set our sites

Stars shine to remind us

that darkness is a lie

The earth rotates to keep us

moving through our time

And if we have the courage to follow

the clouds will show us the way

A grain of sand

A grain of sand
sits among a million other grains
on a beach
Waves gently tracking time

At times the sand is under
foot
towel
umbrella
cooler

Later caught in a pail
a part of a child's castle
and imagination

But the children
leave
with the sun
and the waves come crashing down

Not even a single grain can stop time

That single grain of sand is caught
and dragged by the ocean
The darkness grows
The rhythm of the waves fade away
as the sand falls deeper
and the pressure builds

A single grain of sand is no match for the ocean depths
It feels the darkness
heavy around it
Silent and alone
The ocean is so deep

That single grain of sand
tries to understand
but the darkness is silent
and the grain is lost

With all hope gone
the sand hears a faint swoosh
waves gently falling in the distance
but the darkness persists
the pressure surrounding the grain of sand

The waves become a roar
but the grain of sand is confused by
how dark it remains
Until a crack breaks through
flooding the grain of sand with the sun

And this single grain of sand,
once one among millions,
is now a pearl.

Walking the Path

I’ve walked so far that I've lost my way  

My shoestrings are so frazzled they can't be tied 

To keep my shoes on I shuffle along

My hands are cold from the ever-changing wind 

That penetrate my tattered gloves 

Everyone wonders where I'm going 

All I can say is where I've been 

My map shredded, unfolded too many times 

Coffee stains and fast food residue 

Make the legend and roads hard to read 

I look up to the sky to aligning myself with the North Star 

But it simply watches me 

My Boy Scout badges are no help 

I've wandered from place to place 

Having my mail forward
But somehow I never get the letter you say you wrote so many years ago.