Parsley

As school is starting up and many people are having to write papers once more, I thought it fitting to post one of my science reports from a few years ago.
 
WAIT! COME BACK!
 
I know I just said the dreaded words "Science Report", but if you just trust me and read on, I believe you will agree that this is not just any old dry, dusty report. It has life. It has spark. It actually rather stretching it to call it a report. :) Enough praise. On to the report.


 

Parsley

By Melody Beerbower, 2010

I was sitting at a fancy dinner party one day when, glancing at my plate, I noticed a piece of green plant with curly lettuce-like leaves beside my meat.  Am I supposed to eat that? I wondered, not relishing the thought; for, I must admit, I am not particularly fond of green plants.  But, having been taught to eat all the food on my plate, I gingerly picked it up with my fork, eyed it, placed it into my mouth, and chewed – instantly, I started gagging from its slightly bitter taste, but I managed to swallow it with the help of a glass of water.  After I had controlled my choking and gained my composure, I faced the table and realized no one else was eating their plant.  I lost my composure again.  Did I just nearly choke to death for nothing?  Then a disturbing thought crossed my mind: What was it I had eaten anyway.  Could it be poison?   I felt pains in my stomach. 

Suddenly I desperately needed to know what I had eaten.  I nudged my friend who sat beside me.  “What is that green plant by your fish head?” I whispered.

“Green plant?  Oh, you mean the parsley!?”

“Parsley!” I exclaimed.  “I thought parsley was the dried stuff you bought from the store and used to flavor soup!”  To my embarrassment I realized I had spoken aloud, and everyone was staring at me. 

“Parsley,” my friend explained in a superior voice, “has to grow into a plant before you can dry it.”  I blushed deep red.  “There are over thirty varieties of parsley,” he continued.  “The kind with the curly leaves, like the section on my plate,  is the most common kind.  You were right, however, it is an herb – most often dried, but also known as a vegetable rich in vitamins A and B, though it is eaten in such small proportions it doesn’t affect your health.  It is also, as you can see, use to garnish meals.  My suggestion to you is to buy a package of seeds and plant them.”

That’s exactly what I did, after I floundered through the rest of the meal, using the wrong forks and getting my manners all mixed up.  That was the first and last time I ever went to a fancy party.    Instead I went home and studied parsley – finding many fascinating things such as: parsley grows from the core outward which is what makes it look like a bush.  I also started a parsley farm, overcoming the bitter taste of the parsley so much that it is the main part of my diet now.  It’s only green plant I’ll eat.   You may think it’s weird, but I bet my vitamin A and B level is much better than yours.  I guess I have come a long way since my initial taste of parsley.  Now I line all my dishes of food with it and even use it in flower arrangements.

Four on the Floor

Here is another poem for you.

Four on the Floor
By Melody Beerbower Oct. 24, 2012

If you tip your chair back
Someone's sure to say,
"Four on the Floor!
You can't sit that way!"

You need not get angry.
You need not make a fuss.
Just take a nice deep breath,
And explain it to them thus:

"If you care to take a closer look,
Four legs will you find.
Two of them are the chair's;
The other two are mine."


This is a much nicer and shorter version of a poem I wrote by the same title. (Actually if you want to get technical, this poem's ^ title is actually "A better Version of Four on the Floor", but I couldn't really keep it that title if people don't know what the first version is.)

Now some of you may be curious as to what the first version of this poem was, so I will save you the trouble of asking and post it bellow. If your curiosity is not aroused, by all means go and do something else. No one is forcing you to read my blog. At least, I sincerely doubt it...

Anyway, here is the original version. (Ha! Original as in, written about five minutes before the revised one.) You can decide which you like best and comment bellow. I know you all lead very busy lives, and I've probably already wasted more of your time than I should have, so I won't wait with baited breath, but I would be interested in what you have to say.


Four on the Floor
By Melody Beerbower, Oct. 24, 2013

I like to tip my chair back
And sit with two legs in the air,
But my teacher always fusses,
Saying, "I declare!"

"How many time must I tell you?
Keep four legs on the floor!
One of these days you'll tip too far.
Then you'll wish you'd listened more."

I always have an answer
Tucked away inside.
And if I had the courage,
This is what I'd reply:

"Teacher, you were the one who taught me math,
So would you greatly mind?
Count for me all the legs,
And tell me what you find."

"One. Two. Chair legs,
Planted on the floor.
One. Two of my legs
Resting there before."

"If you do the math correctly,
(As you will I'm sure!)
You will find as I did
Two plus two is four."


That is all for today. 

Two Poems For Your Enjoyment

I wrote these poems today. I hope you like them.

A Lady I Know
By Melody Beerbower, Aug. 13, 2013

I know a lady
Whose very precise.
She never drinks water 
When it is ice.
She'll never eat two
Before she has one.
And she never completes something
Until it is done.

The Kingdom's Son
By Melody Beerbower, Aug. 13, 2013

I sat in the castle pondering a thing or two
About the darkness in the kingdom and why it grew.
Then early in the morning, it dawned on me.
I could see all--I'm really quite bright--
The king had a son, and the son ran away last night.

Singing Sketch

I feel like there should be a picture on this post so...here is a picture of a light house.

Now I shall post something a little different from what I've posted before. This is not a story or a poem. It is a little sketch I wrote. What I mean by 'sketch' is a short piece of writing describing a person or scene that I do not want to forget. I may use it on one of my stories later. It is not a boring description I trust. If it is, you can tell me and I'll--I don't know--write you something better...

Singing Sketch

She was a good singer. Her notes were pure and her voice strong. But she flies up and around, warbling first high then low, adding many flourishes and skyrocketing notes, and never gets around to singing the original notes that were written for that song.  I remember one time in particular, the song was drifting along and suddenly, BAM! She’s screaming at me, on key of course. It was one of those songs that everyone half-sings along with, and I did not know where that note came from. It was a lovely note, high and strong and warbley.  It gradually descended in little spurts and backwards trips like one of those tap-dancers  walking down a flight of stairs. They never can walk straight down, they have to hop back up a few steps every so often and just when their about to reach the bottom, they run back up to the middle again.  The only thing that finally stopped the prolonged tap-dancing of her note was she ran out of air, but she held it as long as she could. You could tell, for by the end, she was all hunched over as if she were squeezing the last trickles of air from her lungs. 

Were she not singing, you would have thought her possessed, or at least having a seizure, the way her arms waved in the air. Somehow their flapping helped her sing. I have a strong suspicion that, were she tied to a chair, not one note would be able to pass her brightly painted lips. 

Who actually has brick-red lips? It's unnerving. Especially when they're stretched so wide you wonder if she can unhinge her jaw like a snake. 

 Then she ended with the highest note she could scream, bent nearly double by the power of it. Sweat poured from her forehead. Her mouth was so close to the microphone, there was danger of her choking on it. With one last flourish, she threw her head back and the song was finished. Applause rolled and thundered around her and she stepped, beaming, from the platform. She didn't realize everyone was just glad the football game could start.



That is all. I should have something more exciting to post in a few days.