The Me Inside
The me inside, you never see, is the me inside, I will never be.
I have a secret, I will never tell.
They think they know me, I am strong you'd think, but behind this smile lies a lot of pain.
Now you know me, because I let you in.
You know all about me, well think again.
Do you know I cry almost every night?
Do you know I feel too weak to fight?
I still carry on, like it's all okay.
I want to die, but instead I pray.
I have to stay strong, it's not all about me.
I have two daughters, I will never leave.
They drive me crazy, and stress me out
I am their mother, without a doubt.
They have been my world, from the very start.
Yes they drive me insane, but they stole my heart.
So now you know the me inside.
I let you in, I did not hide.
When you see me, do not assume.
Hey there's that girl, that one that lies.
That one that's weak, that one that hides.
I know all about her, she's too weak to hold on, but guess again.
I am still here, you see?
I am the strongest person, you will ever meet.
Nothing last forever, but forever will always last.
When we realize there is no present, future or past.
The irony that we use numbers to measure life's time, when numbers are infinite it's all in our mind.
How is it that time is so limited when it never even ends, when our time runs out another's just begins.
We think time halts when we cease to exist, but life got along fine before us so don't think you'll be missed.
The Forest Girl
There was a little girl. She had wispy red hair and sparkling blue eyes. Constellations of freckles dotted her pale cheeks. She lived in the middle of the deep, dark woods with her mother, far away from the townspeople. Her mother, with the same wispy red hair and sparkling blue eyes, kept her safe and snug in the middle of the deep, dark forest. She never let her leave the house, for it was far too dangerous.
“Mother, could I just go outside for a little while?” the Forest Girl pleaded. “I will be alright.”
“No, darling,” Mother answered. “It isn’t safe out there for a little girl.”
The Forest Girl peered out the window and wondered what was out there that was so bad. Were there big, green monsters and fire breathing dragons? Were there hungry, gray wolves that would gobble a little girl right up?
All day long the Forest Girl read books about the forest. She knew all the names of the trees and their leaves. She knew all about the animals, where they live, and what they eat. She knew more about the forest than any kid in the town school, without ever stepping outside, in the deep, dark forest.
One night, after the sun went down, and the moon shined bright in the sky, Mother was fast asleep, and the Forest Girl laid there not able to sleep. Suddenly, she felt a cool breeze against her cheek. She got out of bed and looked around. A fire was burning in the fireplace to keep them warm. It pierced its light into the dark corners of the cabin. She followed the flickering light trying to find the source of the cool breeze. That’s when she saw the door of the cabin wide open.
The Forest Girl tip toed over to the open door. “Who left this open?” she wondered. She peeked outside the door, too tempted to resist. “Oh, I’ll just go out for a little while. It will be alright.” She put on her coat and hat, grabbed a lantern, and shut the door behind her.
She ventured forth into the deep, dark forest. The snow crunched underneath her heavy boots. It was dark. The only light came from her lantern and the moon that hung high in the sky, but she was not afraid. She knew everything about the forest.
As she walked, she saw a brown, furry squirrel scampering up a tall tree. It flicked its long tail at her. A white rabbit peeked out curiously from behind a tree. She had never seen animals in real life before, only in her books.
Suddenly, she heard a sound she had never heard before. Ka-kaw! Ka-kaw! She looked up into a tree and saw a black crow sitting on a branch. “Hello crow,” she said and continued walking into the deep, dark forest.
As she walked through the deep, crunchy snow, a green snake with a long tongue stretched down out of the branches of a tall tree to take a peek at the Forest Girl. “Hello snake,” the Forest Girl said. The snake slithered back. The Forest Girl kept walking further into the deep, dark woods.
She walked through the forest until she saw an orange fox. “Hello fox,” the Forest Girl said. The fox looked back at her, and the Forest Girl kept wandering into the deep, dark forest.
The Forest Girl kept walking until she heard the sound of crunching leaves on the Earth. “What could that be?” she thought. She walked toward the sound, not scared at all, and saw a big, furry, brown bear. “Hello bear,” she said. The bear softly growled in response, and the Forest Girl walked on. The bear followed behind. She turned around.
“Bear, are you following me?” she asked.
“Yes I am,” replied the Bear. “Hop up on my back and let me take you on a ride.”
The Forest Girl climbed up onto the bear’s back. “How can you talk?” asked the Forest Girl, curiously. “My books didn’t say bears could talk.”
The bear just laughed with his deep bear voice. “I am taking you to someone who will help you get the Soul of the Forest. It was stolen by the king and queen.”
“What is the Soul of the Forest?” asked the Forest Girl.
“It is the life of the forest,” said the bear. “Without it, the forest and all life within will die.”
As they walked, two gray wolves peered out from behind a tree with their big, yellow eyes.
“Don’t be afraid,” said the bear. “They won’t hurt you.”
“I am not afraid,” said the Forest Girl.
Suddenly, the Forest Girl heard a rustling noise. She turned to see an archer standing behind a tree.
“Watch out!” said the Forest Girl to the bear. “He will hurt us! Run!”
“Do not worry,” said the bear. “He will not hurt us. He is the Protector of the Forest.”
The Protector of the Forest smiled. “I will not hurt you. I am here to help you get back the Soul of the Forest.”
“But how?” asked the Forest Girl.
The archer replied, “You must go with my son to take the Soul of the Forest from the king and queen and return it to the forest.”
A boy came out from behind a tree, with red wispy hair, big green eyes, and a constellation of freckles dotting his pale cheeks.
“Hurry now, go!” said the Protector of the Forest.
The Forest Girl followed the boy towards a big leaf sitting upon the ground. The boy and the Forest Girl climbed into the leaf. Then they went high up into the night sky. They flew so high, the trees in the forest looked like tiny ants. Black, deep water was surrounding the forest with its waves crashing against tall cliffs and upon the sandy shoreline.
“Look, there’s the town!” the boy exclaimed.
“I have never seen it before,” admitted the Forest Girl.
They got lower and closer to the town in their leaf balloon.
“The castle is on the edge of town, so we have to go down there.”
“We have to go into the town?” the Forest Girl asked with fear.
“Yes,” said the boy. “But it will be alright. Do not be afraid.”
Soon, they were directly above the town. The Forest Girl shook nervously. They lowered the leaf balloon down to the ground and got out. The Forest Girl looked around at the great, big town with its hundreds of houses all tight in a row. There were no trees and no animals in sight. She had never seen anything like it.
“Look, there’s the castle wall,” pointed the boy.
“The Forest Girl shined her lantern up to look at the stone wall and saw a creature.
The Forest Girl gasped, “What is that?”
“That is just a bush carved into an animal,” said the boy. “Look, here’s another one. It’s a bear.”
“Why don’t they have real animals?” she asked.
“The townspeople are afraid of the animals, so they make fake ones instead.”
“How sad,” sighed the Forest Girl.
Soon, they arrived at the castle gate. The Forest Girl shined her lantern up to get a good look. “How will we get inside to find the Soul of the Forest?” she asked.
“I have the key,” said the boy. He took off his acorn necklace, then stuck the acorn into the key hole. Then, he pushed open the big, heavy door. “My father said the Soul of the Forest is up at the top of a tall tower,” said the boy. “That one must be it.” He pointed to a tall, stone tower with a red pointed top.
The boy and the Forest Girl climbed to the top of the tower. When they reached the top of the tower, they entered a tiny room with open windows on all sides. Suddenly a girl appeared.
“Who are you?” asked the boy to the girl with jet black hair and green eyes.
“I am the Soul of the Forest,” she replied.
Suddenly, a fire breathing dragon appeared, blowing steaming hot fire from its mouth filled with razor sharp teeth.
“The dragon has been guarding this tower, keeping me locked inside,” said the Soul of the Forest. “We have to escape!”
The dragon roared, smoke fuming from its nostrils. The Soul of the Forest and the boy started to run down the long flight of stairs out of the tower, but the Forest Girl stayed behind.
“I have to defeat the dragon,” she said, ready to defend.
Fire poured from the dragon’s mouth just as a bird flew over the Forest Girl. The fiery blast hit the bird, then bounced back unexpectedly and hit the dragon. He fell straight to the ground, defeated by his own weapon.
The Forest Girl ran down the long flight of stairs to the bottom of the tower to the boy and the Soul of the Forest.
“Hurray!” shouted the boy. “You were so brave.”
The boy, the Soul of the Forest, and the Forest Girl, escaped the castle, and the town, and climbed aboard a boat made from leaves. They sailed back to the forest.
Finally, they returned to the deep, dark forest where the tall trees grow and the animals roam. A wolf howled from the distance and the Protector of the Forest appeared.
“You did it!” he shouted. “I knew you could!”
The Forest Girl turned to look at the Soul of the Forest, but she was gone. Only a ball of white light was in her place. The Forest Girl was confused. The Protector of the Forest handed her a glass jar. The Forest Girl scooped up the white glowing light and held the jar in her hands.
“What do we do now?” asked the Forest Girl.
“I will show you,” said the Protector of the Forest as he took the jar.
He sat the jar down upon the ground, and one by one wolves appeared around the Soul of the Forest. They howled in unison up at the dark, starry sky.
Hoot hoot! went the sound of an owl. The Forest Girl looked into the deep blue eyes of the brown forest owl. “Hello owl,” she said. Then, the owl disappeared and a woman took its place. It was mother!
“My beautiful darling, you have returned the Soul of the Forest to its rightful place. I am so proud of you, but now we must go home, for it’s getting late. Climb up aboard my back, and we will go home.”
The Forest Girl climbed up onto her Mother’s back as she rose into the starry sky. They returned home to their little cabin in the deep, dark woods. The fire was still burning in the fire place.
“But mother?” the Forest Girl asked. “Who left the cabin door open?”
“Darling, it was I,” mother replied.
#childrensliterature #childrensbook #children #forest #girl #fantasy #magic #femalemaincharacter #animals
HUMMINGBIRD
In media res, I witnessed her flutter once more and slowly lower her leaf like wings as they lost their vibrant glow of color and turned the dullest of greys. I felt my heart beating, pulsing the blood through my body as I witnessed them remove her wings. I felt completely numb. I knew that was her end. That was the last time my emotions took flight darted through the wind happily and jofully. Her last breath, I would have never thought I would see it, the end of my best friend Garnet the fairy, my only friend… the world around me fell silent. The leaves rushed through the wind danced on top of my head, the light cascading around me… I could only see white, pure white and a faint voice, calling my name trying to pull me back to my world, but somehow I felt disconnected, without purpose. I felt a part of me had just died. Suffering in a dark room with no windows, no doors, no way out, I felt nothing, no life, no ambition, no happiness, nothing, I felt nothing but I was scared and sad. I felt like someone stabbed me in the heart, I returned to reality, I sat up and used a tree to support my back then I saw a rabid jet black dog with a scar across its left eye growling, snarling and drooling, before I could have realized, it bit me and I began to feel my mind spiraling, I blacked out. That feeling of helplessness is the most... most vivid memory I have from my childhood.
My name is Sylphia Glowridge and I’m not really someone that anyone really wants to be around, I don’t even like myself, I hate my name and how I look, even my voice is annoying. As I hung my garments on the washing line at the edge of the veranda, suddenly a large raven dived down low enough to glide over and brush its talons on top of my head and drop a small roll of parchment and in an ominous manner, a black tattered feather began to float to the ground as the bird flew away. The note read:
“Sylphia, I hate to tell you like this but your mother has become severely ill and I don't think she has long to live. She would be at peace if her daughter was here with her in her last hours. I urge you to come to Kreihm immediately.
your loving father – Roufus Glowridge”
I’m not too confident about leaving yet, I don't feel ready, then again I don't think I will ever be ready, I feel a black void within my soul. It’s like a lonely prodigious beast with a rabid drooling dismembered head, who’s nature is vicious mean and horribly angry, untamable but in need of help. It drained all the happiness and hope from my soul until… nothing… no life… no ambition… no happiness… nothing, I felt nothing except fear and sadness. I stumbled back and felll to the ground with tears coursing down the creases of my nose and off my lip, just hanging there for a moment and then falling, no hope of being saved, rushing through the wind, tears stained the floor darkening the dry oak strip, I smeared the stream and held the tears from bursting out, I had to be strong. I grab a large pail that I use for fetching water from the well because I don’t own a bag, I collect the damp garments on the washing line and some sandwiches I had prepared earlier and some fruit. I dart off chasing the fleeting sunlight without hesitation. Soon the pink-orange sunset became a clouded night sky making only the moon visible. Crickets and cicada’s clicking away and sly foxes creeping beyond the bushes. Brushing against the tall grass, suddenly a large black dog pounced and nabbed a rabbit, killing it, and began feasting on the corpse which was quite sickening and sad to see a creature be so viciously attacked by another. The image before my eyes was terrifying, somehow I felt I could feel the rabbit’s pain, as though there was never hope. I navigated my way to a fork in the path, pointing towards Kreihm that read 8km with what appeared like the image of a hummingbird adjacent and a tattered arrow pointing towards what looked like a farm in the distance that read “Robinwood Acres”, I turned right towards the sign that read “Kreihm”. Seeing that sign for some reason gave me a little hope. I begin to feel a sense of purpose once again.
I made my way towards the lake to fetch some water as the 3 am cloudy sky drifted past so peacefully. Suddenly, head-splitting barks and growls were near and the ground began to shake and tremble, I whipped my head around so fast and what stood before me was a colossal black, rabid, slobbering and dismembered head. A giant dog, its eyes pierced my soul, I felt terrified, my body frozen with fear. The dog began to leap towards me, and without thought my body began to move, my legs ran and ran, faster than I have ever moved. Paralyzed with terror I knew I had to do something or I was going to die. I’m not ready to die, but I didn't know how I was going to kill this vicious beast. I had to think fast, find a hiding place, I wiped my brow and had an idea. I tore off a piece of my garment drenched in my sweat so it reeked of my scent, I launch the wet cloth to my right and darted left without the dog seeing. A plan devised as I approached a cliff . I tear another piece of garment off, drenched with sweat, lay it on the edge of the cliff. I emptied my pail and piled soil and water into it and made my way over to the path that lead to the garment. I climbed a tree some metres away with the pail and waited. The ten ft. colossal hound bounded at great speed and as it approached I threw the mud on the beast’s face narrowly missing a hummingbird that swiftly flew upwards, its tail meeting the canine’s fur. As it tried to halt, Inertia threw the beast off the edge. I felt accomplishment, an exhilaration, a certain happiness, a hope I didn't know I would feel again. I heard an echoing cry, a tiny jet black puppy leapt from beyond the cliff onto the ground and shambled toward me with her head drooping, I pet her and she snorted happily yet hesitantly and a friendly expression stretched across her face, I decided I would keep her and call her Garnet.
I hurried the rest of the way to Kreihm with Garnet clumsily scampering behind and saw my parents, my mum looked depleted, I stood over her bed as she breathlessly voiced her last words to me “have the grace and bravery of a hummingbird my child, as the hummingbird is the vessel in which my spirit lives on” and then with her last breath she was at peace.
Why ME ?
This pain that I go through sometimes is just unreal
Why me, I ask
What did I do to deserve this
This pain that I go through sometimes I just can't deal
Why me, I ask
Why does my life have to be like this
This pain that I go through sometimes is just unfair
Why me, I ask
Why do I love him so much when I see he doesn't care
This pain that I go through sometimes I'm just so scared
Shhhhh, he says. I Love you, I'll always be here
The Human Constitution
Every day we wake up to the radio.
Unalarmed.
As one body.
To the new national anthem called,
Dance and Glow*
Our way into yoga. Slow motion. The ocean.
As the sun washes across the nation, like a wave, we rise.
Dive into the sea.
All is salty.
What are the chances?
We worship the Earth like Islamists.
Smoke a doobie.
Eat breakfast. Eggs and beans. Heartily. Make a toast to hash browns.
Cheers a glass of apple juice. Send the kids to school. Ages 2-∞. For free.
Since the creation of public, online, accredited, anywhere, mobile, daycare education.
For jobs fixing robots. Teaching them English.
We could get visas to Italy. Switch it up.
The world is ours to toy with.
In class, they read the news. A letter in the mail. From the Prime Minister.
The whole world is in love. Enveloped is a hug. Signed, "xoxo, you know who."
The room is bugged but no one cares. Video cameras show that there are no wrong turns. Every action has friends there to catch them. Adults. Whirling through space at an incredible rate.
Luckily for everyone. We illegalized all illegalities.
How could Nature be wrong? Or right?
They acked knowledge.
Egalitarians. Vegetarians. Ovarians.
Anything goes.
For survival.
Out of doors there is room to live. Everyone is a given.
Time in the sunshine. To unwind.
Find a shady tree.
Mass migrations. Flying V's. Saving on oil.
Roaming the prairies. Over the winter.
Switching jobs. Stopping the monotony.
A teacher reads Alice in Wonderland. Imaginations run rampant.
While the children sleep.
Old mother sheep and her geese.
Somewhere below the rainbow.
A garden is overgrowing.
The loot. The spoils. Royalties.
The Earth is our petting zoo. With you and me in it. Running things. Petting things. Feeding things. Taming nature.
We confused ourselves with each other.
After 500 years. When the first plastic ever made biodegraded.
Using ancient bacteria. Found in ice caves.
When technology solves itself. And Permaworld is established.
The day nobody died. All the flags were raised.
Each day a new human shines in the spotlight of national television, highlighting their natural features. Exaggerated for that special effect.
Selected at random.
Life should be celebrated.
The super power to hear around corners. In the dark.
Phenotypes fetch high prices online. Like vintage Levi's. If you seek my drift.
We taught the dogs and cats to play nice and speak english. Implanting silicone muscles under their tongues. Some of them sung the funniest ruffs.
How Meow was a number one hit.
Still trending.
Chaotically stable. There were no labels. Everything was new.
Z future is neutral.
Fuschia.
Radioactive. Psychoactive. Free radicals.
Back to swinging in the trees. Honey is for bees.
We demilitarized. Took down our fences. And all learnt defense.
Opened the borders. To those who dared to. Stare at the snow.
Took care of each hair.
Prepared a digital map of our heads. Model of our minds.
The folds of our brains. Strained spaghetti.
Our electrons were ten miles away. We could sway the hay by saying so.
The sun shone through our body parts. The weight of spacetime held us fixed. To the ground. Using millions of lightyears of endless energy. Quantum string puppetry.
By the might of a butterfly.
Nature is super. Fluous.
Anything you do or say. May be held against you.
In the bed of law.
Self-driving cars did their own deliveries and the people could all simply walk. Safely. Which meant they could also get drunk and smoke weed whenever they felt free.
Dr. Dre finally got his honorary PhD.
But the way they walked was never the same. They more like floated. On their souls. Dancing.
"Have you touched ground today?" The radio would say, "Go hang out with Momma Nature. Land."
Once they were all on the same webpage together. On Facebook. Saying whatever nonsense they wanted to. In celebration of Touret's. Communication day.
Anything goes.
A world full of tourists.
Thinking everything. Doing the right things.
The world was more organized then. And the people were agreed on everything. They celebrated naturally spectacular holidays. Like solstices and eclipses.
Reason just made more sense.
Words & Associates. Know dis.
And so, the way became obvious before them. And no politician could outdupe them. Stupidity was eradicated with fresh foods and vegetables.
Nutrified. The environment was shaped by their minds. Their phonetics connected to matter and they could build anything they ever wanted out of clay. Only to reshape it another day. Eventually everything returned to this playdoh.
Like a wave of defibrillation. Dominoes.
Satan's playthings.
Their education was so ongoing and reflexive. Such that no lesson was much more valuable than any other. There was plenty to learn from the infants. Who taught the elderly. Movement. To rock the cradle. Who taught the grade sixes. Kitchen and fixin' things. Who taught the forty-something crowd. How to shout out loud.
Nature is a pop-up story book.
The world worked like a pi diagram. Everyone got a slice. Fed, they were nice.
Sheltered, they rested.
History is a mess. Science said. The future is fact.
I have forgotten how to act.
Just pretend to.
Sound waves move right through you. You aren't even materially connected.
The force be with you.
A flame licking the earth's surface.
Burn!
Eternal sunbeams. We are all the same age.
The universe only has one age.
See ∞.
For more details.
From the stone age all the way to the space age.
Take me home.
The sheep and goats mowed. Non-toxic. Bio-automatically.
The chickens ate ticks and shit, perfect fertilizer.
While the cows mooed over the moon.
A slingshot of lost echoes.
Boomeranged.
The artists are all on drugs.
Even some of our economists are potheads.
Landscape architects.
Feng shuiing nature on mushrooms.
They grew greener grass than ever.
Neon lawns.
And figured out how to stop unwanted thunder. For dogs.
It's almost like this dream is lucid.
My id feels loose.
I'm all juicy.
They let the sea fallow.
To cleanse the ocean from nuclear leaks.
Refill the oil spills. Drilling down. Pumping petrol in. Stead.
Curing Gaia's acne.
They let the world go wild. And free.
So that they could eat kale and salmon again.
Without worrying.
They examined the exemplary. And cultivated it.
In petrie dishes. Magnificiently.
3-D printing. Organic organisms. Biological clocks.
The world is your greenhouse. The radio said. It was all in our heads.
Sociopathy. Psychopathy. Empathy.
Telepathy.
We are organic robots.
On a pebble in a bubble. We rummage through the rubble.
Compared to the bacteria we came from. You are humangous.
A trillion cells control who you are.
You don't own you.
Everybody knows this.
Careful what you wish for. Fatalists.
Sometimes we demolecularize and join the mist.
Off our thoughts to the cloud.
Decolonize and kiss.
Wirelessly we communicate. Without touching. Sometimes.
Something gets through.
The leaves with wet dew.
We are the few.
Empty-headed mulattoes.
Listening to the wind whistling through our ears.
The circus is about to begin!
We are all in the ring.
Bring it!
The circuit is complete.
Repeat the inevitable.
A sphere only has one side. The be side.
Whose side are you on?
In it for the long stretch. No need to remember anything anymore. Forget it.
The words are there before us. The common denominator.
Are we interconnected yet?
Where is my solar-powered jet?
In 2018 the Human Union issued a press release that worldwide democracy could easily be made available online. Sent a few computers to Mexico.
Everybody signed.
Outliers were brought into the fold. Nobles.
A unique breed of mold.
There was a unanimous strike. People refused to perpetuate the necessary nonstop economic growth put forth by the old order. Stayed in bed for weeks instead while arrangements were made for them.
Sometimes doing nothing is the best thing you can do.
The official edition was chiseled in gold.
All I'm trying to say is,
if we gave everything we had away,
we'd all have a lot more.
Petition competitions. Invention conventions.
Never is the end.
Nothing is pretend.
Abnormal is the new.
Normal.
Eyes, ears, mouth and nose.
For the sake of sake. Ice wines and all fine things. Hold hands and.
Watch where you're growing.
Nature’s Dance
Water round me, Air is blowing,
Fire breathe and Earth all-knowing.
Bid, beckon; Love growing
Ebbed Power, surge flowing
Meet the hour of Starlight's birth,
Dance in Circle round the Hearth
Stomp, feet; merry, Mirth
Cool dirt; warm Earth
Born of breath, see Spirit rising
Night sky candles, Energizing
Thought form; Still, pausing
Wrongs right; Change causing,
Flowing, Growing, knowing, blowing
Elemental- Life is soaring!