the bird on fire

The Palm Valley School Student Blog

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I’m Sorry.

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By Renée

 

Hello, my dearest you.

I have done something quite

strange, and weird.

Something a bit out of character,

at least for me.

I have broken my own promises;

I have divided from deep inside.

From what I know now,

from what I knew then,

yes, it still makes sense.

But, I did not account for my own loneliness.

It creeps inside my heart now,

but I know you need me now to be a friend.

And, here I’ll be for you.

I’ll be here just for you.

I’ll keep my mouth shut.

I have my entire life to express myself,

but right now you need me

to listen to you.

And, that’s something I know quite well how to do.

But, more than that, it’s what I want to do,

listen to you.

I’ll be here for you.

I’m sorry.

 

Editor: Makena Behnke

To the Sun and Beyond

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By Anonymous

 

We wish for the fury to end,

The sadness to cease,

And our souls

To find

Everlasting love.

We will hunt

That prayer to the

Angelic sun

And beyond.

And even though

Discovering an answer

Will be difficult,

We can

Emancipate ourselves,

Reaching the liberty

Beyond

The Gates

Of the sun.

 

Remember,

All stars

Sing different songs of life,

But we hold

The same

Fate.

 

One fate.

 

One us.

 

Editor: Claire Jenkins

very early xmas 2018 present ideas

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By Poet Blogger Makena Behnke

 

this season, we all received gifts we didn’t want, and we all gave at least one gift that we knew the person wouldn’t like, but we gave it to them anyway…

 

here is a list of quick and easy presents for next holiday season that almost everyone will like:

 

  • books.
  • candles. who doesn’t like a candle?
  • face masks for smooth skin.
  • food. food is always good.
  • gift cards. they may not be heartfelt or personal, but you don’t have to go through the struggle of buying a gift you’re not even sure your loved one will like.
  • hair ties. no matter how many you buy, they always seem to disappear.
  • mini lotions and soaps. if you don’t know someone too well or you just ran out of time to get them a present, these are good gifts.
  • mugs.
  • notebooks and journals and such.
  • phone accessories. this present could be anything from earbuds to chargers to phone cases.
  • socks. socks are such an underrated present, especially if they’re holiday themed.
  • sunglasses. honestly, it’s better to go with fun sunglasses with colored lenses in my opinion.
  • sweaters and sweatshirts. you can never have too many.

 

Editor: Brennan Nick

Loneliness

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By Guest Blogger Jackson Dean

 

As I write this, Blog, Publications Club, and Book Club are traveling to Los Angeles on a field trip to The Last Bookstore. They will be in LA for the entire day. As I write this, I understand, for the first time in my life, the feeling of loneliness. The members of the class and clubs are my go-to, my emotional support, the type of friends that are there for you always. I’m attached to them, probably in an unhealthy way, but nonetheless attached. For the first time, none of them are here to talk to, to laugh with, to enjoy each other’s company. For the first time, I feel like I have, in all honesty, no one. I am alone. I have no voice, no confidence. My cheery disposition is currently vacant as it searches for something to give, but to no avail. I never understood just how much these people mean to me, until this moment, this moment of gray, this moment of quiet, this moment of loneliness. As I look at this moment, I am brought to another moment that has yet to come. Another moment where this loneliness will occur, but hasn’t yet–

 

June, 2019–When my class, my brothers and sisters since Kindergarten, will throw off their caps with me as we leave our high school careers and start another life, away from each other. June, 2019–When I hug my go-to’s from lower grades for the last time. June, 2019–When the people that gave me a voice, that gave me confidence, will no longer be a part of my life. June, 2019, and possibly for a long time afterwards–When this feeling of loneliness will sink in once more and tug at my heart as it does now.

 

I love all of you. From the bottom of my heart, I truly, wholeheartedly love you. Whether you are in my class of 2019, or 2020, or 2021, I think of you as my brother or sister. I am nothing without you. You make me something. You give me that voice. You give me that confidence. You make me who I am, and I will never forget that.

 

Editor: Claire Jenkins

“I’m Tired”

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Writer-Blogger Claire welcomes in the new year. Suggestion: Read it aloud.

 

By Claire Jenkins

 

This is a symbolic representation that shows how most high schoolers are feeling right now. High School is constantly putting pressure on students — the curriculum gets harder, and the students struggle to keep up. This is almost a piece of poetry in a sense. It is a figurative piece that may seem simple at first, but once you look closer you will realize that this is a concept piece that shows how the education system is constantly pulling students apart.

 

I’m Tired

I’M TIred

I’M TIRed

I’M TIREd

I’M TIRED

I’mmmmmmmmmmm tiredddddddddddddddddd

**I ‘ m  t i r e d**

i’M tireD

 

help me

 

Editor: AJ Patencio

A Guide to Gift Giving

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By Peter Kadel

ATTENTION! ATTENTION! The holiday season is here, and if you’re not a crazy person living in the desert then winter is in full swing, which means it’s the time to celebrate the things that really matter like religious holidays, the appropriation of religious holidays, commercialization of religious holidays, and arguments over coffee cups that support religious holidays. But, it’s important to remember not to use any religion-specific greetings because winter isn’t about religion. Winter is about buying stuff for people and telling them weeks in advance (as in “Oh, I bought you a Christmas gift”) to guilt them into getting you something. Winter is about just letting yourself go into hibernation, emerging only to have awkward encounters with your extended family. Winter is about forgetting all of your healthy life choices and subsequently collapsing into a pit of guilt, cookie crumbs, and despair–once swimsuit season hits. However, the most important part of the winter holiday is gift giving, or more accurately, gift receiving. But as the old adage goes, “Nothing in life is free.” So, you’ll have to give gifts so people feel obligated to give you gifts. Luckily, there are several holidays in the coming days for you to use as an excuse to give gifts.

Hanukkah is the longest and is relatively well known, but it ended yesterday, so there isn’t any time to get your gift and then receive a gift from the recipient, and so your best bet is to just convert to Christianity and participate in Christmas because most of us don’t know when Kwanzaa is (unless you read Harlow Berny’s post last week) or what it’s about. After your baptism, it’s time to go buy gifts for your unsuspecting “friends.” In this process, it is important to remember that the purpose of giving these gifts is to encourage your “friends” to give you gifts, so you need to find a balance between cheap and meaningful. Some examples of cheap and meaningful gifts are decorative shot glasses, stickers from other countries, fancy paper, and potatoes–because everyone loves potatoes. If you want to improve your chances of getting a good gift instead of a potato, –because who wants a lousy potato?–you should make sure the gifts have some kind of personal connection to the intended recipients. For example, if your “friend” likes the color red, give them a jar of blood, and if you want to make the gift really personal, make sure it’s their blood-type! If none of these examples are effective in guilting your “friends” into giving you stuff this holiday season, then you should recognize that you are in a “friendship” founded on manipulation and deceit, and you should end the “friendship” immediately.

 

Editor: AJ Patencio

Lost Dreams in the River

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By Shelby Armor

 

A river,

so majestic,

so beautiful,

home to so many things

and I cannot be one with it.

My dreams are filled with the illusions

of fins on my arms

and of flippers on my feet;

it all seems so close

yet so far away.

I could sit for hours and sway,

sway to the melodic sound of rushing water

and leaping fish,

but I cannot.

I cannot breath using water

or slice through the sea

for I am a human,

and that is all I will ever be.

 

Editor: A.J. Patencio

The End We Start From

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By Guest Blogger & Poet Jessica Denyer

 

Everyone has a beginning, middle, and end to their story.

But who says the beginning is where we start from?

The end is many times the beginning of something

much greater than the end,

something more profound,

something more knowledgeable.

Sometimes we must get to the end of what seems like

a never ending eternity to reveal the new beginning.

Sometimes the middle is a nice place to start as well.

Sometimes the middle is more understanding

when it’s time to stop and think

than when it’s time

to pray for the end.

The beginning is tricky.

The beginning is what the middle and end need to thrive.

The beginning is what makes or breaks the middle and ends philosophies;

either they flourish or they perish.

But the middle is always a great place to soul search,

and the end is always a place to reflect.

But even when there is the beginning–

there is always the end to start from.

Editor: Reneé Vazquez

10 interesting phobias

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With an interest in crime and the criminal mind, Claire (otherwise known as Officer Jenkins) uncovered scientifically documented and titled fears.

 

Below are some interesting phobias you may not know. ENJOY!–Blogger Claire Jenkins

  1. Cherophobia: the fear of fun
  2. Panphobia: the fear of EVERYTHING
  3. Nomophobia: the fear of being without mobile phone coverage
  4. Trypophobia: the fear of holes
  5. Cacophobia: the fear of ugliness
  6. Decidophobia: the fear of making decisions
  7. Eisoptrophobia: the fear of mirrors and/or seeing oneself in a mirror
  8. Heliophobia: the fear of the sun
  9. Gynophobia: the fear of women
  10. Isolophobia: the fear of solitude or of being alone

 

*Feel afflicted by #6? Want more information? Try Phobialist.com or allaboutcounseling.com.

 

Editor: Peter Kadel

Explaining Polo: What’s a chukker and other key facts

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By Claire Jenkins                  

Polo (the real kind, not the water kind) is known as the game of kings. To put it simply, polo is kind of like half hockey, half soccer, and throw in eight horses and eight players. The objective of the game is to get the ball through the goal posts, much like soccer. It is four against four in field polo, and the fields are about 300 x 160 yards, which is about the length of three football fields.

Four of the players are trying to score one way, and the other four are trying to score the other way. In field polo, after one team scores, you switch directions so that the teams are now going opposite ways. The ball for field arena is a small white ball, kind of like an oversized golf ball, but big enough to comfortably fit in your hand.

The match is divided into chukkers, each lasting seven minutes, with a break of three minutes between each one. At half time, the interval is extended to five minutes, and the crowds are invited to walk onto the field to tread in divots.

Polo has many interesting quirks, but like most other sports it has rules against fouling. There are lots of different fouls in polo, and some are severe enough to get you kicked off the field. Below are some common rules and possible fouls:

Right of Way–When the chukker is in play there is a  “line of the ball,” which is the direction in which the ball travels once the ball has been hit or thrown. When a player has established the right of way along that line, it can’t be crossed by any player if there is any risk of collision.

Crossing the Line–Any player who crosses the player who has the right of way close enough to be dangerous or cause a player to slow down, commits a foul.

Riding Off –This is the act of pushing another player and their horse out of the way using your horse and your body. It is allowed at any point in the game whether the person has the ball or not. It must not be done at a dangerous angle or varying speeds because that can cause serious injury.

Hooking mallets – A player may hook an opponent’s mallet if they are on the same side of the opponent as the ball and the mallet must be below the level of the opponent’s shoulder. Players cannot hook an opponent in front of the horse’s legs, as it would be called a foul.

 

For more information about polo rules or upcoming events, go to uspolo.org. or empirepolo.com.

Editor: Makena Behnke