to picture

if only you'd write me a letter
a real letter
like you used to do before
we started emailing everybody
before email made it too convenient
for you to write me at all
i'd surely mail a letter back
with handwritten words to describe
an image of that light
from that closet
you remember
the one with the crooked door
slightly open, always
often unsought when we played
not like now, here
you wouldn't remember
along an edge where that certain line
vibrated obscure and half-glowing
a beam so faint but lyrical
almost bouncing, fretful
went round and round and was
very nearly imperceptible
a subtle glory
it was warm, a baby's soft chin, a cheek
nudging itself against
fallen blankets of auburn hair, yours

J.H. Lee '09

writing the blogosphere bio

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i blogged down my life story

made it public record

made it truthful

with all the really important factoids

and rites of passage

a siren-song of one life

i blogged it all down with a once-over

many times over and over

made it spell-checked to perfection

made it all grammatically correct

with all the necessary punctuations

and capitalizations

without dangling anything

or misplacing anything

worthy of an english professor’s praise

i blogged down the details

made them ring with feeling and pride

made them worth reading, for some

with all the tasty morsels well-defined

and characters well-developed, quite ripe

a piece of the blog-universe

the millionth one created today

aphorisms from noah's bedside

have a purpose. have a clear vision. take your own advice. dream BIG!! start small but don't think small. believe in yourself. don't get discouraged. but when you do, pick yourself back up, and quickly. learn to have more faith in the world. take pride in your accomplishments and successes. maintain focus. don't try to do too many things at once. tackle them one at a time. try not to deviate.

stay inspired. work hard. but don't be so hard on yourself. always know what's really important in your life. be kind. show gratitude. don't think everybody's out to get you. be honest. bounce back. ALWAYS know you can. fear and weakness are temporary and fleeting. maintain strength of character. show up; be present. don't cower. embrace challenges. believe there's an answer to every problem because, if you look hard enough, chances are you'll find the answer. solutions are often in the unlikeliest places. keep your mind and eyes open. enjoy surprises. take heart. don't turn away from help. and don't turn help away. make your time matter. mean what you say. realize you're not perfect. ain't nobody. but don't let that stop you from reaching for perfection. limitations are what you make them. persevere. improvise. be patient--it's not a race to a finish line. so you stumble and fall. be gentle with yourself. get over it. move on. don't ever give up easily or without trying. but determine wisely when it's best to quit. quitting isn't the worst that can happen. don't get downhearted. there are and will be plenty of other opportunities. believe that. enjoy the moment. be creative. you are your own measuring bar. keep the bar high. stretch as far as you can, then stretch a little farther. anything worth doing is worth a good attempt. you can't succeed unless you try-- cliche holds true.

heroes still exist as do heroic acts-- it doesn't matter the scale. share your misery as well as your good fortune. but don't brag. and don't fool yourself-- reality can be, and sometimes is, ugly. you can't always have it your way. but you can still be content. look for the good in things and you'll find it hiding somewhere. keep your eyes on the road ahead, from moment to moment, but remember the "now" is where you operate.

resist creature comforts. but don't torture yourself. be pleased with pleasure. grow up; don't grow old. the former is a sign of maturity and wisdom; the latter is one step away from death. be persistent but don't mistake it for being stubborn. equate it with strength of mind. acknowledge there's a higher power than yourself, and it's always at work-- in ways you can't possibly imagine. look past the superficial. seek the genuine. and never, ever forget: you determine you. be determined.

-j.h. lee, '09 (not a poem! wow, been awhile. don't mean i'm resorting to prose.)