Sentando, Mirando

Sorry for not writing... a lot...
It's been a busy weekend and I've had a ton to do this week, but the week was stressful and the weekend was quite the opposite. My friend had a birthday party today, and we went into Seattle and gave people free hugs. You have no idea how much a hug can do for someone until you go around giving them out for free, especially in a city as open as Seattle. I really enjoyed it, and it was a great experience as friends as well as a chance to make people's days. In any case, I was at a busy mall before my friends arrived, and I sat for an hour and just people-watched and thought about... whatever... because I could, because I had an hour. I wrote this little poem in the meantime and started another but didn't finish so perhaps I'll post it tomorrow
Unfortunately, this too is in spanish and will therefore be a bit difficult to read for those of you who... well... don't speak it :P

Sentando, Mirando
En esta silla—sentando, sentando
Yo veo la gente—mirando, mirando
A veces riendo, yo llevo sonrisa
Quzás esperando alguna sorpresa
Tengo una hora sin gente a ver,
Lugares a ir, ni cosas hacer
Pero estoy feliz mientras yo me siento
Y estoy segura del frio y viento

Waiting

Advent began a couple days ago. Of course, I didn't realize until mom pointed it out last night, but I was highly disappointed. Usually, there's no chance of me missing something so important to my holiday season, but when it started I was too busy appreciating Amiga's birthday and... Playing frisbee with the cross country team and... Learning Italian arias...
The thing is, advent has never really had a religious significance for me. To me, it's just another symbol that the holiday season has begun, with our big advent calendar in the hall and mini chocolate ones my dad's godmother used to give us each year. Nowadays, my mom scorns the way Christmas has been taken so out of its religious context and turned into a commercial holiday, and advent's significance as an excuse for chocolate is just another example of that, but I don't mind. We don't get chocolate anymore, but I like traditions, and I can appreciate a season of holiday wishes and sugar plum dreams, whether or not it has a religious context
Not that I don't celebrate the aspect of Christmas as a religious holiday, and I do think it's a bit silly when radio stations talk about "the true meaning of christmas" as spreading joy and love (as opposed to getting gifts) when really the true meaning is the birth of Christ and the rest is secondary, but I understand where the radio stations are coming from of course
I think I was going to write a poem about being too busy, but the Taylor Swift one should suffice for now
Last night, as I was studying for four different tests and trying to finish five different long-term assignments that I'd procrastinated on, I had a moment where I stopped working and just... Thought. I kind of do that a lot, which is probably why so much of my work gets put off to begin with.  In my somewhat random, not-so-positive, past-midnight state of mind, I realized just how much time I spend waiting, even if not directly in the form of sitting and doing nothing. Hopefully the poem will speak for itself on the rest...
Also, I want to know what you think of the "rhyme" scheme

Waiting
I'm waiting and waiting and waiting
For something--though I don't know what
Just waiting for this to be over
--whatever it is--to be done

You never would know just to watch me
In class or on runs or at home
I'm writing and running so quickly
As if hurrying to the unknown

And perhaps that is just what I'm doing
Just biding my time while I wait
While I wait for the great unexpected
Would I even know if it came?

When I walk to school it is freezing
And I rush while I wait for the warmth
But class starts and I wait for the next bell
Like impatience could make it seem short

I sit through consecutive lectures
In calculus, english, and gov
And stare at the clock all the while
Confused and just bored when they're tough

I look forward to something greater
But what's there to look forward to?
I know that tomorrow's no different
And I've nothing better to do

Perhaps, though, the hope is not in vain
If it can keep me satisfied
The thought that something might be better
Though I know not what, or what time

Sin Amiga

First Spanish poem! (First that you'll read anyway)
I've been really busy this week, which doesn't bode well for the rest of the holiday season because I just get more and more busy as it gets closer to Christmas, but I've been quite inspired. Sometime, I'll turn all that inspiration into real poetry, and then life will be... decent.
Quite a bit recently, I've realized how much I depend on friends. Some days I just need a hug, but sometimes I really need someone to listen to me for quite a while, without judging or getting bored or anything else. I found this poem in my spanish binder today and realized I hadn't posted it. I won't translate (Sorry... use an online translator if you're that curious?) but it's called "without a friend" and is just about the value of friendship, which applies to my life a ton right now as stress increases :P

Sin Amiga
Sin un trabajo, no estoy feliz
Me falta comida, ropa nueva, lujos
Siempre registrando, nunca encontrando,
Me siento frustrada, pero sobrevivo

Sin un novio, pues yo puedo vivir
Quizás estoy triste y quiero alguien
Tengo celos de chicas que los tienen
Quizás desesperada, yo sobrevivo

Sin música, ¡Ay, qué mala es la vida!
Me falta inspiración, alegría, consuelo
Me aburre la vida y odio el silencio,
Pero puedo cantar, y yo sobrevivo

Sin mi salud, tengo menos energía
Estoy llena de calor y después lleno de frío
Tengo mucho dolor, quiero vomitar
Aunque cansada, yo sobrevivo

Pero sin amiga, adiós, mundo bello
No tengo motivo vivir o reír
Dinero, novio, música, y salud
¿Qué son? Sin amiga me muero de alma.

Tránsito, the Traveler

If you have not read House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, this will not make sense. My apologies. If you have, though, it should be interesting. In English last year (when I read it), our teacher gave us a creative assignment at the end of the semester. It was fairly simple and I can't remember all of the details, but we had to write something (I can't remember if it had to be a poem or not) about one of the characters that showed an in-depth understanding of the character. House of the Spirits spans a period of about 60 years and has quite a few characters who could be considered main characters, but as I'm sure to have mentioned earlier, I try to be a little original so I didn't do anyone who could be considered a main character at any point in the novel. I wrote a poem about the character Tránsito Soto, a prostitute who comes up quite a few times in the novel and ends up becoming rather successful and helping the Trueba family (the subject of the book) quite a bit at one point. Nonetheless, she can at no point in the novel be considered a main character, which is what I liked about her.

A couple friends asked me to post this one, so I will

Tránsito, the Traveler
Tránsito, the traveler
Soto, the thicket

Travel, the girl who changes much throughout her life
Travel, you move yourself by foot, peso, and pain
Travel, keep going though this job cuts like a knife
Travel, you’ll leave rather than get stuck in the chain

Thicket, untamed and still untamable are you
Thicket, they come to conquer you but you are strong
Thicket, you hide so much beyond your outer shell
Thicket, they see you as disgraceful but in truth it’s you they wrong

Travel, new scenery each year, each week, each hour
Travel, same vehicle through half a century
Travel, though female, your gender sustains your power
Travel, the woman that the rest aspire to be

Thicket, you started small, a couple dying seeds
Thicket, you grow until you reach immense success
Thicket, the poor girl works hard to fulfill her needs
Thicket, defy what’s there, grow tall and strong, progress

Poor girl, Chilean minds would scorn you with no thought
Poor girl, your gender, social class, disgraceful job
Woman, you thrive where all the weaker workers rot
Woman, you work, help, love, save lives, and never sob

Tránsito, the traveler
Soto, the thicket

Taylor Swift

I should explain.
I do not like Taylor Swift. I get that the personalities celebrities display in front of cameras are completely different from who they are, and I realize I'm nobody to judge anyone else's personality, especially if it is an intentional front (Not that only celebrities put up fronts... my goodness no). I just don't like her music. I'm not a huge fan of country, I don't like the way she sings, I don't like the message in her songs. I owe her a bit of an apology, though, because I also do not ~hate~ her, just her music bugs me, and perhaps I should not title this poem based on that fact. The other thing is that my sister loves Taylor Swift's music, which 1) means I automatically don't like it too much because I have this need to be different from my sister and 2) means that I hear it a lot. A lottttttttttttttttttttttttttt. Because she has speakers and I don't. Really, though, I just hear it a lot and I don't like it. It doesn't ruin my day, but it distracts me when I'm working (or trying to write a poem because... music in the background is already poetry and that makes it very difficult to think) and serves to worsen my mood if I'm having a bad day... which is kind of what this poem is about... kind of...

Taylor Swift
My sister's playing Taylor Swift
And I can't stand the noise
But I won't let it get to me
I'm cool and calm and poised

I have a test in calculus
To study for today
But Quotient Rule has me confused
Study though I may

Mom says I should take out the trash
And get the mail, and weed
"I'd love to, mom, but not right now"
"Oh honey, will you please?"

I have two new Italian songs
And one new Broadway tune
Plus choir pieces I should learn
Well, I'll get on that soon

And some kids in FPS club
Still cannot understand
I'll write them some curriculum
And teach it when I can

My friends are hanging out this week
And I hate saying no
But that's just why I'm overbooked
And hence I cannot go

I've got a gov project to do
And dad wants me to mop
Of course the speech I said I'd write—
No! Everybody stop!

I'd love to do each one of those
But all at once? That's it.
Too many pulls too many ways
And soon I'll have to quit

My sister's playing Taylor Swift
And I just cannot think
Where's the unfettered, smiling me?
For now, only in ink

The Moment

I won't use names on this blog, but I have a wonderful friend who I call "amiga," and will refer to her by that from here on out. Amiga cares a ton for a ton of different people, but she has trouble figuring out what she wants to do with her life. I guess all high schoolers do, but because she is such a good friend, I hear about it a lot from amiga. A few days ago she brought this up, and she was talking about the idea that "forever is now" because really, the "now" is what really existsWhile this poem doesn't deal with the philosophical idea that the past is gone and can never return, and that the future has not happened yet and therefore will not exist until the precise moment when it is the now (this is a bit scientific and I am... not... which is why I write poetry :P), it is inspired by the simple quote of forever being the now, and of course by amiga herself :)

The Moment
"I want it now!" The rich folk say
As all the others scorn their greed
But honestly, they've got a point
They know just what they want and need

Chipmunks spend the entire fall
Stocking up for winter's snow
But they're having no fun at all
And they've just let a season go

Running can bring me quite a rush
But oh! the training it requires!
Is it really worth all that pain
For seconds of fulfilled desires?

Perhaps there is no "overall"
"For me, it's been a happy year"
What matters, then, is always small
The moments and the nows, my dear

You cannot change your yesterdays
For they've already come and gone
Tomorrow is so far away
Not worth thought til today is done

"Goodbye forever! You'll be missed!"
They tell you, and perhaps it's true
But you'll be missed because of all
The minute, friendly things you do

Supposing you can't change the world
Or save a life, or rule the land
Then change a million people's nows
And change the world, you surely can

My Friend

My Friend
Do you remember me, my friend?
It seems so long ago
That I had to take leave, my friend
But I have missed you so

Do you remember how, my friend,
We used to laugh and play?
Could we laugh like that now, my friend?
Make memories for a day?

Could I show you a spot, my friend,
That I think you should see?
We could go there a lot, my friend
Hang out, just you and me

Could you show me a place, my friend,
You go when you feel bad?
A sunny, grassy space, my friend
I'll hold you when you're sad

You want to be good friends again
But how, you're just not sure?
Give me your ear and love me dear
Since that's what friends are for