Blog Manifesto

Blog Manifesto


This blog is dedicated, as the title would suggest, to the qualities of being young. We are young writers. We are playful and sensitive, fluid and changing. We are unashamed with our art. We wonder at the world, puzzle over the meanings of things and twirl in delight at images and ideas that float by, grabbing at them as they pass. We are curious and constantly inquiring and prying concepts open and taking assumptions apart. We are on the ground, close to the earth. We have bare feet and wiggle our toes into nature. We carry our blankies still and wrap up cozy and comfy with each other and tell ghost stories and shiver at creepy things. We laugh and we cry and we take a lot of naps, drained from our outings and exertions.

We write as gifts to each other, tying them up in ribbon and leaving them around for each other to find, hiding and waiting for the person to wake up and read. Surprise! We weave our stories together to create a bond. One writes, then the other. then another again. We have a shared reality that we have crafted, bit by piece by patch, by string. We write simple, honest authentic things, with our unique voices. You can tell each one of us from the other, without knowing who wrote what. Our voices are clear and gentle and original. We whisper and our personalities roar! Like children, our feelings are strong, our passion for what we write shakes us. We are moved and sometimes left breathless, by our own words or the words of each other. We cannonball into each others spaces. We fall backward into each others writing, like into a pile of leaves or a soft bed. We gobble and grin and ask for more. (footnote kudos to JC)

Then we go to bed, wake up to a new day and do it all over again!

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

the ladder

the ladder

I lived in a neighborhood where no one moved and everyone always lended a helping hand to those in need.

Neighbor Gary (kiddy corner) needed to replace his shingles on his roof. To save money, he planned on doing the work himself…or with the help of others from the hood. The old shingles needed to be ripped off and new plywood replaced in places where squirrels had eaten through. He never had much use for squirrels but honored and respected those who did.

Gary and Gil, who is Gary’s neighbor to the right of him grab their shovels and pitch forks and head up the ladder. Reese sees what they are doing and asks if they need help. “Sure” was their reply, “climb on up”. Reese hangs on tightly to the sides of the ladder and one by one…rung by rung she reaches the top and slowly maneuvers her body onto the roof. Whew! I made it. Reese was so proud of herself. She stands up straight and looks around. Hey, I can see my house from here. Look at how tall that tree is. Hey you, you look like a little ant that I could step on. (lol-ing  of course) Gary hands Reese a shovel and shows her how to get underneath the shingles and lift up to loosen them. Gil carefully looks for a clear spot and makes sure no person is standing below before he shovels the shingles to the ground.

Dusk is starting to settle in and we decide to call it quits for the day. While Gary and Gil are cleaning off the roof, they tell Reese she may start going down, but to be careful. Reese reaches the top of the ladder, hangs on and tries to maneuver her body around the ladder and visions putting her right foot on the top rung and then the left should follow on the next rung and so on until her feet meet the ground. Easy as that. Ha! Not so for Reese. Reese nervously mentions to Gary and Gil that she can’t get her body to turn around onto the ladder. Gil said “just wait a minute and I will show you how it is done”. Gil finishes cleaning off the roof, throws the equipment down and twists and turns his body and starts his way down the ladder. One by one, rung by rung. Reese watches carefully. Ok…I can do that. Hmmm…again not so easy. Gary kiddingly says “Reese, you will just have to sleep up here tonight”. Well, I guess that’s what Reese would have had to do because there is no other way she could get both feet safely on the ground. Reese wished at this time she could grow wings and just float her way to safety. The only other alternative: Gil, get me my saw from the garage. Gil did as he was told and climbed his way so easily back up the ladder one by one, rung by rung and hands it to Gary. Gary carefully cuts a hole through the plywood and says “Ok Reese, climb in”. Reese wriggles her tiny little frame through the tiny little hole, enters the upstairs bedroom and walks down the stairs…safely making her way.



Posted by at
Labels:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)