Mary+Grace

=**Original Poems**=

I feel the thrill of solving **a m**ystery and I touch history through **a**ll the places I explore. I hear the whispers of unanswered questio**n**s and I see the livid f**a**ces of criminals I’ve caught.
 * "I Am..." Poem**
 * I ** am an amateur sleuth.

I worry about the danger I’**m** sure to get in and I pretend I’m not sc**a**red when I really am. I wan**t** to fight crime and help innocent people, but I worry my father worries about m**e** too much. I cry when I think about my mother, tho**u**gh I know I am blessed to have f**r**iends and family.

I wonder what mysterie**s** lurk around the corner. I understand a**l**l mysteries don’t have an answer, but I say th**e**re’s not a mystery that I can’t solve. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I dream about where my next <range type="comment" id="217230">advent**u**re will take me. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I hope i**t**’s somewhere exciting and intriguing. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I am an amateur sleut**h**.

**<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">[|I Will Never Forget]- A Pantoum **
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I will never forget <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">the rush of victory, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">the thrill of <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">scoring a goal.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The rush of victory <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">is like nothing else. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Score a goal, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">and it’s <range type="comment" id="495190">like you are on top of the world.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Like nothing else <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I have ever felt, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">it was like I was on top of the world <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">when that small orange ball flew from my stick and hit the back of the goal.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I have felt <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">the thrill of <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">that small orange ball flying from my stick and hitting the back of the goal. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"><range type="comment" id="307018">I will never forget.

=Poem By Another Author=

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I don't know what it is, <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">but I distrust myself <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">when I start to like a girl <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">a lot.
 * "It's Raining in Love" by Richard Brautigan**

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">It makes me nervous. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I don’t say the right things <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">or perhaps I start <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">to <range type="comment" id="838859">examine, <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">evaluate, <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">compute <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">what I am saying.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">If I say, “Do you think it’s going to rain?” <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">and she says, “I don’t know,” <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I start thinking: Does she really like me?

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">In other words <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I get a little creepy.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">A friend of mine once said, <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">“It’s twenty times better to be friends <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">with someone <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">than it is to be in love with them.”

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I think he’s right and besides, <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">it’s raining somewhere, programming flowers <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">and keeping snails happy. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">That’s all taken care of.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">BUT

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"><range type="comment" id="635673">if a girl likes me a lot <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">and starts getting real nervous <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">and suddenly begins asking me funny questions <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">and looks sad if I give the wrong answers <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">and she says things like, <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">"Do you think it's going to rain?" <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">and I say, "It beats me," <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">and she says, "Oh," <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">and looks a little sad <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">at the clear blue California sky, <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I think: Thank God, it's you, baby, this time <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">instead of me.