A Poem

Hello everyone!

A couple of days ago I was teaching a class about the thrills and chills of writing. Being a writer myself, it always pains me to hear when people think that one of the greatest forms of self-expression, enlightment, and imagination is BORING. So I taught my students about writing, how to write, and of course gave them homework. What kind of teacher would I be if I didn't torture my students with a little extra bit of outside work?

So they had to write poems. Last night we transformed the classroom into an open mic-night as student after student came to the front of the room to read their poems. I pushed them to embody the poem with passion, feeling, and life--some did this, while others, well, just read. I was pleasently surprised by some of the poetry I heard last night. Some of them were deep, meaningful, and powerful. It just goes to show that language and art knows no limits!

Anyway, I promised my students that I would perform my own poem as well. To bad for me, I didn't have one. During the break, I ran down to the teacher's office, flicked on the computer, and wrote the following poem. I'm not posting it because I think it's awesome or the best thing since sliced bread, but...it is my first attempt at poetry in 5 years and I think...it's okay. Not great. Not bad. Just okay.

Well, I hope you guys enjoy this narrative poem.

Unsoiled Dream

by Jason Guinn

Little happy monkey,

frolicking through the trees,

unaware that it willbe meet death, begging, on its knees.

Gliding through the green canopy,

vine to vine,

it feels the thrilling rush of being alive.

Up a head,

a beauty catches his eye,

a young love he can't miss,

for her he will fly.

Faster,

faster,

and faster still,

he lands beside her with nothing to fear.

He flashes a smile,

gives a wink.

ll of this fails,

as the whole canopy sinks.

A mighty boom,

and a wicked crash,

sends the monkeys to the forest floor in a frightful flash.

The girl is snagged by men in yellow hats,

the male pats,

snarls,

and barks,

as the men lock her in a steel cage.

"It's rabid," one man shouts.

The monkey has not chance to refute,

as they shoot it down.

One shot,

as all it took,

to kill a perfect...

unsoiled dream.

That's it. That's the poem. I hope you enjoyed it and this entry into the blog. In the coming days I will be posting more stuff on here as well as some cool new features so please, keep coming back!