An Ode to Oreos

So today was a Monday. A regular and normal Monday; it was so sad. I did actually go to the gym with my friend, Izzy. I ran for 3 miles, biked 9 miles, did my core work out ( 20 sit ups, 10 push ups, 30 second plank, 20 second wall sit, Repeat 5 times!!), Then I lifted weights, and swam a 600 (24 laps). I swear, I am usually not that crazy when it comes to exercise, but I had a lot of time on my hands. Let's be honest, I wasn't actually going to write about anything today due to the facts I have an awful case of writer's block. But I will write something because my dear friend, Ian, Told me to. So I will post something because he told me I should. I generally do what Ian says, but now he owes me something spectacular, and something else, and an adventure. He should really get on that (If you're reading this Ian, YOU PROMISED!!!)

Here is a poem I like, But everyone else hates. It's probably my shortest poem ever.

"An Ode To Oreos" 

Oh Oreo,
You're America's favorite cookie,
Black crunchy sides,
White cream center,
Like a fluffy pillow of pure joy.

First you twist,
Then it breaks,
But still,
The perfect cookie
To dunk in milk.
That catchy Jingle,
O.R.E.O

My ode to oreos,
The positively, undeniably,
Hands down, 100%,
Grossest cookie I've ever eaten.

Reaching my list of don'ts,
Oreos are right up there with,
The flavor red, Vampires,
Fractions, Bananas,
And not to mention,
Steve Carell and Bobby Flay.

I prove to you,
Dear Oreos,
You are not a fan to all.

3/4 Misfit Avenue

Ugh, SO it's Sunday. Which means I have to go to school tomorrow :'(
I did have a three day weekend though. Which in my three days all I've done is homework and driving around, which both of them I hate. Shocker. I did go to a concert thingy last night where a friend of mine, Ian, performed with his band. They were pretty awesome! (All the Wrong Reasons is what they're called if you want to look them up on YouTube.) That was probably the highlight of my entire weekend.
So For my English class we have to do a performance piece, where we can perform anything we want to as along as it's 3-10 minutes long. We could do sketches, plays, acts, passages, magic acts, poems, writing, anything. We had the option of working with 1-4 people and I chose to do it by myself because that's how I am. (Sorry, Emily. I knew you wanted to work with me) So the main challenge for me was writing a 3 minute poem. I did write one, but I'm feeling kinda iffy about it...


"3/4 Misfit Avenue"

I came from a good home,
The kinda that forced a spoon in your mouth,
Before your own opinions trickled out,
A home where
You recited words that weren't your own,
And like a dog,
You were to stay in your place
Unless told other wise.

The other kids in town,
Were from pennies and marks on the side walks,
While I was from
Where the grass was a tint too green,
And my manners were a bit too formal.

Everyone else was
Raised in an igloo in Texas,
With those forgotten boys who
Took refuge with irony,
Selling lemonade and dry martinis,
They were tongue tied,
And sworn to secrecy
As being brothers.

You could find their adolescence
Under tattered spirits,
And roaming the gutters of
Orphanage Avenue.
"Them boys is trouble"
That's what Momma would always say,
A pity
Good girls like trouble.

One boy,
Ripped jeans
And society's scar over his left eye,
The one that left me gasping for smogged air,
His build was far above mine,
Leaving a shadow for me to swoon in.

This one guy was special,
He said he left his parents
Before they left him,
Like an expired rental fee.
He was the leader of the lost boys,
A king of broken hearts,
And everything I wasn't.
His rationality had been caught in a trap,
So we tied each others wrists,
With our over doses love.

He would stroke my skin,
Showing no shame for being,
Street trouble,
He tasted like cigarettes
With a hint of reality,
His eyes were forced with sour,
Dusty memories,
And sometimes,
You could see the seniority of how much
He loved me,
In his grin.

We were each others families,
Considering he didn't know his,
And I didn't want to know mine,
We were that broken, drenched,
Cliche and melodramatic idea of,
"All we need is love."

Momma always used to say,
"Them boys is trouble."
Even when she spoke those thorned words
On the street corner of abandonment
The time she caught me
 Pick pocketing expectations.

My boy,
Society's scar over his left eye,
Grabbed me around the waist,
and planted dreams in my heart,
"Trouble is me, Momma."
And as the distasteful
Summer climate washed over us,
I danced for a shilling more.

"Famous For All the Wrong Reasons"

My hearts and prayers go out to all the families and victims of the bombing yesterday in the Boston marathon. I hope that who ever did this is found and everyone is honored. I wrote a little something on my thoughts about the bad in the world.


"Famous For All the Wrong Reasons"

Name in the press,
The inky newspaper telling details,
Remember forever,
Recognition from one act.

The cost for infamy,
Is the price of 26 bullets,
The space for a box of blades,
The recipe for every one's drink,
And the time it takes to plan
The number of unmarked graves.

Travel the maps,
To leave your signature of tragedy,
Race through our one stoplight towns,
Where ever you'd like,
Lay the oleanders down,
And take your place.

We all know,
The more your name is remembered,
The more pain you've caused.
Afterwards,
Plead your insanity, instability,
And make your revenge known.

Hold justice to your head,
Or cross your fingers
In a cobble stone cell,
And whisper your name for all to hear.

Half Priced Humans With Two Colored Eyes

So this year I decided that because I loved English so much I would take a poetry class. I entered the class with very little knowledge of how the class was run. I did enjoy reading poetry but I've never really looked into it. Past teachers that I've had did run a poetry unit in their classes but they seemed to just brief over it and try not to actually dig into what poetry really was. When I started the class I thought that poetry was all about rhyme and structure, something I didn't want to get involved in. As the class progressed I realized that what I thought poetry was, wasn't actually what it is. I came to realize that poetry was more about expression and feelings. I slowly learned to put myself out on the line with my poetry and emotions. I feel that it helped me a lot with so much. My teacher, Mr. Kavanagh, tested our abilities with prompts and assignments for new poems. These prompts included: Identity, Characters, 2nd Person, Symbolism, Anything, Empathy, 'I Believe Words Can...', Love, and Spoken poetry. Each prompt was a new challenge for me.


This Poem was for the idea of, "A song of Love and Hate". It was a contrast poem about things we liked and didn't like. This is mine:


"Half Priced Humans With Two Colored Eyes."

Technical, complex, demanding creatures,
Humans, us, where we fit in,
Our eyes crafted from stars,
Cobalt, emerald, silver,
Hazel, auburn, charcoal,
No one color assigned into eyes.

But mixtures, combinations, problems,
Puzzles compose us,
Our soft fair skin,
As if snow look dingy,
Nature held in our impulse to touch and hold,
Curiosity to open locked doors,
To understand our world,
Grace to look and leap with
Illuminated faith and delicate dreams.

Humans, us, where we fit in,
Greedy to have,
To steel,
To own,
Caging ambitions, animals, and opinions,
Cluttered with possessions and filthy
half filled egos,
Our annoyances form dingy allusions
To ugly truths slaughtered with lies.

Showing only our rugged oppression
to hopeless belief,
And broken blooded family ties,
Repulsive when we slam insult
into open wounds.

Humans, us, where we fit in,
Mixed and unsettled,
Like a dog with two colored eyes,
One black,
One blue,
No certain solution to ourselves,
Technical, complex, demanding creatures,
Humans, us, where we fit in.

Hey there!

So, I guess to start off with I should say something about myself. My name is Elizabeth M. Harbour and I'm from New Mexico, born and raised. There is nothing truly special about me, just normal stuff. I'm the youngest and I have one older sister, Emily. The age difference between my sister and I is about 9 years, so having a close sisterly best friend-ish relationship was hard to get. I love her and the rest of my family but closeness is hard for me. I attend school in Santa Fe, which is an amazing town when you don't live there. I'm on the swim and dive team for my high school and I'm in the schools band. I'll probably be posting about both those things in the future and if you plan to make, "This one time at band camp..." Jokes, don't be surprised if I'm not shocked about them. I do ride motorcycles and spend time with my lovely friends. I'm just a normal teenager, for the most part. This last year for me, has been truly insane. High school is a war zone all on it's own but my life took a couple of strange twists. In November, 25th to be exact, I held my grandfathers hand for the last time. It tore me apart when 3 days later we laid him in the ground. Exactly 3 months later, January 25th, My sister gave birth to her first child. Ella Louise Hamilton was born in my bath tub and she is the prize of our family. You can call it what you want, but I believe that my grandfather sent Ella to us. Somewhere in that 3 month span I had my wrist broken and lost my chance to go to state for swimming. I was thrilled that Isabel, My amazing friend, took my place on the relay team and went. You'll learn more about me later as I continue to go, but that was just to catch you up.


I guess one of the reasons I'm doing this blog is to just write and share about the things I'm going through. Mostly it's going to be just day to day stuff with a dash of pure excitement snuck in when no one is expecting it. The other main reason I've started this blog was because I was told to do so by my poetry teacher, Mr. Kavanagh. I'm supposed to be able to put my work out there so other people can read it and I can see how it impacts others. So my writing is going to be a main part of my blog too. Lets be honest, You can't expect my writing to be so freaking amazing that it brings you to tears but I do ask that you give it a chance. It's become a part of who I am. Probably the last reason I started this blog, was so I can look back and see how far I've come. I'm really going to try and keep this updated. It's so I can see my own little adventures. I wish I was going on a huge, life changing journey like one of my best friends Isabel. She's spending a full year in Turkey for schooling next year, and I couldn't be more thrilled for her. But I guess my daily life will have to do for the time being. I'll start my poems and thoughts soon.
~Goodbye for now