Category: poetry

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Winter’s Breath


Winter’s Breath

Encased in ice,
with the sunlight
flooding through
like I walked into
a world of prisms,
the trees stand tall,
frozen; waiting
for spring to peek
around the corner
and say hello.

Annie Louise Twitchell



We can all thank my mother for this picture. How she managed to get it out of a moving vehicle, I haven’t got a clue.

This was inspired by a memory I had while trying to find a specific picture in my dad’s Facebook albums. Instead of the picture I was looking for, I found this. This was from Christmas Eve 2013. There had been a huge ice storm the night before, and on our way to my grandparents for dinner, we went over a mountain. The trees on the mountain were completely iced over and it remains one of the most stunning sights I’ve seen. 
Copyright 2016 by Annie Louise Twitchell
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A Master Passes

One winter, two or three years ago, I came down with a cold. It wasn’t a bad cold, you know, just the kind that makes you want to lie in bed all day and not move. So that’s what I did. And while I was doing that, I read. And that, my dears, is how I read all eight Harry Potter books by the fabulous J.K. Rowling in two weeks.

I have no idea who took this photo, but thank you, unknown camera-wielding person.

I really, really loved Professor Snape in the Harry Potter movies. The mental image I had constructed in the first few books didn’t work by the time I reached the end of the series (somewhere around day 9 3/4), and when I watched the movies several months later, something clicked. Oh, of course that’s Professor Snape. It all just made sense.

Then, this past summer when I was housesitting for friends, I watched Sense and Sensibility. I’d listened to the book off Librivox (which is incredible and if you haven’t heard of it, go check it out: librivox.org/) and I knew how the story went – but Alan Rickman’s potrayal of Colonel Brandon was breath-taking. There was so much heart in it, so much passion and feeling. It was hugely relieving to come to the end of the movie and feel so satisfied. He got rewarded for what he had laboured so hard for. It was… awe-inspiring.

I don’t feel like my poem has encompassed all that I wanted it to, but I haven’t been able to figure out how else to express what I’m trying to say. So here it is:

A Master Passes
Annie Louise Twitchell
A master of acting,
he stained my mind
with vivid pictures that
are hard to brush away.
He brought the words
to life like so many others
before, but he used his
own special way with them.
So much heart in his works,
and richness, depth.
I’ll not forget them soon.
He had a wide touch,
a deep influence.
He has left an expansive
sadness in his wake.
But his stories are there,
a breath away, to be touched
and remembered and felt
all over again.
Rest well, Mister Rickman.
Thank you for all the stories.

Copyright 2016 by Annie Louise Twitchell
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Home




Home 

Annie Louise Twitchell

Home is here in your embrace,
where the wild crashing waves
fade away into quiet and calm;
where the turmoil and wildness
softens into the curve of your lips
as you whisper my name to me.

Where the wild crashing waves
threaten to drive me under the
foamy pressure of the ocean,
your arms are steady and calm
to hold me, protect me, love me.
Home is here in your embrace.

Threatening to drown me under
the weight of living, this world
tries to tear from my grasp the
one thing that I will not let go;
the feel of your hand on mine,
the unspoken promise of a red rose.

Copyright 2016 by Annie Louise Twitchell
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An Ending




An Ending

Annie Louise Twitchell
I do not wish to live forever,
while those I love leave
this earth at their appointed times
and fly, soar, into the heavens
to peace, rest, comfort, to go home.
I do not wish to live forever,
to see even the words carved
in stone fade and pass, until
I stand alone and friendless
on a barren world at the end.
I do not wish to live forever,
to slowly fade into the restless
oblivion of living death, a hell
I cannot bear the thought of,
my darkest fears come true.
I do not wish to live forever,
but to love and breathe and feel,
pulsing with vibrant energy and
running towards the finish line
with those I love and hold dear.
I do not wish to live forever,

merely to live.
Copyright 2016 by Annie Louise Twitchell
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Love Lines, Part One

First of all, Happy New Year! It’s 2016 and for the next month anything I handwrite a date on is likely to look funny because I may have to change it from a 5 to a 6. Please don’t be offended.

Secondly, a collection of love lines that randomly occur in the middle of a batch of cookies. Actually, the first one occurred to me while I was elbow deep in lemon-scented soap suds. I made my brother get out my laptop and type it out because it was a glorious sink of water at just the right temperature and I didn’t want to waste it or the line.

Most of these are inspired by Ethan and Sophie from one of my works-in-progress, A Promise Rose. Honestly, Ethan and Sophie are so much fun to write. I have lots of happy giggles from writing them. And the younger siblings are so cute!
When I sit down to work on Tattoos and Tiaras a bit more, I might have to find a baby to babysit or just play with. Toddlers, I’m all good. Kids, oh yes, I’ve got them covered. Teenage boys I feel like I understand pretty well, from living with hordes of them for much of my life. Teenage girls I have less understanding of, despite the fact that I was one. I’m weird and don’t count. But it helps that I did some summer camp work this past summer, with a cabin of teenage girls. I learned a lot and have been able to apply it. But babies? My minion was a baby ten years ago. That was a long time ago and I haven’t had charge of many since, and certainly not enough to get a better idea of development and learning and growth, which is something I need a better grasp of for that story. 
Ah yes, the problems of Annie. This is almost as much of an Annie Problem as accidently making soft caramel candies. Sometime you should try explaining why that is a problem and see if anyone believes you more readily than they believed me. And no, I don’t have a recipe. Sorry.
~AnnieLou

Copyright 2015 by Annie Louise Twitchell

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New Year’s Eve




New Year’s Eve
Annie Louise Twitchell

The stage is set.
We, the actors,
are poised,
waiting for the
curtain to lift.
The silence
is heavy
and fragrant
with expectation:
what will
the new year bring?
The curtain shifts
and we wait 
a breathless moment 
more before
we tumble forth
to a play not
yet written,
a performance
not yet told.

I scribbled this just before starting my family’s traditional New Year’s Eve movie, The Sound of Music. I’m getting off the computer now because Maria is running to the Abbey, terribly late and in quite a state.
Blessings for the New Year 2016!
Copyright 2015 by Annie Louise Twitchell
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Up



Up
Annie Louise Twitchell

Up again, always up;
pushing towards the sunlight,
towards the clean air,
towards something better.
Look back once,
halfway to the top;
remind yourself once
of where you’ve been.
Turn back ahead and climb
until your lungs burn
and your heart pounds
and you stumble at last
into something better than
you have ever imagined,
ever dreamed.
But always, darling,
always look up.

Copyright 2015 by Annie Louise Twitchell

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Tech the Halls

So I wrote this two years ago because I’d just started watching normal television. You know, one episode a week on the TV instead of a whole season at your fingertips on a disc. I was quite shocked at how many times they played the same ad over and over again. I heard Verizon’s Tech the Halls so many times… I finally got fed up with it and finished the job by making my own version of the song.





12/8/13 – Inspired by Verizon’s Tech the Halls Holiday Ad


Tech the Halls
Annie Louise Twitchell

Tech the halls with flashing light,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Tis the season to be bright,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Don we now our gay apparel,
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
Earpieces to hear the carol,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

See the blazing Yule before us,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
On our ipad glowing at us.
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Follow me in merry measure,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
While I tell of geekie treasure,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Fast away the old year passes,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Hail the new phone lads and lasses,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Sing we joyous, all together,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Sharing tech stuff, any weather
Fa la la la la, la la la la.


Merry Christmas and blessings for a safe and happy New Year!


Copyright 2015 by Annie Louise Twitchell
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