Jordon's English blog

The holiday I look forward to most each year is Thanksgiving. There’s something about it that feels grounding, like a pause button in the middle of all the chaos. It’s not about presents or decorations; it’s about people, food, and presence. That’s what makes it my favorite. Every year, my family gathers at my grandmother’s house. The kitchen fills with the smells of roasted turkey, sweet potatoes, and her famous homemade rolls. We all pitch in — chopping vegetables, setting the table, sneaking bites of pie filling when we think no one’s looking. The TV hums in the background with the Macy’s parade or football, but the real show is the laughter and storytelling that happens in the dining room. Before we eat, we go around the table and say what we’re thankful for. It might sound cheesy, but those moments are the most honest of the year. We speak from the heart. Sometimes we cry. Sometimes we laugh until our stomachs hurt. And somehow, no matter what’s been hard that year, it all feels a...

The Red Wheelbarrow Speaks  So much depends upon me — they say it like I’m just a tool, but I know better. I’ve seen the sweat bead on your brow as you leaned into my handles, muscles straining, stubborn earth clinging to my sides. You didn’t say much, but I felt it: the quiet determination, the weight not just of soil but of everything you carried that day — frustration, grief, maybe even hope. You came to me when words weren’t enough. When silence filled the backyard and the world seemed like it was too much, you filled me instead — with weeds, with broken roots, with pieces of what you were ready to let go of. And I carried it all. I didn’t ask why. You left my wheel muddy and my paint chipped, but you always came back. You wiped me down after the storm. You leaned on me once, just to breathe. So much depends upon a moment of stillness. And I was there for yours.

One piece that had a deep emotional impact on me was the poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot. It's a beautifully complex and haunting exploration of self-doubt, isolation, and the fear of missed opportunities. The entire poem is filled with a sense of anxiety and longing, but the line that stands out to me the most is: "Do I dare disturb the universe? In a minute there is time For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse." This line encapsulates the central theme of the poem—Prufrock’s paralyzing indecision and the overwhelming weight of the choices he faces. The idea that every moment is full of both possibility and regret, and that our decisions can feel simultaneously urgent and meaningless, really resonated with me. It made me reflect on the moments in my own life when I’ve held back or second-guessed myself, worried about how my actions would be perceived or whether they’d make a difference in the grand scheme of things. The entire poem ...

 Well, for spring break, I had started moving into my new home. It took a long time to move our stuff in, but we moved in. I had went down to go see my sister for prom, and I went to the after party and it was fun. But some stuff had happened, and they shut it down.