Plain Catie

I'm calling poems I publish on here "flash poetry," for the double meaning that they may be briefly illuminating, and indecent exposure. Lecture Now, what I have here is a candle. Some of you may not be familiar with candles; let me explain: They are made of wax, they are wick within and burned, they are light and flame. What I have here is a candle; Now remember that the candle cannot see herself. She sees only the shadows she casts, her distorted form, she cannot tell that she sees because of her own light. She doesn’t know: she is the reason we see as we have never seen before. Now remember, what I have here is a candle. To the candle, the world is melting; Or rather, she is melting, while the world grows up around her. How true, she thinks, that I will only shrink forever. The candle does not understand, she has melted before, and will melt again. Here is a candle. She wants to hide her twisted body under a bu...

Dive To plunge the depth of my Divinity-- like when I dove on the reef, dove deep to see the life there, tumbled through pressure to the dancing bottom, waves breaking above, tempestuous, relentless, and I drew small tube breaths, took a black rock from ocean floor to sky, pumping arms and aching back and heavy tank and surface breaks-- I held the underside of that rock, flashing Mother of Pearl, in the sparkle sun, and was happy just to breathe.

Nothing Is As Certain As Death: like applesauce, both solid and liquid, an unlabeled jam jar, a bagpipe, deflated; an iris closed before dawn. Taxes: struggling to spell your own name, a broken power cord, a father's wheezing snore; when you wake up late on garbage day, and run to the curb in your bathrobe and slippers.

This week I drove across the country with my siblings, who are the best people ever and drove over 2,000 miles just to drop me off in Boston. (And are currently driving back to Utah!) The last day before arriving, we stopped at the Sacred Grove  in Palmyra, NY, a forest behind Joseph Smith's childhood home where I (and other Mormons) believe he saw God and Jesus Christ when he was only 14. Sitting there, in that holy wood, I was struck by the radical fissure that vision produced in Joseph's life. One day he is an ordinary farm kid--curious, walks with a limp--, the next day he sees God with his own eyes. Sure, he had to grow into his prophethood, he definitely didn't understand where the vision would lead him, but he was fundamentally changed. In his own words, "I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it" ( Joseph Smith-History 1:25 ). He took a risk, sincerely asked God intending to act on whatever he learned, and was n...

While cleaning out my computer, I found this mini essay from adorable 18-year-old Catie. I wrote it for my Chem 105 class (Dr. Macedone, whom I reference, was my professor), and reading it made me cry, so I thought I would share it with y'all: “Both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual” (Moses 6:63) I attended my home ward’s relief society over Thanksgiving Break and the teacher taught on how for every temporal thing, there is a spiritual parallel. As I’ve pondered on that, and as Dr. Macedone’s brought up examples in class, I’ve realized just how true that concept is. Covalent bonds require two atoms to share their electrons, integral parts of themselves. In order to form strong relationships, two people must allow each other to see parts of their personalities they wanted to keep close or hidden. Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle says that we cannot predict where a particle is and how fast it’s moving simultaneously. The gospel is the Plan of U...

Mom Friday 9:03 AM Good morning sweetie! :) The sun is shining here in Dallas! Give me a call when you’ve got a sec ok? Jace Friday 9:44 AM I parked over by the tennis courts. I’ll meet you out there in a few. Wren Friday 9:46 AM Girl, where are you? Durham is passing out the tests rn!! Mom  Missed call Friday 9:47 AM Mom Friday 9:48 AM Becky, I just got a call from Davey’s school. They said he was riding his skateboard at recess and broke his arm. Please call me back! Friday 10:00 AM Dave’s at the hospital downtown. Can you go down there? I can excuse the absence. I need you to answer me sweetheart. I need to know if you’re ok. Wren Friday 10:02 AM Hey where are you? They sent a note to precalc saying you needed to go to the office. Mom  Missed call Friday 10:13 AM Mom  Missed call Friday 10:26 AM Mom  Missed call Friday 10:31 AM Wren Friday 10:31 AM Ja...

Mom Thursday 3:15 PM Don’t forget about Davey’s soccer practice today! 4 pm at West Bay Park. He needs to wear blue. You’re still ok driving him and Tanner? Thursday 3:22 PM Becky, did you get my text about Davey’s practice? Can you do that for me? yeah Sorry, I just didn’t know if you saw it since you didn’t respond. :) Thanks, sweetheart. And remember if you start feeling manic or depressive, just call me ok? I know you don’t want me to have to come home early again, but I will. You’re more important to me than any of this. mom, i’ve been stable for 3 months. we talked about this. i’m 17, i can handle it. I know, Becks. I’m just so far away from you guys. If anything happened, I don’t know what I would do. we’ll be fine I know. :) Just please call if you need anything, alright? ok Wren Thursday 6:49 PM Hey did you figure out 16 on the worksheet? no! is it cosine or secant? idk. We’ll just have ...