Month: July 2020

A Gift – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment 
sun shining through the shutters, the world
smiles down on you today. the scent of bacon
and toast wafts up the stairs, but you only have
eyes for the big, gold box that's been in your

room untouched for weeks. open me! the sparkly
scarlet gift tag reads. and so you do, tearing the
paper off a box, the satisfying noise slicing 
through the humid air. to your disappointment, 

the box is empty. but the doorbell is ringing and 
you have to go answer it. could it be? the person
you've been missing for so many hours, so many
sleepless nights....

I hope you enjoyed this poem! It was definitely a cheesy one, but I tried to remove the cliché reunion ending, so that’s up to your interpretation. Please let me know if you have any feedback on this piece or any writing challenges you’d like me to try in the near future. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

Poems I’ve Read Recently That You Should Too

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

Today I’m going to be sharing some poems I’ve recently read and enjoyed. All of them are works I’ve discussed in my writing workshop last week, since that’s what I’ve been doing this entire week. It’s been an amazing experience and you can definitely expect a whole separate post on that sometime soon. If you’re interested in reading some awesome poems and possibly discovering new poets, keep on reading!

I hope you’re inspired to check out some of these poems! It’s been such an amazing experience to take part in a writing workshop and get exposed to so many different authors and types of poetry. Please let me know if you have any favorite poets or poems you think I should check out. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

Happy Place(s) – Poem by Me

Brooke4 Comments 
where is your happy place
       not the one out in the world, the one in your head

do you imagine beaches, forests, mountains
       or something else altogether in that little space

that no one else can invade, the place safe 
       from everyone in the world, including yourself 

or do you imagine something different,
       something secret, not to be described in words on the page

i wish i could show you mine
       through a window to my thoughts

but instead i will let you wonder where
       it is, and try to let your mind take you there yourself

I hope you enjoyed this piece! It’s interesting to reflect on what your happy place really is, or at least what you think it is/the idea of it. Please let me know if you have any feedback or writing challenges you’d like to share. Stay safe and healthy out there!

Brooke

On An Island – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment 
a couple years ago, i was far away from home
the ocean was my view as far as i could see

and i couldn't believe the greenery around me
i didn't appreciate or realize how easy it was

to fall into the island lifestyle, island time
until i returned. but those weeks and how much i

enjoyed them are my little secret. a motion picture
in my mind to play and remind myself

of the island life i could have, and the island life
i might live permanently one day.

I hope you enjoyed this piece! It was based off my trip to Hawaii I took two years ago. Of course, it makes sense that I’m longing for beaches and vacation time since I know I won’t be able to travel for a long time. I’m not a huge traveler and no one in my family is either, but I cherish the opportunities I’ve had to see new places. Please share any feedback or writing challenges you’d like me to consider! Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

Loose Ends – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment 
i never thought you would be an ending
someone that i had to cut loose and

tie up in my mind so i wouldn't think about
you anymore. and once we had our ending,

i never thought i would miss you this much
and want to reminisce on our beginning

like an old, forgotten pair of shoes from some
special event that you just want to walk

around in again and wear one last time before
sending them off to the donation bin

i'm sorry it had to be this way and i wish i 
wasn't sitting here comparing us to shoes

but we've come to an end, and i need to tighten
up before i come undone and let you in again

I hope you enjoyed this piece! As a side note, I’m honestly not sure what the featured image for this post is (I get all my pictures from unsplash.com, they are not mine!). I just thought it looked interesting and that the vibe fit with this poem. Please feel free to share any feedback or writing challenges you may have and want me to consider. Stay safe and healthy out there!

Brooke

Kaleidoscope – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment 
i am surrounded by color but i feel
so grey. what you can see when you

care to look is mesmerizing, so i continue
to be an observer through this lens

and try to wash myself with the vibrant
hues of what i see. i want to swim

in rainbow rivers, travel to places that
don't exist outside of my mind. 

when i see the colors, i can imagine
it all being real

I hope you enjoyed this piece! I kind of got inspired by myself– that sounds so narcissistic– what I mean is a line from a piece I wrote in my writing workshop had the word “kaleidoscope” in it, and that gave me the idea to write this poem. It’s a fun one, as I love to write about color. Please share any feedback or writing challenges you may want me to consider trying out, and stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

In The Hills – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment 
there's a place we can go
to ride our bikes or take a hike
up in these hills the possibilities
feel endless and there's not

another soul in the world 
they're greener this year, rolling
with grass. i think they only get
more and more beautiful

i'll take you there and we can
talk about our dreams until
the sun sets and the sky turns black
we can be free up in these hills

I hope you enjoyed this piece! I would love to go to a place like the one I described 🙂 Also, since I forgot to say it before, happy July everyone! I can’t believe how fast time is flying. Stay safe and healthy out there. Please feel free to share any feedback or writing challenges you’d like me to try out in the future in the comments!

Brooke

Independence Day – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment 
America, you shine today
we look past your flaws and the chinks
in your armor to see the best in our
past, present, and future

we light the sky up in every color
for you. in honor of your existence,
we fly the flags high and deck the world
out in red, white, and blue

we pretend the world is not hurting
because our nation must act strong
to be strong, and the fireworks are oh
so beautiful

I hope you enjoyed this piece! Happy 4th of July to all my American readers. I’m usually not the most patriotic person, but that was kind of the point in writing this poem. The fireworks in my area were sadly cancelled due to COVID-19, but hopefully you guys have some local fireworks that you can watch while social distancing. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

One Year Of This Blog!

Brooke2 Comments

Hello everyone!

Today I wanted to take some time to write a quick thank you and acknowledgement of the one year anniversary of this blog. Technically I started it in mid-June of 2019, but I feel like I didn’t really get into it or start planning for what I wanted to center this blog around until July 2019. Nonetheless, I cannot believe it’s been almost a year of me posting daily and sharing my thoughts with the world on here.

Thank you so so so much to anyone viewing this, anyone who has viewed my other posts, and anyone who has taken the time to like one of my posts or comment something nice. It makes me smile to see that people enjoy reading my musings and like my poetry, and I hope that my posts can be helpful or entertaining to you all in some way.

It’s funny how although I still don’t have a definitive direction to take this blog in (it’s definitely more of a fun little side project), I have narrowed the focus of my posts so much throughout this past year. I originally wrote about so many things, but I’ve been consistently posting poetry/writing content and the occasional school post for the past couple months. I never thought I would be sharing my poetry on the Internet, let alone so frequently, but here I am! It’s been such a nice experience to know that my work is being seen and can resonate with others.

Thank you for sticking with me this past year if you’ve been here since the beginning, and thank you for coming along for the ride if you’ve joined anytime since. I appreciate each and every one of you! This blog is clearly so personal to me, and I never imagined that more than a couple people would really care about what I had to say.

Please know that I am always open to feedback, suggestions, and just having a conversation! I know I may have attracted readers from the various types of content I previously dabbled in, so just let me know if there’s something you’d like to see or a category of post I haven’t made in a while that you enjoyed. Although I write these posts just for fun, I still want to make sure that other people can enjoy what I’m putting out.

As a side note– I know times are really tough right now, physically, emotionally, financially– all of it. Reading blogs and books and the like is honestly such a nice escape from the news, other exhausting forms of media, and reality in general. I’m not just saying this because I want you to read my posts. I’m saying it because I know we all need to give ourselves some TLC right now, and reading can be super relaxing, enriching, and entertaining all in one. If you need some book recommendations, check out my recent post about the books I’ve read in spring. I will be making a similar post at the end of summer about all the books I read in the summer months.

Happy one year of this blog! Hopefully there are many more to come. Thank you all again 🙂 Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

Check Out AP Study Resources

Brooke1 Comment

Welcome back everyone!

I recently made a website called AP Study Resources with links to videos, study guides, notes, and any other helpful resources I’ve come across that will help you excel in your APs next year! If you’re interested in learning more, keep on reading and check out the site here.

I had the idea to make the website because while searching for extra resources to study for my AP European History and AP Psychology tests this year, it was hard to find everything I needed in one spot. There’s so many amazing free resources on the Internet, but it can be difficult to find them and keep track of them. I decided to get started on making a hub for all of them, and that was that.

I currently only have dedicated pages to the APs I’ve taken (AP Human Geography, AP European History, and AP Psychology) but I have been digging for resources for other classes and more classes will definitely be added to the website soon; it’s in my best interest too, as I will be taking 5 APs next year! The website is currently a rough outline of what I want it to be, but I wanted to get the word out on this blog so you guys are aware of it for next school year and can bookmark it or scan it now.

If you’re interested and end up checking out the site, please let me know what you think and what additional classes you’d like me to add first! I’ll probably do the 5 that I’m taking, and any requested/most common ones next. I hope this can help out some of you guys next year and/or in years to come.

Make sure to check out the website here. I haven’t bought the domain or anything yet since it’s just a side project, but I might in the future if it ends up being helpful to a lot of people just so I can get the word out easier. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke