Reflection on the Passing of Time

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Reflection on the Passing of Time

A photo can sometimes feel more real than its subject 
as you look back at the people and places and try to remember
details  about that particular moment in long ago time.

Sometimes you can't even find the photo itself but you know
it exists somewhere, remember taking it, can still view the scene
from decades back in your mind, smiles fixed and frozen in time.

A part of you knows you can take nothing with you, time has passed,
the scene long gone, the memory blurred but still real.  You don't
remember  before or the after but still can visualize the one scene.

We live our lives in moments, some captured with a lens,
with hope they will not fade, but even as we preserve the image
the present begins  the past, smiles fade, and scenery changes.

We try to capture memories because we know they will escape,
we take photo after photo as if to press the pause button in a
futile attempt to preserve a time, to halt inevitable change.

This is for Sumana's prompt "March of Time" at What's Going On?

A Bad Choice

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A Bad Choice

When I was a child I was very shy,
didn't want to answer questions in class,

hated outdoor recess because I dreaded
no one would play with me.

When it was time for junior high, 
I was afraid to go to the big school,

so my parents put me into a private school
where seventh graders were in only one room

and I didn't have to fend for myself
in the 'big bad junior high school' world.

That private school ended after eighth grade.
I didn't want to go to the big public high school,

so I went instead to the private high school
where I encountered a lot of hypocrisy.

In this 'saintly' environment a single teacher
became pregnant with a clergy member

who was part of staff; and another clergy member
who lived near my home would not speak to my dad.

Children of clergy used the worst foul language.
Hyprocrisy was rampant, so after two years

I couldn't stand the toxic environment, transitioned
to the large public high school for my last two years.

As I look back at life, one of my worst choices
was going to the two private schools which I 

falsely believed would protect me, but instead
they handicapped me because they took me

out of the real world for a while. What others
were learning socially I did not learn in the

protected 'saintly' environment which
proved to be more of a barrier than a help.

I liked the public high school, and looking
back, I wish I had stayed public all along,

but as with all my choices, I live with this one,
and in the end, all turned out just fine.

This was written for my prompt "Choices" at What's Going On?

Reciprocal Rhythm

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Reciprocal Rhythm

There is a reciprocal rhythm to life
balance with undefined moves
You do something and I follow
I do something and you follow

sometimes a waltz
sometimes a rumba
often a catchy rhythm
back and forth on life's stage

roses bloom and then wither
monarchs hatch then fly away
the tide ebbs and flows
sunset brightens then fades to gray

You say something then I do
I ask and you answer
there is a flow between things
a peaceful reciprocal rhythm.

For Sherry's prompt - "Balance" at What's Going On?

School Memories

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School Memories

If you asked me to share some memories of school,

I would tell you I was afraid to go to four-year-old  kindergarten. I stood at the top of a long flight of stairs holding my mother's hand tightly, the smiling teacher beckoning below. It was such a long walk to the bottom of the stairs.

I would tell you I played Jean Nicolet in a play in fourth grade, wearing a silk bathrobe to be the French explorer.  I would tell you I really did not like to be in plays, but I liked my teacher. This was the year I learned to love writing stories at home after school and wanted to be an author.

I would tell you I hated fifth grade because of the mean teacher I had. She made me square dance with her because I wasn't doing it right. She jerked my arm, pulled me, glaring.  I would tell you how she made me run laps around the playground several times, even though I had asthma and told her I couldn't run.

I would tell you I changed to a private school in 7th grade because I didn't want to go to the public junior high school with so many kids I didn't know.  It seemed a good decision at the time, but in retrospect I wish I had been forced to fend for myself in a public school. It handicapped me for a long time.

I would tell you how I never learned to dance because in the private school we didn't have dances. There I was taught that dancing was sinful becuse it caused lust.  So I was handicapped socially for a long time. Thus I didn't learn to dance when others did, and throughout my life I never thought I could dance.

I would tell you how I wanted to be a secretary when I was in high school (public high school finally), but after I worked in a savings and loan a few summers I decided I didn't want to do that for a living but decided to be a teacher instead, which was odd as I hated speaking in front of a class.

I would tell you I never went to dances or parties or proms or homecomings in public high school, how I had a few friends who didn't either.  I remember not really wanting to go to these things, but maybe if I had stayed in public school all of years, could dance,  I would have taken part in more social things.

I would tell you I decided to change my personality when I went to college, to become someone new, to be more outgoing.  I went to dances and beer bars, made life-long friends, and even 'kind of' learned to dance.  I would tell you college was much more fun for me than high school, that I have good memories

If you asked me to share some memories, these are the memories I would share.

For Susan's prompt at "What's Going On?" ----- Education.