ready to burn

My fragile yet steely heart burns like a phoenix
Regenerating from the ashes
Never ending—eternal
Always in a state of change
Growth or tearing down
In order to grow more

My unconquerable soul ever beckons like the seashore
Calling the waves back again
Ever present ebb and flow
Always in a state of change
Learning how to connect
In order to learn more

My winding journey twists and turns like switchbacks
Breaking me of expectations
Other than my path will be unknown
Always watching the horizon
For the next corner to turn and change
Ready to burn and grow again

elementary school lessons

Something Positive
First Grade: Butter churning and birthday letters

Something Negative
Fifth Grade: Crush on Matt Gondini

Something Else (funny? scary? legendary?)
Fifth Grade: Monkey Bars Champ

Just by typing out his name, I make the embarrassment new like fresh baked bread or probably more like a freshly ripped off bandage that you left on for too long and it rips all the tiny hairs off your arm and you want to cry. Matt Gondini. There it is. The burn.

I liked Matt Gondini. The last name alone takes you away on a trip to Italy while eating spaghetti on the redeye flight. And he was cute and funny. Or so I thought.

Pretty sure it was Tiffannie who found out I liked Matt, which meant my secret wasn't safe, which I learned in hindsight and never truly trusted secrets to a woman again with a few slip ups in junior high and high school. I don't know, maybe I slip up here and there even still. But I digress.

We were all in music class. We were all grabbing recorders. We were all quiet. And somehow it was important for someone to share my secret. And Matt Gondini turned red, I probably turned red, and we both wanted to die.

To this day, some thirty plus years later, I still recall how terrible it felt, so I try not to think about it except for times like this when I'm writing a slice of life supposedly for fun!