Memoirs of My Husband



My Husband is the Sexiest Man Alive
I woke up this morning to Jennifer Wright's AC's Sexiest Men of 2009 article. Inspired, I'll toss a nomination for my husband as sexiest man. But this in no way detracts from Jennifer's list of highly desirable AC men.
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Writer's Guide: Article to Page View Ratio



Guide to Increase Online Article Page Views: Consider Your Article to Page View Ratio
Many quality articles have been written at Associated Content and other online venues about SEO, keywords and other tools for succeeding an online writer. Here's an oft overlooked factor: article count to page view ratio.
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Thanksgiving Thoughts

Thanksgiving Thoughts on Loved Ones
How many times have I assigned students to write that Thanksgiving holiday essay entitled, 'What I Am Thankful for'. Family always tops the list. I'm thankful for my family, always, and in memory of a boy named Michael.
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Writing YA Fiction or Coming-of-Age Stories? 14 Must-Read Authors


Mature Reading for Teen High School Boys and Young Adults
It's a sad fact that the majority of teenage boys and young men do not read anything beyond magazines or newspapers. Here is list of literature guaranteed to get teen boys and men hooked on books. Excellent for YA authors.
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Happy Baby Feet: A Poem to Our Stillborn Daughter Isobella Raine

To Our Daughter, Isobella Raine Sachteleben Born and Died June 28, 2004
It's been 12 years since baby had to go. A tiny little soul, not quite ready in body. It's really sad when hello is also goodbye.

when did it happen

i'd really like to know

she was so alive

just why did she have to go?

  sweet child grew
 
  tiny heart beat
 
  sleeping baby beauty
 
  in my secret deep

  lovely baby feet
 
  dancing in my womb
 
  when did happy feet
 
  cease to hear the tune?

  baby girl and me
 
  whisper soft kiss
 
  living in our joy
 
  in happy baby bliss

  would her eyes be

  like daddy's baby blue?
 
  maybe long dark curls
 
  like her mama, too?

  pretty baby smile

  warm, golden glow
 
  glad you stayed awhile
 
  why did you have to go?

  why did she have to go?
 
  i asked the universe today
 
  i know she plays in heaven
 
  but i wanted her to stay.

  why, she never left
 
  Love said in great surprise
 
  she dwells within your soul

  and shines out from your eyes

  your tears upon his cheek
 
  kisses from Isobella Raine
 
  his strong arms 'round you
 
  are shelter from the pain

  sweet daddy and dear mama
 
  i didn't want to go
 
  but Blessed Mother held my hand
 
  so it wouldn't hurt you so

  and when you see that baby star
 
  that's me smilin' on you
 
  and when my little star twinkles
 
  that's me playin' peek-a-boo

Big Lake Poems: Acorn benediction and Oak Leaf offertory



November fall leaf funerals
grampa in flannel coat and ear-flap cap
me in fur-trimmed jacket and pom-pom hat
big rake and little rake

26 trees in grampa's yard  
oaks with crunchy-crisp fall-down-brown leaves  
and thousands of acorns
kept us and squirrels hunting and gathering

grampa boasting with neighbor  
of how many bags each would offer 
on his autumn harvest pyre
each secretly sure his sacrifice would please most

On cracked cement altar  
leaves piled ceremoniously high  
consumed in flame under watchful eye  
of grampa against shifting winds

leaves to ashes, ashes to dust
pom-pom clad mourner bids farewell
rest in peace, rainbow friends
to nourish next year's soil

but acorns were not burned
acorns explode sending out soul sparks
that singe unwary watchers
their little selves spared, but only for autumn-greedy squirrels

close my eyes and i can smell
oak-leaf incense from ritual burning
hanging heavy-hazy under leaden November clouds 
sharp, sad fire-fall fragrance

summer oak bounty smoldering
on heaps of crimson and ash
tolling Indian summer death knell
somber scent of endings and good-bye
  
  

Halloween Haiku: The Dead


The Dead- a Haiku
Another Halloween Haiku from my friends at Associated Content. This is Rissa Watkins prize winning Halloween haiku,'The Dead' Pure creepy in 17 syllables.
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