Writing poetry and running chainsaws are my two favorite activities. On the outside, poetry and chainsaws seem completely different. Most would imagine that the only thing they have in common is one cuts the tree that makes the paper and the other requires the use of paper. But be assured that though they differ in in how they came into my life poetry and chainsaws have a lot common.

   Ever since I can remember I’ve always wanted to know how things work. So that’s why anything with a motor sparks my interest. My dad taught me how to run a chainsaw when I was ten. He taught be how to address the basic mechanical problems that might arise and need to be fixed. He showed me how to sharpen or replace the chain, as well as how to change the bar. By twelve, I was given my own Stihl. I used my Stihl to clear my grandparents’ driveway and cut firewood. By the time I was fifteen my dad had trained me the art of running a chainsaw, drive a tractor, and basic mechanics on car engines.

   While my dad educated me in things that the classrooms hadn’t, I learned stuff in school that my dad couldn’t teach me. In the beginning I didn’t care much for poetry. I thought it was stupid. But the teacher explained that most music is poetry with a beat and rhythm. She had us study everyone from Edger Allen Poe to Eminem. My view on poetry altered. But it was no where near my favorite thing until I began to write.

   The first time I ever really put myself into a poem was when I wrote one for a completion in seventh grade. It didn’t place, but I was determined to get better. From then on I wrote poems in secret putting more and more emotion in them, learning more words, more rhymes, more meaning. It became an addiction. Finally after years on writing in secret I read one aloud on poetry night at school. I received much commendation and my performance even persuaded my English teacher to recommend me for AP English my senior year.

   Writing poems helps me clear a path in my head, the way a chainsaw helps clear a tree that has fallen across a road. It helps me to express my opinions. It helps me share how I’m feeling about others even when the feelings are not always shared. In addition to poetry running a chainsaw helps me get out any frustration and have fun.

   he experiences with dangerous equipment and writing poems have helped make me, me. Running a chainsaw has taught me to always be safe, be observant of my surroundings as well as what I’m doing. It taught me respect for danger, because the second you don’t respect something it stops respecting you. Poetry has taught me how to express my feelings. Because of poetry and chainsaws I’ve committed myself to both thought and action.