Visual Poem by Children's Writer Christina Lewis - "MARSHMALLOW GROVE"

Christal Cooper  549Words

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MARSHMALLOW GROVE

By Christina Lewis

I remember apple pie

And sitting by Mother's side

While she read a book of tales,

Legends from the world outside.

They said there was a lost place

Beyond the realm of reason

Where marshmallows grow on trees

And snow falls out of season.

With that vision in my head,

I took every coin I owned

And left the warm fires of home,

Swept into the great unknown.

I ran through the rising storms

To the knife's edge of the world,

And set free a yellow scarf

While the sky turned all to gold.

So I chased the last lone star

And pulled the sword from the stone,

Fought a forest of mushrooms

And set the king on his throne.

I sailed across seven seas

On eleven ships that sank;

The tears of parted lovers met

In the salty brew I drank.

I caught a flame red stallion

Made of fire and thunder,

Rode into the lair of thieves

And scattered all their plunder.

The priceless jewels of the age

Became pebbles on the ground,

The Florentine Diamond

Sold for thirteen cents a pound.

I found the Hill of Wisdom

Where dreams grew like flowers,

And hope rained down from heaven

In endless April showers.

I danced through the rain,

A rain of falling roses,

And tiptoed through the valley

Where the giant whale dozes.

In the land of winter snow

I built a castle made of ice,

But when the hot sun came out,

I restored the south wall twice.

Beyond the broken desert

I set that red stallion free,

Bid farewell to the wasteland,

Where my heart will always be.

In the Mountains of Spices

My hands were filled with gold,

I gathered myrrh and saffron,

All my pockets overflowed.

Down again I came to earth,

Riding in an avalanche,

Which melted in red rivers,

And the mountain turned to ash.

The Northern Lights curled blue-green

Through the halls of ancient kings,

Past the vaults of starry gems

I found The End of All Things.

There was nowhere else to go

Where the known land fell away,

Once a thousand years had passed,

The last sunset faded gray.

The mountains came to an end,

The sea left me high and dry,

I leaped into the blue moon,

Trust and faith taught me to fly.

Before I knew where time went

My old hair turned winter white,

Still my paradise was lost,

Eclipsed by solitary flight.

I'd pursued every last dream

That happy chance brought my way,

But when adventures ended

I was left on the highway.

Though I once had everything,

My restless soul yearned to roam,

Now I'd seen the universe,

I just wanted to go home.

I took the few coins I had

And bought a ticket - one-way,

I took the last midnight train

And slept beside the subway.

Night had fallen when I came

To that old familiar door,

Apple pie cooled on the stove,

The table was set for four.

The child slept in the cradle

As I sat beside the hearth,

And picked up the yellowed book

To read tales I'd always heard.

There, at last, I found the place

Beyond the realm of reason

Where marshmallows grow on trees

And snow falls out of season 

Photograph Description And Copyright Information

Photo 1
Portrait of a mother and daughter reading a book
Attributed to Edwin Harris (1855-1906)
painting made in 1903

Photo 2
Bradford Pear Tree
Fair USe Under the United States Copyright Law

Photo 3
Boy holding foreign coins on a map
Modeled by Nicholas Cooper
Copyright by Christal Rice Cooper

Photo 4
Photoshopped images of yellow scarf and sky

Photo 5
Photoshopped image of NASA photo attributed and photo of 9 year old boy
Modeled by Caleb Cooper
Copyright by Christal Rice Cooper

Photo 6
Ship Running Around In A Starm
Oil Painting on Canvas
Attributed to Ludolf Backhuysen (12/28/1630 to 11/17/1708)
Public Domain

Photo 7
Blazing Horse wall paper
Free Download
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law 

Photo 8
Florentine Diamond
Public Domain

Photo 9
"April Showers" film clip from "Bambi"
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law

Photo 10 
Scenes from Moby Dick, also applicable to Jonah and the Big Fish that swallowed him.
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law

Photo 11
Elsa's Ice Castle From Walt Disney's "Frozen"
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright law

Photo 12
Whistle Jacket
Horse painting in the Romanticism Style 
1761
Attributed to George Stubbs (8/25/1724 to 7/10/1806)

Photo 13 
Jacket cover of "Mountains of Spices"

Photo 14
Glowing lava flow on the coastal plain of Kilauea in Hawaii United States
1986
United Stages Geological Serv.
Public Domain

Photo 15
Northern Lights
Public Domain

Photo 16
Gray Sunset
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law

Photo 17
Horse leaping into the Moon
Attributed to Christina Lewis, of Lightning Art
Copyright granted by Christina Lewis.

Photo 18
Snow woman
Attribution unknown
Public Domain

Photo 19
Snow on the mountains of Southern California
Attribution unknown
CC BY 3.0

Photo 20
Woman following the rainbow back home
Modeled by Regina Hughes
Copyright by Christal Rice Cooper and Regina Hughes

Photo 21
Photoshopped image of painting of train station and woman with rainbow umbrella
Modeled by Regina Hughes
Copyright by Christal Rice Cooper and Regina Hughes

Photo 22
Dining room table set for four
Fair Use Under the United States Copyright Law

Photo 23
Little boy reading
Modeled by Caleb Cooper
Copyright by Christal Rice Cooper

Photo 24
Little boy in the Marshmallow Tree
Modeled by Caleb Cooper
Copyright by Christal Rice Cooper