An Update

I've been very busy with school lately, so I haven't had time to write much of anything lately, let alone anything in my blog. It's sad but true; polarity, electron affinity, Poe, Latin derivatives and a whole bunch of other very smart-sounding information has replaced my blog in the last two weeks.
Today, however, something miraculous has happened. I have showered, cleaned my face, done my homework and worked out for an hour and I STILL HAVE half an hour left over in which I can just...sit!
It's a pretty weird feeling already, and the summer ended less than a month ago.
Anyways. I knew I'd been neglecting my blog, and for the sake of keeping up some sort of writing regime (because, who are we kidding, English class does little in the way of teaching people how to write - senior year of high school and people are still confusing "your" and "you're") I have decided to write in here ONCE MORE. The only problem is that aside from posting poorly written, meandering poems about butterflies, I don't have much to say. I guess I'll just summarize my school year so far, for the sake of having everything that's going on with me organized in my mind:
Firstly, I have four classes this semester: Latin (III), Chemistry, English and Biology. I'm interested in all those subjects, and so far they're all going well. I like some teachers better than others, but nothing too horrible has happened yet. Trust me; you will know when something horrible happens.
Secondly, I am currently juggling five extra-curriculars (soon to be six, HOPEFULLY seven) and I have made a promise to myself that I will NOT join any more extra-curriculars this year, so as not to overwork myself. Although, damn, those school newspaper sign-up sheets do look tempting.
Thirdly, it has become too dark and wildly erratic, weather-wise, to run consistently. For this reason I am going to be swimming several times a week so that I can hopefully get that freaking arrow to go to the left on the scale.
Fourthly, I am sporadically but surely continuing to write my novel (which shall henceforth be referred to as That Novel I'm Writing, or TNIW) and I am going to put aside a solid chunk of time this weekend to just write - to put down all my ideas and hope that some of them stick.
Finally, I think it is a testament to my dedication to language and the written word that right now, when I could be sleeping, I am writing this post. I am DELAYING SLEEP because I want to keep up a regular writing schedule. Do you know how big a deal that is for me? Anyhow. I think that this proves how ridiculously committed I am to this silly writing thing. So in summary, be happy this post even exists! It takes a very determined brain to work when it is this tired.
And now, I'm off to catch some shut-eye. See y'all.

I Saw A Monarch Butterfly

I saw a monarch butterfly today
Floating on the thermals
That whisked about above my head
Hurrying forward

The wings were stiff and still and sure
Trusting the changeable wind
To carry it forward, to hurry it on
As it floated

A butterfly is an insect, a monarch
Of the tiny things
The powder on its wings is so
Ephemeral

The legs are spindles upon spindles
The thinnest of glass
I could break them with a breath, a touch
Shatter their everything

And yet, and yet, and then
The butterfly is sure
Letting the wind whisk it forward
Confidently

I lumber forth, protected from
The changeable wind
My boots, leather, plastic, polyester
Swaddle my feet

Nothing can touch me, for I am
Creation, Nature, God
To the smallest of smalls, the monarch butterfly
Flying forth

And yet, and then, and yet,
I use caution
I consider my options, painstaking, questioning
Myself

How is it that the monarch butterfly
Flies stiff, still, sure
On the changeable, ephemeral wind
And I hesitate?

The monarch butterfly is vulnerable
The wind could change
The clouds could rain and storm and thunder
If they wished

The wings of the butterfly never
Never hesitate
They stay on course forever
Completely sure

I walk through the slight breeze
With such purpose
I am that most important of things
I am human

I cry to the mindless wind
"Mind me!"
"Listen to my ideas, complex and varied!"
"Splendid!"

At every fork in the road
I stop
I think and weigh options as the wind
Continues forward

The butterfly never stops its flight
Through space
It does not question with its considerable brain
It glides forth

I saw a monarch butterfly today
Flying on the wind
I endeavor to fly, stiff, still, sure, but
I hesitate

The Only Good Thing About High School

It is that time of year again. We are inching towards the end of August, and all the little childrens' smiles are fading once more. Pencil cases are being pulled out of dusty drawers, and string bikinis are being tucked away for another long year.
Alas, it is school time again, and I can feel the universal groan of pain in my bones. Up here in snowy Canada (actually it is extraordinarily hot right now, but indulging Canadian stereotypes online is one of my favourite pastimes), high school begins after Labour day, on the 7th of September. This means that I have five days in which to mentally prepare myself for another agonizing school year. Of course, like any responsible and forward-thinking student, I've already done all the physical preparation. I've bought my back-to-school cardigans, plaid shirts and fun headbands. I've purchased the required agenda, pencil case, pencil case fillers, binders and shiny new school bag. I have chatted with my guidance counsellor and straightened out my schedule so that all my intelligent-sounding courses are on my timetable (case in point: Studies in Literature. Daunting, no?)
However. I have not been given any sort of instructions as to how to mentally prepare myself for another grueling year. This is something which, apparently, the school board and teachers and janitors and counsellors have decided that the students must do on their own.
So, in an attempt to prepare myself, I started thinking about school and its myriad facets. The cafeteria that has always reminded me of a holding pen for cattle. The girls in English class who text on their iPhones all period and ask me, in the last five minutes of the class, to explain to them the entire day's lesson. The friend of a friend with whom I have to feign enthusiasm about Justin Bieber.
But then I remembered that I was forgetting about a pretty major part of school. It's something a lot of high school students tend to forget, and I only caught my mistake a few days into my halfhearted preparation.
I forgot about the actual school part of school. You know, classes. Teachers. Textbooks. Learning. And I realized that school, and high school especially, is an extraordinarily special place. Elementary school is focused on giving you the basics in any and all subjects, and by university or college, you pretty much know what you want to do. High school, however, allows you to focus solely on yourself. Whatever your interests, whatever you want to learn and pursue, there is a teacher willing to dedicate his or her time to teaching it to you. It is a place created entirely so that teenagers can indulge their every whim and learn all about whatever it is that interests them. Of course, it's also about producing literate adults who can join the workforce, but more than that, it it provides us with a very important opportunity. It gives us - the teens - four years in which we can be undecided, and we can be passionate, and we can do whatever we want to do because we are being compelled to do what we want to do. I'm still pretty young, but I have a feeling that that opportunity doesn't show up too many times in life.
This year, I am taking three Science courses. I'm also taking a Studies in Literature course and two separate English courses, as well as a Functions class. I am taking all of those courses not because they are requirements for a job that will keep a roof over my head, but because they interest me, and because I can.
I think I'm prepared for another year of high school.