CLOUDBURST   Hot summer day has  not been a drop of rain for weeks. Heat rising across parched  earth worms fried in the sun. Salt bakes on sweaty skin and there is no  respite in sight.   Until  now.   It comes from the  distance a dark ominous pillar of fluff bringing a torrent of water to  beat up the ground bury the worms bathe the skin and offer momentary  refuge from summer?s intensity.   Here for a  moment spent in an instant ...   we bake  again.

 

EVENTUAL  TIDES The sun has just begun its daily  climb as the water brushes gently all the rocks  upon the shore. The gulls begin their  daily search and the  clouds gather and build, and in a moment, vanish in a breath. Today, there is no  crashing, there is no fight for one's place at  water's edge, only a soft swish as  one wave enters and then  slowly backs away, leaving it's temporary mark upon the sand. Sand and rock, a minute  barrier to the endless arrival of the infinite  blue sea. And yet, this same  sea only has a moment to  seep, to soak, to become part of the endless shore stretching before me. The sun continues to  move across skies azure, or painted  grey. The eventual tides  that are yet to come will  find a way to leave their mark, the evidence of a short  life, passionately fulfilled.

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Copyright 2006 Michelle Wooten

All Rights Reserved

 

Born on July 26, 1961, I grew up traveling with my family until I was 7  years old, when my parents decided to "settle" in Tulsa, OK.  I am the  oldest of 4 children, my dad is an entertainer/singer, my mom, a teacher.   It is from my mom that I developed my love of words, from my father that I  developed some lyrical sense, and from my siblings that I learned to be heard  through writing.   I went to high school in Tulsa, OK, and graduated from Bishop  Kelley High School; went to Trinity University in San Antonio, TX and received  my Bachelor Degree in Elementary and Special Education.  I later received  my Master's Degree in Special Education, Behavior Disorders, from the University  of Kansas, Edwards Campus.  I was a teacher of children with behavior  disorders for 16 years.  I currently teach mathematics at the middle and  high school level in an alternative disciplinary campus in Houston, Texas.   I began writing poetry when I was 13 years old, and have always written as  a way to express hopes and dreams, fears and frustrations, loves and hates,  sadness and tears, and wonder at the world in which I live.  Four years ago  I discovered on-line poetry groups and have been writing improvisationally in  these venues.  I also discovered a love for the Spanish language, and began  writing poetry in Spanish as well.   Married and divorced, I live with my two daughters, Rochelle (18), and Abbe  (7), our dog Ellie May, and our cat Lucy.  I play flute in a community  symphonic band at a local junior college.  I love to read, travel, learn,  and write ... above all, write!