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!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

family

oh i have cousins in texas
cousins in florida
cousins in california
the rest are in ohio

im out here on the east coast
by myself
the way i like it

i talk to my dad every thursday
my sister, less often
my brother, never..

my aunts and uncle i see when i'm home.. sometimes.
my great uncle sib and aunt marthie i should make more of an effort to see.  they aren't going to be around forever.
i'm not really all that close to my family
i cut my ties.


my friends here all have families.
i hear them say 'family is everything'
i look at them curiously
and they think i'm strange

i don't complain one iota about my family..
most of them know my ma has passed
my dad had a stroke at a young age
i have an older sister and a twin i don't care for.
nieces and a nephew.. those little pumpkin heads

what's interesting is that.. all my friends complain about these much cherished families.
and they think i'm strange.

if i had a family.
would i be complaining too?

i watch in wonder the grandpas and grandmas that drop off their precious cargo at my studio. 
i shake my head at the mothers with 4 and 5 kids who are always running late..
there's one woman.. hats off to her.. 4 boys.  wow.  and her kid never misses a lesson.


there's the tuesday girls.. who drive me absolutely batty with their lack of attention.
there's troy who fights with me.. because he cant stand to make a mistake.
andre who takes lessons in a direction i never knew possible.. and I'M the teacher.
anna and kellie and christine and robert.. always prepared, respectful, and funny!!
helena, my little star
gabby and alexis my winners
charlie..
the list goes on
my students and a very few choice friends...

they are my family.  and i'm kinda attached to them.. each and every one.



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4 comments:

  1. RosieApril 20, 2012 at 12:18 AM

    I hear it, the love in your voice when you talk about your students.


    grins

    ReplyDelete
  2. reeseApril 20, 2012 at 12:33 AM

    JC...
    Family doesn't always have to be blood related. You find your family in your students. This is great!
    And don't forget...we are here for you too! We are family!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JCApril 20, 2012 at 1:15 AM

      yes you both are my family. so dear to me. :')

      Delete
  3. SharonApril 20, 2012 at 3:47 AM

    The tone between the two halves of this piece really speaks beyond what the words say. The list of family versus the students and their attributes. You are a proud father, brother, and uncle when you think of the people you mentor. How fortunate they are to have your devotion.

    ReplyDelete

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