Lunar Musings

You can tell when it's a full moon
without looking at the sky.
It's when all life stills,
not in fright, but in reverence.
It’s when the tides rise up
to meet the luminescent sky,
and the power of the moon alone
brings heaven and Earth together.

You can tell when it's a full moon,
because the snow glistens
with the reflected incandescence of the night.  
Great expanses of powder,
like crushed mirrors a lunar goddess 
let fall from her fingertips,
merely to be able to bask in the frosty image of herself.

And when it's a full moon,
you are freed from the clutches of slumber,
because somewhere deep down,
you know that this is what beauty really is,
and that you need to savor it,
the rare beauty of a full moon.

Valentine's Day Sucks

To all my readers out there, I would like to say HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! Valentine’s day is a day to consider and appreciate everyone we hold dear to us. So, for this edition of Skye Writes, I thought I would talk about a book that I believe EVERY teenage girl in the nation has read at least five times. Because who can’t fall head over heels in love with the smoldering golden eyes, the gently tousled hair, and the brooding, passionate love of Edward Cullen?

            Like all trends, be it skinny cargos or vampire stories, the original is always the best. Swept up in a tidal wave of vampire high school romances, I think that we sometimes forget how it all started. Ah yes, with good old Twilight. For some reason, the mixture of a normal girl, an insanely hot vampire, a muscley werewolf, high school, and true love lit up some kind of lightbulb in the minds of readers everywhere. The Twilight phenomenon blew across the country as inexplicably as Glee or Bieber Fever.

            Myself, I am a true Twilight fan. Having read the series eight times, I think its safe to say that I know it pretty much inside and out, and having said that, I think that Stephenie Meyer is truly genius. I mean, no one can get inside a high-schoolers’ mind quite like that lady. The everyday dialogue between Bella, the main character(for those of you who don’t know that you should be ashamed of yourselves!!!) and her friends flows so naturally, you could almost pretend you were in the scene, and from personal experience(I won’t mention any names) I know that you find yourself being a total geek and using quotes from the book in your own life. I think that we should all take a moment to applaud the extreme creativity of Stephenie, for breaking vampires from Bram Stoker’s dusty old mold. No, Ms. Meyer’s vampires didn’t sleep in coffins, well they didn’t sleep at all, but they would recline in gorgeous, glass walled mansions. Cast away was the idea that vampires would burn up in light. No, that wasn’t fabulous enough for our good friends the Cullens. Instead, they merely sparkled, intensifying their unearthly beauty. And to top it all off, because our new vampires couldn’t possibly kill people, they went quote un quote, vegetarian. (Oh, those vegetarians, they’re taking over the world! I mean soon brains won’t be good enough for zombies, they’ll be eating rice pudding. Geez.)

            There’s no argument that Twilight was a hit, but I don’t think that the rest of the series should be ignored. It is a well-known fact between us readers that in most cases, the first book in a series will be the best, and from there, well, its pretty much a parked car with no brakes on a San Francisco hill. In case you didn’t get that, it goes down. Sadly, I think that this applies to the rest of the series. New Moon, the second installment of the Twilight series, is almost as good as the first, Edward leaving Bella because he thinks it is better for her, and Mr. Sixpack swooping in to woo her. With Jacob introduced to the story the hotness level shoots way up, and I think that we can all admit that an added hottie makes the story a lot more interesting. So lalalala Bella misses Edward, Jacob comes in at her weakest hour, Bella falls in love with Jacob but they can’t be together because Bella still believes Edward will come back(classic), Edward thinks Bella’s dead, goes to commit suicide, Bella arrives in the nick of time(typical), saves Edward, they rekindle their love of eachother, the end. That was basically new moon in 3x fast forward with everyone talking in really high, fast voices. Overall, I’d say that New Moon was an excellent book. However, Eclipse is where the problems start. So, Bella and Edward are in love, but Bella still feels something for Jacob. This is even worse now, because vamps and werewolves hate each other’s guts. So Edward starts being all controlling and basically kidnaps Bella. Then there’s this whole thing with some evil vamp lady who wants to kill Bella, and you can basically predict the rest of this book. Edward kills Victoria(the evil vampire lady) but he has to join with Jacob to do it, yadayadayada and then when Edward is fighting this little kid that Victoria brainwashed, he uses words to fight instead of actions(Ok like really? Total puke.)

            Last but not least(well, actually, yes, it is least) is Breaking Dawn. The whole story can be summed up in one sentence. Bella gets pregnant and turns into a vampire. The end. I mean, I understand that Stephenie Meyer wanted to add a twist, but no one under the age of twenty eight is going to want to read about a mom. I mean, parents are the enemies. Parents are the antagonists. And Stephenie Meyer just has to ruin the whole seies by turning the Bella, who we all know and love, into a mom. I know, it broke my heart, too.

            So,  whatever good or bad things I’ve said about Twilight, it is still something that I believe everyone should read. Bella and Edward can be placed upon the shelf of classics, resting right next to Romeo and Juliet. So for this Valentine’s Day, read Twilight, and hopefully the timeless love of Edward and Bella will inspire you to appreciate those that are close to you.   

My Life in Words

Hey everyone! I thought that this piece of writing would be fitting as my first post. Its a mini memoir that I submitted for a school competition and I won! Enjoy!



Young Writers Showcase presents seventh grade winning memoir of Central Middle School competition

I can remember the first time l ever wrote. I was just a little girl, maybe two or three. I don't know how I got my hands on a pencil; I was so short I couldn't even reach the top of the table. But I did, and, well, like every normal toddler I saw the wall as the most obvious place to write. And write I did. Not words of course, those were beyond my tiny mind's ability, but not scribbles either. When my mother saw my series of little figures, she said my writing looked like a real language, one only I could understand, but a language nonetheless.

I did not get reprimanded for writing on the wall. I was not made to erase my work. Instead I was praised, and encouraged to write more. Perhaps this was what sparked my interest in language. Perhaps I had been born yearning to translate my thoughts into words, like some are born to paint, or to sculpt. But over the years, that wall filled with my tiny characters and scribblings.

The wall has been painted over now, a pristine advance of warm gray coating the words of my childhood. But still, when I need inspiration or just want to reminisce on those early days, I stare at that wall and just wonder what all those little pencil marks, hiding beneath that single coat of paint, meant to my little toddler self.

As I grew up, the interest in writing that was kindled in me was nurtured into a larger and larger flame, an ever-present glowing warmth that has kept me company all my years. I wrote about my dreams, I wrote about the happenings of my life. Everything I experienced, words, phrases, would drift into my head like a poetic fog, one that I had to snatch and write down, lest it escape. One such dream that I captured on paper was, as I like to call it, the Princess Without Hair.

A six year-old me opened her eyes, returning from a misty land of jumbled thoughts and dreams. One memory was clear, however, like wiping away a small window of condensation in a steamed up mirror. Peering through that window in her mind, the six year-old saw a beautiful girl glaring at the reflection of herself in the rippling waters of a koi pond as all of her silky chestnut locks fell from her head, spiraling to the ground in a horribly graceful dance. The little child rushed to grab a piece of lined paper and, in the big, clumsy letters of a first grader, began her first story, a fanciful tale of a bald princess who seeks revenge on an evil squirrel witch named Sandy for cursing her.

That moment when I wrote my first story was one of the greatest of my life. It opened a door for me, revealing that writing is not just words in a sequence, but the ability to create, to imagine, to be ruler of your own world. Others writing can even help us better our own skill at the craft. I learned that in one of the most inspiring books I have read, Writing Magic. That book taught me to keep all of my work, however much I don't like it, because any piece of writing is special, and shouldn't be discounted. And that statement helps me get through the valleys of writing, when I just feel that I'm losing my voice. Not the voice of my mouth, but the voice of my mind, the true voice, the one that makes my writing as unique as a thumbprint. Whatever I write, I can take pride in the fact that it is my own, because nobody can ever steal my voice.

To be perfectly honest, this memoir feels incomplete. I have only experienced twelve years of life on this Earth, and at this point in my existence, my hopes and dreams are facing towards the great expanse of time that is the future. My writing career is still only a little bird, growing in its nest until its wings are strong enough to fly. Reflecting back on my life, I realize that maybe right now it is best not to look back, and only forward, to experience life with an open, optimistic mind. When I am older perhaps I will write another memoir, and hopefully I will smile upon my achievements in life.