Primordial Sand: A Poem

Primordial sand birthing me in amniotic visions

Of flowing dry rivulets

A tide of alluvium

Sculpting bodily contours, giving shape and form

To the cast of brine

I trudge beyond cliff’s edge

To witness ever changing ever-erasing footprints fly past me

Incubating in the anti-plains

To reappear in the wind

Their granules get in my eyes

But I am not blinded,

The cascading embers of creation light my way

Guiding me along their silica path.

I am Dunite

Woman of the sand.

A teacher, Laurie Woodward is the author of several novels including Forest Secrets, and the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles. She also cowrote Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy and was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes her novels on the Central Coast of California.

(Photo by David Stroup)

Insect Dreams: A Poem

The roar of an insect army invades my sleep

Marching upon the roof in lockstep

The vaporous hordes attack my home with icy droplets

With reinforcements pelting the window glass

To wax and wane on the ever-changing wind

Until the Light Brigade breaks through

And the battalion recedes to a horizon

In need of an aqueous militia.

Interviewed to Address Bullying

“I’ve tried to keep my FB posts positive throughout the summer, but I can’t ignore the grim reality of young children committing suicide. Earlier this month, it was a 9-year-old Denver student named Jamel who hung himself after being bullied for being gay.” Radio talk show host, Dave Congalton, writes on his Facebook page.

“9 years old. 9.

Here’s the sad truth from the New York Times: “Jamel’s death comes amid a startling rise in youth suicides, part of a larger public health crisis that has unfolded over a generation: Even as access to mental health care has expanded, the suicide rate in the United States has risen 25 percent since 1999. Middle- schoolers are now just as likely to die from suicide as they are from traffic accidents.”

Middle-schoolers are now just as likely to die from suicide as they are from traffic accidents?????

We’re going to discuss this on the radio today (Wednesday) at 5:05 on 920 AM KVEC with local teachers Laurie Woodward and Mila Vujovich-La Barre, both of whom are heavily involved in their school’s efforts to combat bullying. I certainly don’t have the solution, but it begins with dialogue. Hope you can join us.”

And join him we did, spending two hours brainstorming with Dave and callers about how to prevent and combat this blight on our society.

For the entire interview please click below. And let’s all work together to prevent further tragedies like these from occurring.

Radio Interview Part 1

Radio Interview Part 2

Thank you Dave and Mila. It was truly an honor.

In addition to hosting a popular radio show for the past 26 years, Dave Congalton is a screenwriter, producer, former director of the Central Coast Writer’s Conference, and award-winning author. His books include Three Cats, Two Dogs: One Journey Through Multiple Pet Loss, When Your Pet Outlives You: Protecting Animal Companions After You Die, with co-author Charlotte Alexander and The Talk Radio Guest Book with co-author Deborah Bayles. His screenplay, Author’s Anonymous, starring Kaley Cuoco and directed by Ellie Kanner was released as a major film in 2014.

For more information about Dave see: http://davidcongalton.com/# or http://www.920kvec.com/