Give me one more push
Before thy hands, swing into despair
Give it One more chance
A seed to grow
A love to ferment
We haste to want
We slip from the top;
Loaded with immaturity.
Sharpening your edge takes time.
Be patient with me;
I will improve.
Don’t give up on me;
The luggage on my soul, heavy.
Hold my hand for a little while and
Be my eyes, before I go missing,
In this dark jungle.
You promised, you were in for a long haul;
The fear in your eyes, sounds like
A racing horse, without a rider.
My code is red hot endurance, to the end of the rope.
I am in, and there is no turning back,
from what is rightly mine.
- McDaniels Gyamfi

Dear Ms. Doering,

     Over the past two months of free reading I have read the book, Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand. The genre of the book is biography since it retells the life of Louie Zamperini during World War II. The book contains 496 pages. I chose this book because my brother and mom read this book and absolutely loved it. They showed it to me, and I decided to give it a try.

     This book is about Louie Zamperini who rises to become a track star at UCLA and a member of the 1936 Olympic Team in Berlin. In Berlin he meets Adolf ****** and also steals one of ******’s personal flags. When WWII breaks out, he enlists in the Army Air Force division and becomes a crewman on a B-24 bomber. After passing training, he is sent overseas where he is shot down over the Pacific Ocean. He survives a record 47 days at sea on a life raft only to be captured by the Japanese. They move Louie to a training camp and somehow he lives despite horrible torture and treatment to be released after the war ends. One key topic in this story is how people from all walks of life, including superstar athletes, joined the war cause. This really stood out to me because nowadays you can barely get people to think about war let alone get professional athletes to join the army in a time of need. One literary element that stood out to me during the course of the book was indirect characterization. We learn about how Louie feels about going into war by his description of the setting. He describes the land by being “empty” and “ghastly” which tell us that he is somewhat scared and uncomfortable about the war.

     I found this book to be a lot more interesting than some other biography books that I have read in the past. Some biographies are very boring, but this one contained events you might see in an adventure thriller. This might possibly be the first biography that I really enjoyed reading. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an adventure book while also wanted to learn a little bit about the history of WWII. This book is a little long with a lot of words but isn’t a particularly hard read.

     One thing I noticed while reading this book is the constant loss of life there is during time of war. I always thought that death came in spurts during war but it seems like there is lots of death that the media and the common person doesn’t notice. I am doing great on my free reading goals this trimester and don’t see any reason to make adjustments. The book I plan to read next is, The Book Thief, Markus Zusak. My mom read this book and really enjoyed it so I thought I might as well give it a try.

From,
Matt McDaniels

You have been through so much
Wounded and bruised on all sides
Standing at the edge of this cliff;
Feet slipping with disturbing thoughts
The world is a narrow path, dotted
With uncertainties and cruelty
A terrain, victory so unpredictable
Coup de grace may seem the only option
You, you have the warriors ethos in you
Shield thy heart from the volcanic ramblings
Forlorn hope, in frontal attack, come what may;
Conquering your personal demons and fears
You win, from the inside out!

Copyright 2014 || McDaniels Gyamfi

Dear soul,

Sorry for all the junk I have fed you with, in all these laboring years, of our pilgrimage.

I want to be a better person; living within the blueprint of my life.
More importantly, I promise to treat you right, by taking the time off, from all that distracts, to be in a sacred moment of communion;
listening tending, nurturing, and planting new seeds of consciousness.

You desire the best out of  me - leading me through the path of life and light, discovering all of me. Help me soul divine, to be align  with the vast ocean of thy wisdom, and the infinite knowledge within
thy breath.

I seek total wholeness, purpose, true satisfaction, and how to live at peace, with all that is around me. I know the journey is long and rough. With you on the wheel, everything is effortless.

Yours sincerely,  
- A. G. McDaniels

The river journeys on,
to the depths of the seas.
Birds of yonder places and the
reeds, bow their heads, urging
her to pursue her dreams.
The river travels to the seas,
local fishermen stood on her
path, sending their wishes to
the ocean.
Days became months, months
became years, as she listened
attentively like a mother
listens to her kids.
The river journeys on to the
seas, rocks on her path, the
burdens of others on her heart;
Unabatedly running her course,
to kiss the dream.
- A. G. McDaniels

Bottom falls
Bubble breaks
Lonely streets
On Silent nights
O' Living hope;
Find me, find me
On lonely streets
At silent nights
I'm tired of believing
___________

Copyright 2015
a.g. McDaniels