Thrice+Weekage!

=Week Three!= Post your poems about the happiest/most revelatory moment here! No more heart-breakers ;p

Unexpected Angel

Walking down the hall Jammed and stuffed and bursting with things Draped with life’s essentials Bags and Binders and Cases Packed tighter than organic ground beef in a white paper package.

My head was whirling with the list of tasks I had yet to complete Tasks as the measurements of experiences of living A pint of time to teach a lesson A quart of life gone to what we may or may not choose And overthinking things past I was immersed in the world of selfish living

But the whirling was irrelevant Importance was in the pause The stop, the rest, the breath in the sound An ice cream brain freeze inside my head

Down that long hallway I was approaching a door I could not hope to open With my piled-on cares Stressful sounding in my head

Then you darted in front From nowhere and everywhere You, who I had never seen before And you opened the door for me

And then you smiled, mystery person You smiled like I smile with my soul sister Like you could read my mind And I think at that moment you could

You were a small black figure With white hair An old band symbol A squinting eye You were unexpected but euphoric surprise

I smiled back already knowing I didn’t have to You already knew I was thankful Deeply thankful How did you know? You were just what I needed

-Clara "Song of the Rooster" Stickney

You shine. Not because of any particular trait; it's not any specific portion of your personality that makes me have to avert my eyes every time you walk by. It's the newness. The unrivaled novelty of the situation that reminds me of the time I stared at the sun and wound up in glasses whenever I picture your face. See, I'm not used to niceness. I'm like the wild raccoon brought into a house and nurtured; I don't know how to behave myself in a world where I don't have to fight for attention; fight for the good in the world; fight to feel loved for even a sliver of a second. You're the angel in my architecture, carved of the purest marble and set in stone for eternity and I'll be the first to admit that when I met you first I swore your design was flawed. But, see, that's how I am. Years of being the cliff that the waves crash against has eroded my innate sense of right and wrong but you are my teacher. Or, you could be. Meeting you was like seeing the hallway lights go on underneath the crack in my door, when I know that my parents have heard my cries and are coming to open the closet door to prove for the thousandth time that there are no monsters there. After sixteen years I never believed them until I met you. With a word, you can convince me that the foulest specter is nothing more than a remnant of a bad past, and that, should I desire it, my future could shine as bright as you do. And for the first time since the first time, I've been presented with a fact that shocks me to my core: I could fall in love with you. I could do it without a second thought or a hint of remorse. You've shown me something that's more valuable than all of the gold in the ancient world, and that is that I can change.

- Ellyn "Pretzels" Touchette

Toy Story

When I was small, I watched the original Toy Story. That movie is boss. It is the only movie that has made me cry, laugh, scream in joy, scream in fright, scream in excitement, scream for the sake of screaming. Cowboys, astronauts, plastic army men, Tyrannosaurus Rexes, aliens, and piggy banks. Those were the things in the movies. Heck, Woody was my childhood Bruce Willis. The thing about Toy Story was that it was, and still is very accurate. I mean, I don't know about you, but all of my toys had a backstory, a life story, a toy story all their own. And then I would make them do epic stuff, like “fly” off of my back porch, or “swim” (More like drown) in my pool. But it was kay, because plastic lungs don't breathe with the help of oxygen, they breathe with the help of a young imagination. Toy Story defined my childhood, and in many ways it still defines the child I am at heart. Not to dampen the mood, but when I watched Toy Story 3, I shed a solitary tear at the end. Because it brought me back to the time when dreams were all that was needed to create fantastic new worlds where cowboys and astronauts could coexist and the astronaut would not just totally devastate the cowboy with a laser, because things don't have to make sense there.

Adam "POWERFIST" Bourgault

Us.

Waiting. A minute goes by. Then two. Two multiplies to four and then to eight. I stand, pace to the front of the store, where we are going to meet. Then I see you. Your hair of course sticks out in the crowd. Your pale skin next to your black shirt, my favorite. You have a huge smile on your face, and you do a little wave. You look just as I remember, short as ever, and still adorable. I run into your embrace, your strong arms wrap around me in a warm, loving hug. Yet it feels strange. Like doing math after a long, hot, summer. Of course I still know how to do math, but I’m out of practice. I’m just not used to it. But the hug feels good. It feels just as I remember it. It feels like I’m loved, cared about. I kiss you, and then I leap into your arms. Six weeks. Six long, long weeks. Of waiting for that hug. The hug I’ll remember as long as I live. It’s the hug that reunited us. You say hello. I say hi. We walk down State street, surrounded by hundreds of students. But it’s not true. At that moment, we are the only ones that matter. Me. And You. Finally together again. ~Nicole "PeaceLover" Gile

Impressionist Room

I almost missed the bus. That would have been so bad. Bad in the way of extreme disappointment I was gonna get outa here! But looking back now, if I was left puzzling at the station, my life would be slightly different. One synapse left dangling into a vacuum devoid of fulfillment. But I heroically snagged the rail of the departing bus and all went according to plan. Now it is all a whirl of dinosaurs, subways, Egyptians, craning necks, hippos, giant baby heads, and plotting to tour the art museums of Europe. All a jumbled memory, but that one room. You have heard about it too many times now, but you gotta know it meant the world to me. The rest of it was peaches and cream, and I was pleased to continue in that fashion and wasn’t expecting what was then about to occur until the culmination of my life’s inspiration was shoe-horned into my eye-balls with such force that I fell in love. Van Gogh was in front of me and you were next to me and I loved you both. It hurt. It felt like heaven. It was. The pointalism pricked my heart and I felt the awesome presence of those masters and I couldn’t breath. I choked on those brush strokes and I wanted to touch them so bad.

-Megan SwooningLizard Mitchell

 He Took My Place

A little girl does something she was told not to Her regret is deep She offers good deeds to make up for it She’s grabbing at straws trying to reverse her mistake She cries out how sorry she is Yet she still broke the rule

 Along comes her best friend He cares about her more than anything He glances at her and gives a sweet smile And without the slightest bit of hesitation He gets a spanking and sits in a timeout for her

In middle school, her family falls apart She has no friends To comfort her or speed the healing She faces the world on her own <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">And develops a tough skin through the pain

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">But He scoops her up in His love <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">She can confide in Him without fear of judgement <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">He stays with her through every downward twist <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">And through the continuous aching of losing her father <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">He more than fills the hole in her heart labeled Fatherly Love <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">In fact, it overflows

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">She knew His story all her life <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">And she hears it again <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">This time something clicks <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">She is flooded with love

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">She messes up daily <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">And the penalty of falling from a perfect standard is left unpaid <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">She deserves shouts, pushes, wads of spit from the crowds <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">She deserves to be whipped until she’s merely a pile of ribbons <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">She deserves to carry a hunk of wood twice her weight up a horribly steep mountain <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">She deserves to be nailed to this wood <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">She deserves to cramp until she suffocates

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">But He took her place <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">He was spanked and sat in a timeout so she wouldn’t have to <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Because somebody had to be punished <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">He chose to take on every mistake she had committed <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">And would commit in the future <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">//Her// life was demanded but He gave His <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">So that she might live <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Because He was perfect in every meaning of the word <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">His death satisfied the rule-maker’s wrath <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Three days later He defeated death and rose to life

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">This marvelous act of love once again stuns her <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Paralyzed with gratitude she cries and cries <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">How could He have done such a thing? <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">She wishes He hadn’t <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">She simply was not worth it <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">His pain should have been hers

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">But He thought of her with love the whole time <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">He loves her more than she can fathom <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">And through Him, she is saved <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">More than that she has a constant friend <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">A Father who truly loves her <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">An ear forever ready to listen <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">And arms always comforting and welcome

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">He will not hold a grudge <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">He is never disappointed in her <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">He never abandons her <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">He is faithfully by her side <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Whether or not she appreciates it daily <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">He is eager to forgive and love <span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">For that was His purpose in taking her place

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">-Lia "ToeBlankets" Van de Krol

<span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;"> __Organ Game__

You know that feeling, I know you know it. We all have felt it before. When you are standing somewhere, Your forehead damp with sweat, And your palms moist, The heat boiling up   In your red ears, Till you could swear, That if you placed a match Near one, It would burst into flames, And likely set you on fire.

And how you are sure, That no matter how healthy you may be, You can still feel your Small intestine wrapping itself Around your stomach, Constricting it like, Well, like a boa constrictor. Yes a boa constrictor that Slipped off the top of a tree, Due to the sweatiness, Of the tree, Or the head. Or maybe the constrictor got too hot to hang on. Yeah that’s it. Too hot from the ears. I mean, the fiery limbs, From the top of the tree. Something like that...   What a worn out metaphor...

Anyway, you’re standing there, With your stomach being Constricted, And your liver, I don’t know, Getting stomped on by your pancreas, While your lungs start swelling. Yeah, you can hardly breathe, Because every time you try to inhale, That stupid trachea of yours, Spits the oxygen back up. No thanks, it says.

So yeah, you just are standing there, Palms sweating, Forehead drenched, Stomach constricted, Liver pounded, Lungs neglected, And you can even feel your bladder starting to play along. Yeah, it wants to join in the game, Who can blame it? Sounds great. So your bladder begins swelling, Trying to let loose its contents. It always happens at the worst time.

You are standing there, And you can actually feel the beads of sweat, Popping from your pores, And your stomach being squeezed, And your liver being beaten, Your lungs filled with I don’t know, gross stuff, And your trachea leaking. I mean, you don’t even have a stoma, And the air escapes, And your bladder is complaining. Shut up bladder, you know? Oh yeah, and your spleen, And I’m not sure how it got in on this, But it starts juggling your kidneys. Dropping them every now and then. And throwing them when it gets frustrated. Don’t ask me how the spleen got ahold of the kidneys. It has its ways.

Yeah, that’s how it feels. Like your internal organs are all fighting, And trying to kill each other, And you hate it, But you love it at the same time, You love what it stands for. And then you try to speak, But the words you speak begin to expand, And you choke yourself with those words. Yeah, you can’t handle them. They’re too big to swallow, And there’s too much to spit out. A screwed up, twisted Gag reflex. The doctors might want to take a look at that. I’d be concerned.

But you aren’t concerned, Because at this moment, The reason you are suffocating Because of the words tumbling in your mouth, Is the last thing on your mind. Your very last worry.

I felt this feeling once. I mean, I’d felt it before, But never quite to this extent. The extent where, Under normal circumstances, You would most likely keel over, And have to be rushed to the hospital, Where they would hook you up to a machine, Monitoring every breath, Every heartbeat.

You don’t need this machine, Because every heartbeat is in you, Around you, And it takes every last ounce of strength, And every will of your body, To cough up those words. Those words when you tell the one, The one you want, That, well, you want them. And the feeling of relief, While your organs stop killing each other, In sudden disbelief, When the one you’ve wanted wants you.

Yes, I felt these feelings. I can feel them now just thinking back. I felt them for her when I asked her, And she said yes. She said yes. And I knew that those feelings inside me, Were in her too.

-Lincoln "Organ Donor" Gray