I'm sailing away today, to a new job and opportunity. Change isn't easy, but every time I balk at the notion of it, I'm reminded of a poem from Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology.

If you haven't bumped into it yet, Spoon River Anthology is a must-read collection of poems by the inhabitants of a fictional town, Spoon River, in Illinois. Each poem is an epitaph by the people of that town, and together they reveal many, many secrets, and tell one big story. It is said that many of the characters in this poetry collection were inspired by various people Masters came to know throughout his life.

So, anyway, the poem is a short and simple one:

64. George Gray

I HAVE studied many times
The marble which was chiseled for me—
A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor.
In truth it pictures not my destination
But my life.	5
For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment;
Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid;
Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances.
Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.
And now I know that we must lift the sail	10
And catch the winds of destiny
Wherever they drive the boat.
To put meaning in one’s life may end in madness,
But life without meaning is the torture
Of restlessness and vague desire—	15
It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.

When I graduated from high school, my friend Gift inscribed and painted this poem for me, and gave it to me in a simple wooden frame. This frame is one of those things that I have carried around with me wherever life has taken me.

Those lines: "I know that we must lift the sail / And catch the winds of destiny/ Wherever they drive the boat" ... well, they remind me everyday that I must not be afraid of change, of taking chances, and of going out on a limb ... and that's a good thing to be reminded of, isn't it? I think George Gray would agree.

I hate the word goodbye. Don't you? It has so much finality attached to it. So, I'll turn to other words in other languages or from other times to take leave of my WORD comrades:

A bien tot - French, literally translated as "in good time" .... i.e. see you around
Au revoir - French, literally translated as "to be seen again" .... i.e. see you soon
Farewell - from Middle English "fare thee well," may all go well with you
Phir Milenge - Hindi/Urdu, literally translated as "we'll meet again"

The world is a small place so ... yes, we will meet again -- maybe when we cross each other on our respective sail boats on the ocean of life ... or on the page, if nowhere else.

Thank you to all the students who wrote conclusions to "The Pirate's Life For Me", a story that was featured in READ Magazine (Issue Date April 27, 2007).

Just wanted to let you know that, yes! we got them! And we'll be posting the best of them next week, right here on WORD. But that's not all...

We have also received many "1,000 Words" interpretations concerning a certain turtle that escaped from a picture frame! This image, of course, was in the April/May issue of Writing magazine and we will be posting the best of those next week as well!

Next week's shaping up to be big in the world of student writing! You're not gonna want to miss this!

So come on back! Every day next week, starting Monday, May 7 all the way through to Friday, May 11! It's pirates and turtles week here at WORD!

Who loves, ya baby?*

*Editor's Note: Please don't sue us, Telly Savalas.

The next time you're in Cumbria... wait... where's Cumbria? It's all the way over in jolly ol' England, on the northwest tip of the country. They call it the Lake District and it's one of the most beautiful places to be inspired.

William Wordsworth was one of many poets who wrote about lovely Cumberland (as Cumbria was called in his time). He captured the glory of his home in a poem called, I wandered lonely as a cloud. And now, 200 years after Wordsworth's time, there's a new generation in town.

Read William Wordsworth's poem and then, check out the video below it. It's an updated version, to say the very least.

"I wandered lonely as a cloud"
   - William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

That was the old school version. Pretty wasn't it?

Here's the new. Check it:

Heh. Word.

Which do you prefer? William Wordsworth's poem or the video rap? Why? Post your comment below. 

AND... to learn more about silly squirrels that may or may not rap, click here, here, here, or here.

-by Alex Graves

I climb onto the small
yellow back of a dragon.
Its wings stroke through
thick air as we take off.
We glide weightlessly
over the lake.
When a gust of wind flips us over,
I fall into warm water.
Underneath,
I release from the dragon's embrace.
I swim upside down
and break through the surface.
I breathe,
grab hold of its wings,
and climb back on.

Editor's Note: Alex's poem, Kayak, was one of six winners in this year's Ann Arlys Bowler poetry contest. It was published in issue 17 of READ magazine, however, we regrettably printed an error in the poem. Here, on WORD, we present Kayak in its true form. Once again, sorry Alex.