A Poem From the Past

I've been sorting through my files lately and coming across lots of interesting, half-forgotten stuff - some that I found stashed inside boxes as we were cleaning out my mom's house a few years ago. Lately I've been trying to pull together some poetry for a critique. I believe this is one of the first poems I ever wrote. I was 12 at the time.

Life From A Lion's Point of View

Trapped in a world that's hardly all my own,
People look at me and I groan.
Through metal bars and over stone walls,
I get some very uninvited calls.
People gape and stare and look
At what they could see in an animal book.
I'm bombed with peanuts, which I hate,
And I got stuck with some dumpy, ugly mate.
I've never snored, for I've never slept.
You wouldn't either if you lived where I'm kept.
The water is scummy and filled with bacteria
And the apes next door drive me into hysteria.
Every night at twelve o'clock
The laughing hyena gives every beast a shock!
Oh how I wish I could be released
And then maybe - just maybe- I could get some peace.

Easier Things Than Writing?

I have neglected this poor blog for far too long now. For a while - longer than I expected - I had a miserable case of the flu. It was going around the school and I managed to come down with a nasty, gut wrenching case that wiped me out for nearly 3 weeks. Aargh!

Anyhow, I'm better now and back to working on my WIP which I'm determined to finish this summer. Some days, though, writing is sooo hard. I can think of lots of things that are easier. Here are a few:

1. Weeding the garden. Over the past few days, I've pulled up buckets of weeds. While my garden looks much neater, my novel is still here, waiting for me. The weeds will grow without me, but my novel? Nope.

2. Watering the plants. All my houseplants are well-watered and fertilized. In addition, I've deadheaded my planters full of petunias out on the deck.

3. Doing the New York Times crossword puzzle. I love the puzzle, but when I'm trying to finish a novel, I really should ignore it.

4. Playing online Scrabble. I've beaten the maven three times over the past 4 days at the second highest level. Yippee! This does nothing for my novel.

5. Going to the gym and lifting weights. Something about torturing myself makes me feel a little less guilty.

6. Paying all my bills. What am I,crazy? I mean, I always pay my bills, but who ever heard of paying them weeks in advance?

So, now I MUST get back to work on my WIP. It will not write itself. As Jane Yolen says, you must practice BIC (butt in chair).