This is...

This is three young girls on the back porch of a house on grand street.

Behind them the yellow siding and blue trim show expectantly

The girls are close together, arms dangled around each other

Their smiles bright and optimistic

Eyes squinting from the sunlight

Two match in attire,

The other is just as important.

This is Cassidy

Her hair dark brown and as short as mine

She is two years older than me,

But just as young at heart

She is my best friend in this photo

But not so much anymore

It’s been years since we’ve spoken to or seen each other

She will always be my sister

This is Courtney

Cassidy’s twin sister

Not too close to me back then, but close to me now.

She has been through a lot, just as much as me

Her life filled with indirection and loneliness

But I try to guide her,

Keeping her from running away once again.

She got married not too long ago

To someone she shouldn’t have,

All I can do is support her

And hope that she stays safe

This is existing, before everything happened

This is a family

Before the family was created

Before our parents got married and our lives filled with complications and experience

These are my twin step sisters, welcoming me into their home,

Staring at my mother who holds the camera

This is us before we grew apart years afterward

Still sisters, but miles apart on the map

Flea Market Picture

Beth Elaine Brown was a young girl in a primitive time period. She worked hard because her parents lived on a farm as slaves and if she didn’t help she might get sent away. She loved her family, and despite the circumstances her parents always managed to stay positive and respectful. Beth dreamed of being free-something that seemed impossible to most African Americans. She, however, believed in humanity and being optimistic. Beth sometimes went without dinner and slept on the cold floor, but she still had hope. When she grew older she worked hard to protest the status quo, she became brilliant and an image that everyone wanted to see in themselves. She was free without being free, escaping from torment and discrimination. She stood for the rights of her community and her family. Beth became known state wide and was starting to make a difference until that one terrible tragic day. She was walking to town when two white officers passed her and decided that they weren’t going to deal with anymore incorrect influence. She was found two days later, dead. Her community mourned her, and the whites mocked her. Either way, she was being thought of.

Photos of the Millenium

I remember the day pretty clearly. I’m not sure what day, or even what what year but the events that occurred will always reside in my mind. We had just moved into this house in Republic Missouri, I was young and remember my mom and step father talking. The wind was very strong outside, and it was a bit scary for me and my siblings. We knew something wasn’t right, these weren’t normal strong winds. Our new house had a storm shelter under it and we were told to go downstairs into it. I remember that it was dark because the power had shut off, and it was scary, cold, and rustic down there. I remember a line of small windows right under the ceiling and how the floors were concrete and cold. The noises this room provided scared me. We had a small battery powered alarm clock with the radio playing, they said to take shelter because there was a tornado nearby. We were down there for hours and eventually our battery powered alarm clock’s batteries died. We were left with nothing but the noise the harsh wind outside made.

Writing Photo Hunt

This is Mrs. Armstrong, she taught me how to communicate better to and in front of people. We are also both big nerds so its not hard to have a conversation with her.
#Teacherfriends

An Interesting angle. I took this in the library as you can see, I thought it turned out pretty cool.
#Thelibraryisntjustforreading

Something that irritates me is definitely these gates. Especially on Friday's when everything is blocked off until the bell rings, and most of us have to just stand there and wait.
#Escapethegate

This is something that makes me feel nostalgic. I remember right before I started this school Sophomore year I walked around a bit and this was the one thing that really stuck out at me. It reminds me of my first year here, and how overwhelmed I was.
#Rememberinghowthingswerebeforetheyare

This is something handwritten and it reminds me of my brother who joined the army in December and my step sister who joined shortly after.
#Gonefornowbutneverforgotten

Something beautiful. I think that this is so creative and beautiful and it is distracting enough for you to notice, but not too distracting that you fall in the middle of a crowd of people while walking through the hallway.
#Dontfalldowninthehallwaywhilesurroundedbypeople

Something you would find in nature. I like when teachers don't have all the lights in a room on, and the strands of light balance out the darkness. Gives the room a calm feel.
#MrsFraserknowshowtodothings

This reminds me of when I went to Fordland and this chick would smoke in the locker rooms all the time. She set off the alarm quite often and thought she was sneaky enough, it was quite annoying for all of us who had to go outside twice a week. She got caught of course.
#Dontsmokeinthegirlslockerroom

Ever since before I knew what astronomy was I was interested in it. I thought everything in the sky was amazing, and I wanted to be an astronaut. Although my dream career may have changed since I was five i'm still interested in Astronomy.
#Spaceandotherskythings

Although It is upside down I will always think that outlets look like faces. I've been shocked a few times from these things.
#Badwiringandwhatnot

I know why...pain exists in this world

I know...that we all experience it at some point or another

I don't know why...some people have to deal with it alone

People…are responsible for their own selves

Being caged...by their past, and the decisions they may have made

Freedom...is all they want, freedom from everything bad

Singing...screaming to get away

I sing of...freedom and happiness

Flying...towards safety

Flying away from..imprisonment and loneliness

Maya Angelou Response

Ever since I was a child I haven’t spoken much. I stood watching the world around me in intrigue, listening to the people who influenced me. I didn’t have the best childhood, maybe that is why I don’t talk much, I can never be sure. I watched people make bad decisions and have learned to avoid making the same. I don’t speak much, and if I was to silence myself permanently I am not so sure it would be much of a surprise to the people around me. All my life i’ve been told that i’m too quiet, and I don’t talk enough. I have learned a lot through observation, most of what I know actually. I wasn’t taught much, just the basic needs of life. The other things I learned by myself, through watching, listening, and paying attention. I’m sure I could go without speaking, some days I do. I usually only speak when I need to, like when someone speaks to me or i’m at my job. I think that if I spoke more I would learn how to communicate with people better, and not just in relation to my vocabulary but learning how words can affect others. I know that after I go a day without speaking my voice feels foreign to me, and sometimes I don’t like it. I think that speaking is important, even though I don’t always say a lot.

I think that talking about bad things actually takes away some of the power it has on you. When you talk about something bad it provides a catharsis, making you feel better in the end. As a result it takes away some of the power it has on you, taking away some of the pain or anger.

I think that dreams do reveal a lot. I have this reoccurring dream every year before school starts that reveals my fear of being lost. I’ve attended ten schools and none of them were as big as this one so when I moved here I was a bit intimidated. I had the dream every year before school started for each of the three years that i’ve been here. I am wondering the halls, searching for my classroom and everything keeps changing and I lose my sense of direction. I search my day away and miss all my classes. Of course it never actually happens, but the dream has yet to go away and may even be there when I start college. Another dream I have is more terrifying and affected the way I treated my sister when we were younger. I remember having this dream about my sister falling off a building and I couldn’t do anything to save her. It happened quite often, and when my sister would lean a bit too far off our bunk beds i’d yell at her and tell her to stop or else she would fall. Of course I got in trouble for telling her what to do, but I didn’t really care. She liked to climb on top of our dresser as well, and I’m not sure what the dream reveals about me but I was scared that my sister would get hurt. I never told my parents about this dream, but occasionally It comes back to haunt me even though she lives so far away now.

Dream Marks On My Pillow

It always starts in the same place, I am on a crooked and broken roller coaster in the dark. I am sitting at the tallest peak of the roller coaster and I am by myself. The roller coaster then starts to go downward, at what feels like a hundred miles an hour. I can’t see what’s happening, but I can feel the gravity pulling me downward fast. The fear I feel is awful, and painful. I am afraid that I am going to fall, or run right off the tracks. The ride continues, never ending. I hear a loud voice echo above me, “stop being such a child, it’s not that bad.” It is the voice of my stepfather, telling me in his way not to be scared. I can’t help but to be terrified though. The coaster leans into a curve and the wooden tracks splinter and fall steadily apart. I am left falling, to where I am unsure. I don’t hit the ground and I don’t wake up, instead I land on my feet slowly. I look around, and realize that I am trapped in what looks like a giant black tarped box. Nothing but abandoned concession stands, and a wobbly roller coaster surrounding me. I notice a small gleaming light, it is at the very top of the box, a rip in the tarp. The only way up is the same roller coaster that scares me so much. I want to leave though, and that seems to be the only way out. I run around like a crazy person and end up on the roller coaster again, never being able to escape, the same words echoing around me. I wake up, and reality fades in slowly.