today in english class this quiet pretty blonde girl who hasn't spoken a word all semester did a brilliant presentation on virginia woolfe's to the lighthouse. since i don't do readings i haven't a clue what to the lighthouse is about, but this girl's presentation was even interesting just as a study in rhetoric. i wrote down all these beautiful phrases she used, most of them off the cuff, all over my sheet
disconcerting and fascinating
brief eternities
a succession of moments that collapse into one another
shapes and light and darkness
beauty is feeling
she even managed to say stuff like decay and erosion of time without sounding stupid. she spoke with the confidence of a closet poet. hiding away linguistic gems and locking the door, but always knowing the value of what she's keeping from the world.
i bet she's a far more eloquent writer than any of the outspoken kids in my class (including me).