Writers Corner March 23, 2012

HARRY'S WAY

A modest man, a thoughtful man,

inventing just for play,

his busy mind was always kind,

and sought a better way.

He spent his days in sunny rays,

or misty cold and rain,

on mountainside in forest wide,

with chain saws in refrain.

A logger's life beside his wife,

they gathered far and wide,

while setting tongs, she's writing songs,

and hauling logs with pride.

His life was blessed with food and rest,

and Harry was content,

his gadgets grew and patents too,

with time that was well-spent.

No longer bound, he can't be found,

he's off to just explore,

his timber fall and whistle call,

will echo evermore.

- Jeff Simonson, Kellogg

HOW FAR

How dense and deep

Can mankind go?

Will the sins of

Life forever grow.

How long should we

Kneel upon our knees?

How many years must we

Pray, please Lord please?

Will the time come

To say, no Satan no?

How dense and deep

Can mankind go?

- Keith Sargent, Mullan

WHAT BEING A WRITER MEANS TO ME

The first thing that comes to my mind is CHALLENGE. I like the

word CHALLENGE. It moves my very being. GREATEST in front of the word

CHALLENGE presents even a command that requires more attention. Now we

have added the word WRITER. Am I a writer?

You bet I am, and I love it.

When I am writing I am in a COMFORT zone. Mmmmm, I am finally having

the opportunity to be creative. My comfort zone keeps me at ease, cool, calm,

collected, and creative. I am in my own world.

I am now at the place where I am RELAXED. I am tickling the keys of my

computer, and what do you know? I am having FUN. Yes, I said FUN and

RELAXED. I am, I am, and I am. I am Joan the writer plus I am getting better all

the time. I am having so much FUN every day that I write.

I am thinking back how much being a writer meant to me. How it got me

through some tough times. I wrote my mother every day for 40 years plus,

addressed the envelopes a year ahead of time, and carried them with me

everywhere. I always had them with me.

Today I carry and write postcards to relatives, and friends. I think it is like carrying a

writer's journal, diary, calendar, notepad or your personal hand palm. I love the

computer, but it doesn't take the place of pen and paper.

Everyone used to ask me: What do you write about? When do you find the

time? Where do you write? Do you have special stationary?

Do you write at work or at home? My answers were plain and simple. I write about

what I am doing. I write about the children in my classroom. I write about you. I

write about the weather. I write about my husband, two sons, and daughter. I write

about everywhere I go. I write on any sheet of paper that is close to me when I think

of something. I do not necessarily sit down to write. I write standing up when I am

administering a test. I write at home, work, in the car, on the airplane. I just write.

What MEMORIES and REMINISCING floods your very being from head to

toe when you write. You think back when you had your picture taken with Santa

Claus for the first time, and you cried your eyes out when he held you on his lap.

Then he gave you a present of some candy in a stocking, and your tears disappeared in a second.

How about the time when you wrote your first letter? My first letter was to my grandma who lived in a coal-mining town. She wrote me right back, and

before I knew it I was on my first train ride alone to visit my grandparents. When

I returned to school I wrote about going way down in the coal mine, while riding on my grandpa's back. My teacher encouraged me right then and there to be a writer some day. That was in the fifth grade, and from then on I wrote letters every week, and it cost three cents to mail them.

Writing has given me a love for RESEARCH. I love to research any topic

that comes to my mind or requests from patrons at work. I LOVE how HAPPY

people are when through your research they are able to make informed choices

concerning their health care.

What does writing mean to me? It means COMFORT, CHALLENGE, the GREATEST, MEMORIES, REMINISCING, RELAX, FUN, COMFORT, HAPPY, LOVE. What more could I ask for then being a writer?

Write when the day is bright

Write in the darkest night

Every day, all the day

Let us write, write, write!

- Joan S. Hust

The Press Writers Corner features original, creative writing submitted by our readers. It appears most Fridays in the North Idaho Life section of the print edition of The Press. Writers corner submissions can also be viewed online at presswriterscorner.tumblr.com.

Send your Writers Corner submissions to Maureen Dolan, [email protected].

We prefer email submissions, and we ask that you limit the length of your stories and poems. Please include your hometown with your submission.

You can send hard-copies by mail to Maureen Dolan at The Press, 201 Second St., Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814.