Poetry from a Jr. High Girl named Cheri

When I was a young girl, I, like many others was horrified of writing. Way back then, in 1969, I was a scrawny buck-toothed girl in the 8th grade. My English teacher decided to teach a poetry unit. Now I was just a West Texas tom-boy. I was only about 4 ft. 10 in. and barely weighed 80 pounds soaking wet! I had no desire to write a poem...my interests were in shooting baskets with my flat basketball! However...I had been given the assignment....WRITE A POEM. I was not a happy camper....what would I write about??? That very evening as I sat in my den watching "The Smothers' Brothers" show on TV with the family, I heard them sing the following song...

There is a season - turn, turn, turn And a time for every purpose under heaven A time to be born, a time to die A time to plant, a time to reap A time to kill, a time to heal A time to laugh, a time to weep To everything - turn, turn, turn There is a season - turn, turn, turn And a time for every purpose under heaven A time to build up, a time to break down A time to dance, a time to mourn A time to cast away stones A time to gather stones together To everything - turn, turn, turn There is a season - turn, turn, turn And a time for every purpose under heaven.

Once they finished, a light bulb went off in my head...(a dim light bulb)....I could write a poem about that song...I had never heard of plagiarism.... I went right to work...

To everything there is a season.
A time to love, a time to hate.
A time to be born, a time to die.
A time for war, a time live.
A time to laugh, a time to cry.

yada yada yada... it went on a few more verses....I can't really remember them all now. I was just happy to get that blasted poem written. I wrote it in my best cursive and even drew a cute little picture to illustrate my new poem. I went to bed that night relieved and quite proud of myself. The next day I turned in my poem. I just knew Mrs. Harper would love it....and what was that? She was calling me to her desk. I quickly approached her as she sat primly in her double knit suit...dark black bee-hive hairdo....wearing dark red lipstick that rubbed off onto her front teeth....She looked at me, smiling ever so slightly, her dimples were so deep set in her cheeks, I wanted to stick my finger in them to see how they felt....."Cheri, did you copy this?" I was shocked....had she watched "The Smothers' Brothers" show?? "Oh, no. I didn't. I wrote it." I hadn't "copied" it....I had merely heard a song and "used" the idea!!!! She looked down her nose at me and questioned me once more. Smiling at her I assured her I had written the poem and not copied it.......

Well, a few years later, I was reading the Old Testament. I got to Ecclesiastes 3 and I nearly fainted....there was MY poem....in the Holy Bible!!!!!! Well, no wonder Mrs. Harper thought I had copied that poem....there it was in the Bible, right smack in the middle of the Old Testament. She thought I had copied from the Bible!!!!! I always wanted to tell Mrs. Harper my story....but she died before I ever got a chance to! So....Mrs. Harper....if your spirit is floating around...and you can somehow hear me.....I really didn't copy from the Bible!!!!!!!

P.S.....Rachel Bottlinger made me think of writing about this today...she posted Ecclesiastes 3 on Facebook....Thanks, Rachel....thanks for the memory!