World War 1 Diary Entry

Diary,
When I was drafted to be a part of World War 1, never did I expect to spend my time
living—actually, it cannot even be called that—surviving, in a hole in the
ground. These trenches that we had to dig ourselves are our homes for the
entire time we have to take part in this horrendous fight. The noise that
surrounds us is deafening, and it would be of no surprise to me if I return
home deaf. That is, if I return home. The conditions of this hole are exactly
what you would expect—filthy, cold, and very uncomfortable. The amount of rats
and repulsive animals are overwhelming. These rats consume the eyes and livers
of human bodies and dash over our faces as we attempted to get some sleep. With
the sickening animals, thunderous noises, and unbearable cold, sleep is very
rare. It is not a life worth living; I’m very close to climbing the towering
walls of this trench and stepping foot on “No Man’s Land” and ending my life. The
only thing stopping me is my hope that I can leave this torturous fight and
return home to my beautiful family. They mean the world to me and leaving them
was the hardest thing a man could have to do. My worst fear is that I will
never see them again—my wife’s gorgeous face, my son’s handsome features, or my
daughter’s sweet cheeks. Well now my hand is growing cold due to the lack of
warmth in this trench, so I must go. Who knows if I shall write again.
- John Gohlke

Jekyll and Hyde #3

Author's Note: I chose to write about how we can become enslaved in our responsibilities, but that is not always a bad thing. Sometimes we can help ourselves, or even others, by completing the tasks that should be done. I was inspired by Lanyon's dedication to his responsibilities from Jekyll. I don't think the poem I wrote sounds that sophisticated, but I think it gets my point across and I like how it turned out. Have fun reading(:

Determining Factor

A bright sunny day,

Just time spent the usual way.

One more hour by the pool,

Simply for kids to stay cool.

Watching from a distance,

There only for assistance.

Merely one more hour,

Til I can head to the shower.

Two heads bobbing in the deep end,

Just a boy and his best friend.

Every day they are here again,

For the whole summer it has been.

Glancing to my magazine,

Just slightly away from the scene.

The latest gossip and advice,

But I paid an awful price.

Flailing arms catch my eye,

Looks like my turn to be the good guy.

Racing thoughts fill my mind,

As a little boy gasping is what I find.

Now’s the time to show what I’ve learned,

My mind however, is just concerned.

Responsibility flooding my brain,

Feelings I simply cannot explain.

Knowing what I had to do,

I jumped down from my chair and then, just flew.

With confidence, I saved this boy,

Feelings overwhelmed me; feelings of joy.

Making decisions important to some,

Realizing that when called I would come.

I do what is asked,

And will follow my past.

I saved the life of someone’s son

Simply doing what had to be done.

Sometimes I feel I am enslaved,

But what a reward to save the hand that waved.

Jekyll and Hyde #2

Author's Note: This is just me experimenting with creative writing. I wanted to write about fire and the significance it has in the story of Jekyll and Hyde. I thought about how Hyde was created; he was probably just an idea of Jekyll's and wasn't supposed to get so serious. I also thought that now that Jekyll is rid of Hyde he should emerge even stronger.
One thing I tried with this is kind of creating two poems and putting them together. So if you read lines 1, 3, 5, and so on, it will be Fire. Lines 2, 4, 6, and so on, will be Evil Within Us. And if you read it all at once, it's just one poem with deeper thoughts every other line.
I don't know how smooth this will sound to anyone besides me, but I hope you enjoy the poem!

Fire
Evil Within Us

Starts with a spark,
A revelation of evil.
A minute matter that encourages a small idea to become reality,
An opportunity to expect the unexpected.

Engulfs everything it can reach,
Nothing can cloud it's lights.
Ashes present an unrecognizable world,
Constantly fighting to reach the outside.

Ends in destruction,
Such sort of evil was once unbelievable.
Everything once known, now vanished,
A mysterious type of gift.

Finishes as proof,
Although one may not realize.
Fire might damage us,
In the end though, we're only stronger.

Jekyll and Hyde #1

Author’s Note: Not knowing everything seemed to be a reoccurring theme in the first three chapters of Jekyll and Hyde. It always appeared as if there was a little piece of information that the characters weren’t given and had to do without. I decided to write about this topic. I feel like I could’ve made this a little longer, but I think I got my point across in how it is now. These were the quotes I was inspired from…
“…and I always mean
to see more of him…” (57).
“’I have been learning something of young Hyde’” (57).
Enjoy(:

Constantly spinning, the world rotates, taking with it oddly shaped pieces that would help solve the puzzle we are forever creating. It seems as if this powerful planet is persistently trying to hide things so we cannot piece together all of the answers to life’s questions. It’s as if there is a bigger cause, a reason we cannot easily retrieve the information we want, a motive behind the confusion, an explanation for the worry and grief we must experience.

If we were to take a step back, just to realize what we are given, we might be able to comprehend that maybe, just maybe, we are better off not knowing everything. If we knew all there is to know, nothing would interest us any longer. And as humans, excitement is what we live for. Life is better with a little unknown, a little mystery, a little discovery.