<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:blogger='http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6209425879723335815</id><updated>2014-10-04T19:36:24.386-07:00</updated><category term="Poems"/><category term="Free Form"/><category term="Haikus"/><title type='text'>Ben Writes</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benwrites.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6209425879723335815/posts/default?redirect=false'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benwrites.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Ben Bleckley</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='//lh5.googleusercontent.com/-QZXJAyTLF6M/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAADTg/24D8pO2MAe0/s512-c/photo.jpg'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>2</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6209425879723335815.post-3346814726364348883</id><published>2008-01-11T05:51:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-01-11T05:57:47.968-08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Free Form"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Poems"/><title type='text'>Ashes of Youth</title><content type='html'>She chooses&lt;br /&gt;to hesitantly&lt;br /&gt;step onto the funeral pyre.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It is lit and&lt;br /&gt;her teeth clench&lt;br /&gt;with pain&lt;br /&gt;her eyes open wide&lt;br /&gt;with expectation.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Fire burns&lt;br /&gt;          for years&lt;br /&gt;          for months&lt;br /&gt;          for&lt;br /&gt;                one moment&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;teddy bears, popcorn vacuums, and Barbie dolls&lt;br /&gt;Birthdays at Skate City, play dates, and slumber parties with Best Friends&lt;br /&gt;are among the embers&lt;br /&gt;as the Phoenix,&lt;br /&gt;experienced and tempered&lt;br /&gt;Rises,&lt;br /&gt;salvaged from the&lt;br /&gt;Memories of childhood.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benwrites.blogspot.com/feeds/3346814726364348883/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6209425879723335815&amp;postID=3346814726364348883' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6209425879723335815/posts/default/3346814726364348883'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6209425879723335815/posts/default/3346814726364348883'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benwrites.blogspot.com/2008/01/ashes-of-youth.html' title='Ashes of Youth'/><author><name>Ben Bleckley</name><uri>https://plus.google.com/113450826667408864511</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='//lh5.googleusercontent.com/-QZXJAyTLF6M/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAADTg/24D8pO2MAe0/s512-c/photo.jpg'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6209425879723335815.post-7006539048549854932</id><published>2007-12-07T01:20:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2007-12-07T01:24:02.632-08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Haikus"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Poems"/><title type='text'>Haiku Cycle</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;I.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Frustrated, contained, and chained.&lt;br /&gt;Restrictive forms of&lt;br /&gt;The Five Paragraph Essay. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;II. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align=&quot;center&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Creativity and choice:&lt;br /&gt;Butterfly rising&lt;br /&gt;Free and writing on the wind.&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://benwrites.blogspot.com/feeds/7006539048549854932/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6209425879723335815&amp;postID=7006539048549854932' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6209425879723335815/posts/default/7006539048549854932'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/6209425879723335815/posts/default/7006539048549854932'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://benwrites.blogspot.com/2007/12/haiku-cycle.html' title='Haiku Cycle'/><author><name>Ben Bleckley</name><uri>https://plus.google.com/113450826667408864511</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='32' src='//lh5.googleusercontent.com/-QZXJAyTLF6M/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAADTg/24D8pO2MAe0/s512-c/photo.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>