My Cardboard Balcony

Working at a school feels like I am in school. I'm back to basics. I'm reading simple books, writing simple phrases, and practicing simple math with the kids, to help them learn. At the same time, I'm being drawn back to other memories outside during recess. I was never a popular kid. Hell, I even was a loner in my youth (unsurprising to me, surprising to some other people), and I was lousy at sports. And I mean lousy. I couldn't do kickball, or softball, or basketball, or even soccer. When I was eleven years old, I was on a soccer team for young girls and my coach hardly let me play. Because apparently I was that bad. Worst part about that last story was that my team won third in the league. At least my sister was a pretty awesome fullback. But after this week, I have played baseball, kickball, four square, and basketball after so many years' worth of a sports dry spell. Don't get me wrong, I like playing sports. I prefer the aerobics I get from sports ov...

The Timid Cloud by Belinda Roddie “A cloud to shroud my bones!” did cry A wild but quite precocious child “For I’ll be warm in summer sky And if it rains, though I’m not dry My sins will wash away.” With that, she scattered seeds across A soil that people said had lost Its breath, and yet she still desired A tree to bore her into sky And carry her away And mist did kiss the child’s brow But no proud cloud would move to shroud Her spirit, but one was shy Alone in a September sky And moved for once that very day To carry her away The work you see here has not been edited nor altered since August 16th, 2007.

She didn't want her face to be shown - tried to coax her, persuade her, and throw her a bone, but she didn't want her face to be seen. She kept quiet in a mask so pristine and green with a sheen that radiated a thousand miles past the European skyline and the Irish isles. The emeralds were dull against her real eyes, but she never would tear off her disguise. That's the story. Just trust me. It's the way it should be. You'll never get a real solution out of me.