tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556512955091936745.post7855664840151847900..comments2024-01-04T09:04:59.477-08:00Comments on Pictures, Poetry & Prose: Up the StepsLaura Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16277887372939757081noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556512955091936745.post-23998730236201831252009-04-13T15:45:00.000-07:002009-04-13T15:45:00.000-07:00http://whitneyinspired.blogspot.com/2009/04/inspir...http://whitneyinspired.blogspot.com/2009/04/inspiration-39-up-steps.html<BR/><BR/><BR/>Standing in front of the puddle, looking into her own image reflected up from the waters on the uneven night pavement, Donna held her books close to her breast and sighed. She nudged a floating leaf with the toe of her shoe.<BR/><BR/><I>I have not been to school in years. What I am doing here? This was never for me. I stayed home for my girls.</I> Donna's eyes drifted up to meet the entrance of the beckoning, marble staircase. Pencil behind ear and checking her watch, she stepped over the puddle, walked across the cement sidewalk, and placed a foot on the first step and a hand on the rail. <BR/><BR/>"For the girls. For me," sighed Donna aloud to herself.Whitneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06428032093126507685noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556512955091936745.post-71628209718617412272009-04-08T11:36:00.000-07:002009-04-08T11:36:00.000-07:00OneTwoThreeI know this is for meFourFiveSixI think...One<BR/>Two<BR/>Three<BR/>I know this is for me<BR/><BR/>Four<BR/>Five<BR/>Six<BR/>I think I'm going to be sick<BR/><BR/>Seven<BR/>Eight<BR/>Nine<BR/>I should arrive just in time<BR/><BR/>Ten <BR/>Eleven<BR/>Twelve<BR/>I think I'll wet myself<BR/><BR/>Thirteen<BR/>Fourteen<BR/>Fifteen<BR/>I can not miss this meeting<BR/><BR/>Sixteen<BR/>Seventeen<BR/>Eighteen<BR/>I am the one who is leading<BR/><BR/>Nineteen<BR/>pant<BR/>and<BR/>Twenty<BR/>Who says I don't exercise plenty?<BR/><BR/>Just a few steps more<BR/>and I'll be through that door<BR/><BR/>Hope no one will see<BR/>I really have to pee<BR/><BR/>Through the bathroom door<BR/>they'll wait one minute more<BR/><BR/>aaaaaahhhhhh<BR/><BR/>Little does she know<BR/>before long it will show<BR/><BR/>The pretty leader lady<BR/>is going to have a baby<BR/><BR/>(I don't know! You get what you get today, I guess.)Heatherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04693495698843336789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556512955091936745.post-71220098855207868702009-04-07T20:28:00.000-07:002009-04-07T20:28:00.000-07:00this is it. once i go up & through those doors...this is it. <BR/>once i go up & through those doors, there's no turning back. <BR/>whoever i go in as, i will live as for the rest of my life. <BR/>however i decide to look now is how others will see me forever. <BR/>whatever outlook i choose now will be mine from now on. <BR/>it is my choice. <BR/>the first step of my future is <BR/>now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556512955091936745.post-67229295397148189972009-04-07T14:29:00.000-07:002009-04-07T14:29:00.000-07:00My feet felt leaden as I lifted and placed them, o...My feet felt leaden as I lifted and placed them, one after the other, on the top step. But then I stoped, looked around. No one paid me any attention. Without my crown, my body gaurds, my elegant clothes, I was any body. I was the daughter of a minister, having dropped off the documents he forgot. I was a forigner, taking the citizenship test. I was...<BR/>The small radio at my hip blared and I jumped to the next step. They knew I was gone! My adrenalin raced the traffic in front of me, and I sprinted down the steps, only pausing to glance back and my expensive prison. <BR/>But a taxi pulling up to the curb caught my attention. I snatched the door and slid inside just as the last passenger had stepped out. <BR/>"Where to?" The man asked gruffly.<BR/>"Anywhere!" I was breathless. He looked at me side ways. Looked at me like I was crazy, and vaugly farmiliar. "To the Westside Mall, please." I said quickly. The driver shrugged and turned around. I leaned to look out the window. I had never been to a mall, and besides, borrowed clothes are not fit for a princess.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556512955091936745.post-8139102980068746222009-04-07T10:58:00.000-07:002009-04-07T10:58:00.000-07:00Once into this...there is no turning back. I can't...Once into this...there is no turning back. I can't continue to contribute to this facade of lies any more. <BR/><BR/>Once I enter the chamber and take the oath, I am committed to exposing the the real Washington D.C. that has spread through me like a cancer for the last 20 years. It began with a promotion and metastasized into spider like tentacles that control my every thought....... <BR/><BR/>" I solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, So help me God."<BR/><BR/>"Do you have any hard proof that the outlandish accusations you have just laid out before us have any shred of reality?"<BR/><BR/>"Senator, I am in possession of tape recordings of the conversations that I have just described but I will not give them over until I have an assurance that my family will be safe."<BR/><BR/>"Sir, let me remind you that Congress will determine what you turn over...regardless of your demands being met. We will subpoena the tapes if necessary."<BR/><BR/>"Senator, the players in this drama include some of your colleagues in this room."<BR/><BR/>""Point to and identify the colleagues you are accusing."<BR/><BR/>"The Sec<BR/><BR/><BR/>............."Please stand by, we have lost the signal from Capital Hill. There has been an explosion in the Chambers and we have correspondents on the scene." <BR/><BR/>DanDan Felsteadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04917775645881312007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556512955091936745.post-46848593593763472322009-04-07T06:44:00.000-07:002009-04-07T06:44:00.000-07:00'Are you sure this is the right place? It looks a...'Are you sure this is the right place? It looks all lit up.'<BR/><BR/>'Trust me, it's empty.'<BR/><BR/>Jeremy jimmied the lock on the door while I kept guard on the bottom steps. Though the library was illuminated in florescent life, the street was dead and cold. I heard the chain crack, the doors creak and Jeremy's hurried whispers urging me inside. The steps were easily climbed, then forgotten.<BR/><BR/>Once inside, we were greeted with the conforting smells of dust jackets and inked wisdom. I froze for a moment in the doorway, breathed it all in and carefully closed the doors. We split off then, Jeremy to his fiction and I to my histories.<BR/><BR/>Months passed and I had grown bored with the world's history. I was wavering between autobiographies and archeology when Jeremy creeped behind me holding a book he swore I would enjoy.<BR/><BR/>'It's real in a fun way, I promise.'<BR/><BR/>'But the FIC sticker tells me otherwise, Jerm'<BR/><BR/>'Nah, this guy is brilliant, he's so good at lying, you forget it's not real.'<BR/><BR/>'I won't forget.'<BR/><BR/>'Trust me.'<BR/><BR/>That was the day I met Jorge Luis Borges. Jeremy was right.Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03328691580785521951noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556512955091936745.post-56000170280315192092009-04-07T06:29:00.000-07:002009-04-07T06:29:00.000-07:00Up the stepsTo the glittering ballroomIt looks so ...Up the steps<BR/>To the glittering ballroom<BR/>It looks so easy, <BR/>Smooth, shallow steps.<BR/>I'm sure the earlier guests<BR/>Glided right up,<BR/>Women in sparkling gowns,<BR/>Men austere in black tie.<BR/>But I,<BR/>I have no fancy clothes,<BR/>Just my ragged shirt and pants,<BR/>My bare grimy feet.<BR/>I don't want to take the first step,<BR/>But she told me I must, <BR/>The strange, glittering woman<BR/>Who picked me out of the gutter an hour ago,<BR/>Who said, You shall go to the ball!<BR/>I take the first step,<BR/>Prepared for anything.morgannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04295309367485408358noreply@blogger.com