Hope

Thank you!  It actually took me 24 hours to find the words I wanted. Often less is more, but can be harder.  I think this is going to be the postscript to my book.

Thanks!  I have people pre-reading bits of it for me at the moment, and hope to get it out this month.  My memoirs will follow next year, e.g. all the hilarious moments from teaching!

Ohhh yes!!!  I wrote about some of their excuses for not practising their instruments, some time in April for NAPO.  I think I called it Excuses, and it's 100% true.  It's on here somewhere.  I can also give you a sneak preview...

Once, I sat down for lunch at school with some of our Year 4 boys (around age 9). Our pupils are well brought up, sociable and chatty, so they all said hi, etc.  I turned to speak to the child next to me, as I realised it was one of my ex-pupils... to find that he was holding a piece of penne pasta to his mouth.  It was stuffed full of peas and sweetcorn, and he was quite clearly about to blow through the hole and shoot veg at the kid opposite.  I started to tell him off, then cracked because I couldn't keep a straight face.  All of us ended up in fits of giggles, and when I recovered, I said to him firmly, "I'm just going to pretend I didn't see that!"

Hi Ellie,

I'm a talker so I always appreciate minimalist poetry.
Loved how you broke away from the first stanza.
The blending of languages comes across so effortlessly.
Quite beautiful amiga:)

Congrats on your book!!!

Thank you!

Im an introvert to the absolute max degree and then some (socially avoidant) but can be excessively chatty and verbose. I REALLY have to work at minimalist writing. This took 24 hours! Whereas, I could knock out something substantial in 15 minutes, or probably 5 shite limericks in an hour.

Ah yes the limericks!!
I so enjoyed reading them. hahahah
You got a great sense of humor.

Don't feel bad about 24 hours - immediate gratification at times
can be over rated.
This little gem is perfect. So well worth the time & work:)

Beautifully written Ellie... so much truth to this about life

Hope is a town at the head of the Fraser Valley here in BC..I've always wondered how great it would be to say "I live in Hope"...instead outer space (100km) is closer (140km)...

This is a gem 💎 Ellie.

Really like the contrasts: darkest night, daybreak. The commas add to the sense of time passing between deep struggles and resolution.

I love how you said so much with these simple but powerful contrasts. It's so important to keep that hope and know all things change, in those hardest moments that the sun will rise, that you will not always have to fight, and that the storms of emotion will settle. That those happy moments will come again, that we will find an oasis of serenity... That life can be so beautiful. I really love this waffle. :)

Thank you.  I write a lot of heavy stuff about my 40-year struggle and some family drama, but I want my readers to know that there is ALWAYS hope. Nothing ever lasts.  I'm putting a book together at the moment and am probably going to finish with this one.

A book, that's great. Have you ever written a book before or will this the first?

Half a dozen novels in my youth!

Dear E,

I really appreciated the message here. Everything has an ending, everything brings different perspectives. I also enjoyed the brevity in which you relayed the thoughts. Lovely write. H🌷

Lord!Sometimes the going get so rough for so long we forget the sound of laughter!
Oh!Your poem is a cool breeze-reminder to breathe!Or at least to get 'em lungs ready for  the joy after grief~
Enjoyed.

I'm so pleased!