My Cardboard Balcony

Sinking by Belinda Roddie they say if you find yourself at the bottom of the ocean count to ten and you'll resurface by an island painted gold the bottom of the ocean cradles coffins full of children who were once sailing to a brand new world painted gold if you're worried about drowning at the bottom of the ocean pretend that you're no longer human and somehow you'll magically breathe water and salt breathe seaweed and kelp breathe fool's gold and wishes from spirits trapped behind portholes

I'm just not going to make any quips about this from now on. You're just gonna see an N/A. Hope you get more consistent soon, OneWord!

Would you like a cup of tea? Make it mint for you and me. Lemon waits for spring to come. Chamomile just isn't fun. Tea is good while reading books. Sip your brew, ignore the looks. Hipster cafés are a treat when you sit and rest your feet. The barista has a grin as he serves your mug of sin. Come and have a cup of tea. Make it extra strong for me.

by Belinda Roddie "Okay, I know you're on a salted caramel kick, but stout? Really?!" "I couldn't resist, dude." "Salted. Caramel. Stout. Un-fucking-believable, man." "I just saw it in the booze aisle and thought, 'Well, that's two of my favorite things right there.'" "First, it was the salted caramel hot chocolate..." "Which I did spike, let me remind you." "With butterscotch schnapps." "I hadn't had that stuff in years! It was a treat!" "Yes, and I'll admit, I'm a sucker for sweet liqueur like that." "See?" "Then the constant boxes of salted caramel candy." "Yeah, I gotta lay off. Don't want these sick abs to become a giant keg." "..." "..." "...John." "Don't say I don't have abs." "John." "Do not say that I don't h...

Welp. Streak was good while it lasted.

You're going to have to forgive me for being vague in this introspection, y'all - most of you will understand what I'm talking about without hearing the specific word for it. The context is there. The subtext is there. The in-text citations are there...wait, no. No, that's my English teacher side bursting out of its cage. My bad. Just to make things clear, about eighty percent of my work is going great. Despite having to remind my students to, you know, be polite and stop chatting every ten seconds, I'm starting to realize how respected I might be as a teacher. Maybe not popular - I refuse to believe anyone at my high school who says I'm a popular or revered teacher - but respected nonetheless. Writing's going well, too. Despite being way done with the poetry unit, I'm still occasionally writing spoken word. I'm certainly not writing it as much, but it's becoming a staple. I like being able to create more variety in my writing and my style. A...

Wanted: Intergalactic Interpreter by Belinda Roddie I wasn't sure if I could speak the alien's language.