Senior Writing Portfolio Fall 2004 / A.D. Carson
Millikin University

A.D. Carson

A.D. Carson, 2004 graduate of Millikin University was born in Decatur, IL on September 11, 1979. As proof that sometimes mistakes have beautiful results, his mother decided to carry him to term and allow him to live. He decided early that life was worth living, and has continued to do so since.

Poetics

For me, I have said often, writing is not really that deep. It normally starts with a thought or a dream, I put my pen to paper, and it comes out. I think that everything is inspiration for writing, but somehow, the more painful aspects of life--the things that tend to make us consider our purpose--make me share my thoughts with others. This is not because I want people to feel my pain or sorrow, or even laugh or cry with me. I just want to share the fact that I believe that life is real, and real is pain, sorrow, laughter and crying. These are not the only aspects of life that I feel as though I share in my writing, but they are very important. I believe that if I were asked to describe what writing is to my on ten separate occasions, I would give ten totally different answers, because it is different for me every time I put my pen down and it moves.

"Twelve Month Winter" started as a thought about snow. The only inspiration for it was the memory brought back by the thought.

• • •

Twelve Month Winter

Today it snowed
and it reminded me of snow.
The wind blew
and I thought about blow.

I smiled.

Have you ever seen snow melt?
The soft white turn hard enough
to break up a stable home
or erode its solid foundation?

Mrs. Jeffers says you should use salt on snow
but Big Mike told me baking powder works best.
Mrs. Jeffers gave me a C plus in Science
but Big Mike gave me a C note for my grades.

I believed both of them.

Snow keeps me from going to school, though:
sometimes my momma can't hear me
telling her I need my hair combed.
She nods.
And we get snowed in sometimes.
But not today

Mrs. Jeffers came and picked us up
for school.
She said Momma used up all of our snow days.
Big Mike said he hopes the snow keeps coming
all year.

I like snow sometimes.
Momma says it makes her feel numb.
We feel the same.

We both smile.

I never understood, though,
why Big Mike put snow in a pot
of boiling water
so I asked him:

He said he was making a crack brick.
Mrs. Jeffers said it would take years for snow
to crack brick.
Mrs. Jeffers gave me an F in Science.
Big Mike gave me two-hundred dollars
to hide his snowball

I believed Big Mike:

I hope the snow keeps coming all year, too.

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