Looking back.... just a little....

This week had me feeling nostalgiac. Maybe it has to do with my estranged Mom's birthday or the fact that I will be saying good-bye to Arizona sometime real soon.

These days have left me with a sad disposition, nothing like driving through the old childhood neighborhoods. Its amazing how much of the early life remains with us. I have been living in the city for nearly eighteen years.... and I have never really had the need to revisit the old times, just knowing those neighborhoods existed was enough until this week.

I imagined the morning sun still rising and resting over the same roofs, the same trees, the same cracked sidewalks of the old neighborhood.

Visiting them again...was like seeing my childhood spirit ghostly playing outside as soon as the sun came out.... the monster palm tree... the china berry tree.... the bright orange skateboard.. Tina Rena's crazy brother Anastasio always eating some homemade burrito--we all knew his Mom was great.... the steps that I crashed into with my rollerskates-- had my Mom plucking shards of glass out of my knees and screaming at me in the same breath.

And I always loved that large house the color of burnt umber and brown-- at the corner, it loomed with mystery and on a warm summer night... it was all a child needed to spike the imagination...

Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong about going home again. Home is where the heart is... take it from a gypsy moon child who never really had a home.

Sharing That Poetry

Since I was a kid, July always seemed to be the fun part of summer.... May was a 'winding into' summer, June was 'feeling like' summer and July was the where the fun happened.

I'm no longer the dusty knee gal who hung out with the boys (sorta looked like them, too) however, my passions changed and this year I'm spending my free summer evenings hanging out with other Poets. It's peaceful.... relaxing... energetic.... and inspiring. No pills.. no spirited drinks... just great imagery and walking a bit in someone else's shoes.

Last night was 'Poetry Night' at Words in the Alley--Feral Poetry in Glendale. If you have free time look them up and join us for a warm evening of welcomed words.

Check out their Myspace profile for details on the upcoming events and featured Poets.

when age isn't always better

What is Change?

Tonight I heard a political speech about 'wrong change' and 'right change'. I couldn't get over the lack of rhetoric that extended into a lengthy lecture of what wrong changes may be approaching the horizon of a new American ideal.

Change is change, I believe there is a plus/delta version for reacting to change.

I think someone needs a new speech writer and speech lesson. I wasn't impressed.

A Poem for my Cousins

aunt Midge another casket tolls a parting for the day flowered bouquets for color a lovely vase made for a mother her casket tolls the swell of parting away they wait their dusty turn in solemn winds that blow among the scriptures read through memory's mental pictures that fled a hidden beauty, a beauty on the go they wait, those flowers hear the love you gave longing for you, longing as they yearn they wait for the promise of a mother to return hope swells in sad array, without love they forgave a fleeting breath and sorrow unfathom'd has to cry bearing the death and soul of a mother the loss of a sister, the aunt, the friend of another leaning to love cause love should never die spring shines applauding the reserv'd lands nearby whisking away the lonely sighs the dust on the flowers from nigh and the drear locked in the depth of their eyes Copyright © 2008 by Crystal Kill 1:54 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Thursday, May 01, 2008 Chimeara’s World Current mood: artistic Category: Music 10:59 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Poem 20. NaPoWriMo deleted I deleted you the Line poem the Just leaves the Dangerous for Girls and how murder filled her dreams as the world grew wings I deleted you the Charm the Gnosised and that Pot of Tea drill I deleted what I couldn't feel d e l e t e d because I'm a spoiled visual a kinesthetic junky high on lyrical prose needing your words to hammer grind deep into my soul your rhythmic highs your rhythmic lows your heart and soul poetry and without a brush I want to see your canvas across my dark room and feel the wet grime of your colors f l o e t r y rapping, reaping, seeping between my fingers flushed that unforgettable wit carries me carries the high of this lyrical junky from line to line reading your highs reading your lows reading you like a book through the complexities of all that is horrifying beautiful and p o s s i b l e Copyright © 2008 by Crystal Kill

Poetry Slam Happening Tonight.... Mesa

Poetry In The Round
Date:	May 8, 2008 10:39 AM
Subject:	ATTN: Phoenix Area Folks, Poetry Event Tonight!
Body:	I believe Jonathan (host of Poetry In The Round) is planning on slamming tonight...it's been a while. Come out and support! : ) Some high school kids from Prescott are making the journey out tonight, so come show them what poetry means to the valley! Thanks, Klute, for providing the info for me to steal: Mesa Poetry Slam.... TONIGHT! The Mesa Poetry Slam has risen like a mighty Phoenix from the ashes of... Look, just come to the poetry slam. Get your poetry there, not from a Myspace bulletin. Always free to get in, only $1 to slam! What: The Mesa Poetry Slam When: Tonight, May 8th, at 8:00PM Where: The Essenza Coffeehouse, 1350 S Longmore, Mesa Why: Slam, poetry How: However you can. Call (480) 461-0445 for more info!

Another class ends....

We said good-bye and farewell. My students brought this cake in on the last day of class along with another for my two daughters and I to take home. I was very touched and dreaded the last day of class. I could tell it would be a sad day for some whose initial facial reaction told me it was going to be a sad day. I had spent the last four months with my ESL students and we made good distance in the classroom.

They did a great job on their final assessments and that evening, I drove home in my silent but boastful happiness and cried. Yes, I’m a rookie and I know how to handle good-byes, but their growth, and their future lives were incumbent on how well I did my job. The human in me, taught with heart and soul. I did my best and used every teaching strategy I knew. It was like watching your child walk for the first time again….. and the littlest difference made a world of a difference. I cheered them, encouraged them, and did my best to inspire them.

The last day of class I talked with every student individually and from them I learned their stories of disappointment, gratitude, well-being, and how hard they studied and practiced on their own. Some say they did it for me, others said they did it for their families and for me, I prefer to believe they did it for themselves… they were a wonderful and respectful group of people and because of them, my cup runneth over…

You never know how you will affect others around you, a simple gesture, a pat on the back, a good word of encouragement changes lives. I may never see them all together again, those two classes, but the memory of their stories will stay with me always.