I suppose this is a sort of follow-up to yesterday’s post about the robin in the birdbath. There’s a poem by Shel Silverstein that I kept thinking about while I was writing that post, and last night I went up to my room and looked through Where the Sidewalk Ends until I found it. Here it is:

Point of View

Thanksgiving dinner’s sad and thankless

Christmas dinner’s dark and blue

When you stop and try to see it

From the turkey’s point of view.

*

Sunday dinner isn’t sunny

Easter feasts are just bad luck

When you see it from the viewpoint

Of a chicken or a duck.

*

Oh how I once loved tuna salad

Pork and lobsters, lamb chops too

Till I stopped and looked at dinner

From the dinner’s point of view.

~Shel Silverstein~

I love Shel Silverstein’s poetry. He’s got such a unique way of looking at things! His poetry manages to be entertaining and thought-provoking at the same time. Here’s one more Shel Silverstein poem for you:

Early Bird

Oh, if you’re a bird, be an early bird

And catch the worm for your breakfast plate.

If you’re a bird, be an early early bird-

But if you’re a worm, sleep late.

~Shel Silverstein~

We always hear the phrase, “The early bird catches the worm,” but what about the worm? I guess you could say, “The early worm gets eaten.” It’s interesting to see things from the worm’s point of view.

I was sitting on the bench in the garden today (once again observing birds), and I saw a cute little robin walking around with two worms in its mouth. It was trying to pull out a third one, but it just couldn’t hold them all in its beak! So when it finally managed to pull the worm out (it was an enormous worm, by the way – almost as long as the robin itself!), it would walk a few steps, drop all its worms, hunt around for them, pick them up, walk a few more steps, drop all its worms…

Robins are such funny little birds. Of course, I could pick on sparrows too, or cardinals. In fact, most birds I can think of look silly at one point or another.

But then again, most people I know look silly at one point or another (myself included)!

I won’t disclose his name, but a certain person with whom I was conversing yesterday accidentally said “Robert Frosting” instead of “Robert Frost.” Of course I found the thought of “Robert Frosting” absolutely hilarious, and in honor of this moment, I decided to post one of his poems on my blog. Aside from “The Road Not Taken” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” this is one of my favorite Robert Frost poems. I find it to be quite powerful.

Into My Own

One of my wishes is that those dark trees,

So old and firm they scarcely show the breeze,

Were not, as ’twere, the merest mask of gloom,

But stretched away unto the edge of doom.

*

I should not be withheld but that someday

Into their vastness I should steal away,

Fearless of ever finding open land,

Or highway where the slow wheel pours the sand.

*

I do not see why I should e’er turn back,

Or those should not set forth upon my track

To overtake me, who should miss me here

And long to know if still I held them dear.

*

They would not find me changed from him they knew-

Only more sure of all I thought was true.

~Robert Frost~

Well? I know, I know. You’ve got to love Robert Frosting.

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”

-Toni Morrison

This is my first time blogging, so I decided to call upon an author to help me start out. I love this quote because it’s so true! Has it ever happened to you? “I wish someone would write a book about this thing that happens to this person, and at the end this happens.” Well, I suppose you’re the only person who can write the story in your mind exactly as you want it.

As a matter of fact, the inspiration for one of my recent stories arose from my disappointment with a book I’d read. The main character always got away with everything! It would have been a great story, and the author’s writing style was quite compelling, but there was no suspense – and as a result, the book was dreadfully boring. I wished that someone would write a story similar to that one, but make the main character struggle a bit more. 

So that’s exactly what I did.

True, I’m not a published author yet, but hopefully I will be soon! My main project right now is a mystery. I’m only about 20,000 words into it, but I’ve already outlined it and know exactly what’s going to happen. My goal is to have it published within the next few years. Wish me luck!