Here's to Pine Lake

So, tonight in my English methods class, we talked about the writing process. We discussed "writing territories," which are experiences, memories, and pieces of life that are unique to each individual. These territories are things that have the potential to become powerful pieces of writing, and as teachers it's our responsibility to stir up these things within our students and make them into powerful writers.

My teacher (who I absolutely love and adore) asked us to pick one of our own "territories" and spend ten minutes writing about it. The product of that ten minutes was surprising to me... I think it came out pretty good, so I thought I'd share. Don't laugh at me, as I am certainly not a poet. I am, however, passionate about the things I write about. And so, here's a little piece of my life...

Here’s to the buzz of mosquitoes and the smelly lake

To the out of touch with what’s outside the gates

To no AC and making friends

To cabin two and Otter’s Den

Here’s to growing out of monkey bars

But still crying when you load the cars

Here’s to the campfires and the songs

To the heart-to-hearts and all night longs

To capture the flag and giant foursquare,

To JEF LANDIS is the man and messy hair

Here’s to sweaty and smelly and sticky and sleepy

To that one right song that gets you weeping

Here’s to camp romances that never last

And the special ones that make it past

The seven weeks that aren’t enough

Here’s to your counselor and leaving all your stuff

Here’s to leaving different than you came

And coming back to the familiar ache

Of life and love and beauty

Here’s to Pine Lake