Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"What's gone and what's past help
Should be past grief."
-The Winter's Tale

Palette of the Sea

A sweeping expanse
Of grey, green, and bright azure
Palette of the sea

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"Give me my robe, put on my crown; I have
Immortal longings in me."
-Antony and Cleopatra 

I Sweat

Sweat rolls down my face
My back is peppered with beads
Of perspiration

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"Mad call I it, for to define true madness,
What is't but to be nothing else but mad?"
-Hamlet

Laughs

Sweet hysteria
Giggles and chuckles and laughs
Music to my ears

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"Done to death by slanderous tongue
Was the Hero that here lies"
-Much Ado About Nothing

Ice Cream in the Storm

cold against my tongue
rain lashes at the window
I feel warm inside

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"My words fly up, my thoughts remain below: Words without thoughts never to heaven go."
-Hamlet

Hurricane?

The hurricane approaches
It's getting dreadfully near
People's houses are full of food
And unnecessary fear
I understand this might be bad
But at the same time I sneer
Will we all wake up and find
The biggest storm of all the year?

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"Thou wouldst as soon go kindle fire with snow
As seek to quench the fire of love with words."
-The Two Gentlemen of Verona

The Mountain, to be read from the bottom first

                                                                              the top
                                                                         state, and then
                                                                         famous robot
                                                                      I begin to feel my
                                                          The slog continues up and up until
                                                   I pause and catch my breath on the side of the trail
                                      The views sweep off in every direction, majestic and entrancing
                       Suddenly, the trees are gone and all is rock and boulders, stretching towards the summit
                The elevation rises but I keep my mind on other things, like the birdsong and the warm sunshine
       The going gets a little rough and I am obliged to stop for a swig of water from my bottle, sweat beading
At the beginning I speed, running up the trail and feeling light as a dandelion, singing to the trees and laughing

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?"
-As You Like It

Hiking

Trudging up through wind and rain
I start to wonder if I'm sane
The ridge ahead looks dark and grim
The clouds have come and light is dim
I stumble 'cross a barren stone
The wind is but a lonely moan
Then suddenly a view appears
And then I know the summit nears

Mt. Jefferson

I arrived back home several hours ago, smelling of wood smoke and sweat, my hair slightly greasy and my feet blistered and sore. For the past two days, I have been camping at the Dry River Campground in the scenic White Mountains. Yesterday, I climbed Mt. Jefferson. It was not a hard hike, but very fulfilling and with amazing views throughout. The top was shrouded in clouds, and I was chilled to the bone in my four layers and pants. As we were coming down the ridge, the clouds opened for a few seconds revealing the elusive peak of the neighboring Mt. Washington. The sight was breathtaking.

Tomorrow I will make a more poetic attempt to describe what I saw. For now, I will leave you with this...

"It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves."
                                        -Sir Edmund Hillary


~Claire

Leaving

I feel really bad about leaving the blog again, but I am going hiking for the next couple days. I will be back on Wednesday with many stories to tell, I promise!

~Claire

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"Action is eloquence"
-Coriolanus

Important Questions

Sometimes I see my future as a spiral sea shell
Arching up and up
Reaching new heights
But where
Am I going?
What is at
The very top?
Do I have
A happy ending?

Smug Swedish Horses

Sorry, it appears I am one day behind, so today will be a Double Poem Day!

~Claire

Once there was a Swedish horse

Who was quite proud of being Norse

He was so smug

He turned into a bug

But he said, "I am a horse, of course!"

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"As soon go kindle fire with snow, as seek to quench the fire of love with words"
-The Two Gentlemen of Verona 

Haircut

Wet clumps fall to the
Tiled floor near the mirror
Now my head feels free

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"Shall I be tempted to infringe my vow
In the same way 'tis made?"
-Coriolanus

Missing Summer

I miss the summer
People say it's not over
I don't believe them

Shakespeare Quote of the Day

"What can be their business
With me, a poor weak woman, fall'n from favour?"
-Henry VIII

Long Time No Blog

The first few days, it's easy
Like abandoning your homework or
Skipping your early morning run
So ridiculously free feeling
I sigh and sit back in my chair
Feet propped up
As the days grow to a week
A weed begins to grow in my stomach
Curling around my chest and
Constricting my breath
I realize soon enough
What it really is
I miss you
Quilt of Dragonflies
I really do
Every day without you
Becomes incomplete
A story without an ending
A song without tune
Tonight
I rush to the computer
Wait impatiently as the screen comes to life
Tap furiously at the keyboard
Three words

I
Am
Back.

Dandelions

Swaying in the breeze
Wispy seeds fly in the wind
A new chance at life

Twilight on the Lake

twilight falls over the lake
a plum colored glow
spreads across the tops of the trees
the sky turns the color of blueberry jam
slowly
the waters of the lake calm
into a mirror
broken only by the dragonflies
skittering across the surface
a million tiny circles
grow larger
the trees stand
their black outlines etched against the sky
bats flit around the perimeter
skeletal wings flapping
blind eyes piercing the darkness
the stars
begin their dance
softly at first, then faster
as the sky fades to ebony
and twilight is gone

Just a Teenage Girl

I am just
      a teenage girl
dusty sneakers teetering
      on the brink of something special
if you stare into my gentle eyes
      for long enough
you just might fall into
       my soul
I live in an overcrowded
      lonely place
my eyes glisten
      I cry for the woes of the world
for my true love
       that was not lost
yet not quite found
       my brave new heart
beats on my sleeve
        my insecurities live there too
my brown hair
        is made of honey colored dreams
my skin is made of
         star dust
I love all
          yet answer to none
I am just
          a teenage girl

Back again!

Hello everyone! I am back from a wonderful week spent on a lake in Vermont. The sun was shining and the water was cool and refreshing. We had some friends come by later in the week, and having them there was really fun. While relaxing by the lake, I wrote some poems that I would like to share. I am only sharing the two that I liked the best.

On another note, I was browsing a tiny bookstore and came across a book of Robert Frost poems. This is a quote from a real letter by Robert Frost to a friend, in which he describes what a true poem is. It struck me as a perfect description, and really hit home...

"It begins with a lump in the throat, a homesickness or a love sickness.
              It is a reaching-out toward expression; an effort to find fulfillment.
                                 A complete poem is one where emotion has found its thought,
                                                        and the thought has found the words."
                                                                         -Robert Frost