About Me

Hi, I'm Harper Lee Simmons. It's pronounced Har-peh, because my dad's from the south. He's a foreign service agent from the US; my mom's a professor from Morocco. I grew up dividing my time between Rabat, Casablanca, and the countryside, with occasional trips to France. (I speak Arabic, French, and, yes, English.) I was born in Morocco but spent my first year or two in the States to get some fancy medical treatments. Mom and I and my brother and sister usually hang out at home while Dad's away on business. I have a younger brother, Will, and a younger sister, Charlotte. Dad named us all after his "heroes of literature": Nelle Harper Lee, William Shakespeare, and Charlotte Bronte. Mom and us kids are Muslim and Dad's a Baptist. He met my mother on an assignment and hasn't been able to get his heart away from Morocco since. Now I'm in the States attending a boarding school. I got detained after a fifty-state whirlwind tour, probably because of my religion. Living at "home" has been difficult to adjust to, but I'm getting there. With some help from my wonderful teacher and new friends, my United States citizenship has become something tangible. Oh, and I'm a poet. Yeah, I might not be your typical American Girl... but I think that's something I can live with.

18 May 2006

hallelujah

here
in california
the sun is shining
as bright as even
casablanca
rabat
"here's looking at you, kid."
even if the sun was not shining
and rain was falling
and thunder drumming
i would be happy
as it is the weather of adventure

15 May 2006

Aha! Thoughts

american history 101
ooooooooooh
shooby-doop shooby-wop
shooby-dah-lah
i'm in america!
there's history and culture like never before
so much more i have in store!
shooby-dooop shooby-wop
shooby-dah-lah
i'm in america!

what if i really was...?
sometimes i wish i'm really her
that famous author
that h a r p e r l e e
who
hid away
and contemplated
life
however
i'm much more partial
to friendship
in a different way than
my namesake

12 May 2006

Road Trip

swishing, swoshing
through-the-mud driving
moving, meeting
in-your-face greetings
what's this feeling
head is reeling
want to go to sleep but
still more states to go

29 April 2006

Anticipation

waiting
for what might not come
a simple gift
yet so hard to get
and waiting
for the inevitable
the one thing
i'm not sure i want

25 April 2006

Really Random poems and stuff

I wrote a poem, and then I was writing another one but it turned into a song. I'm in a really weird mood right now!!

blah
feeling...


bored.


feeling...


tired.


wanting...


you.



song for you

verse 1
last night i called your home
something wrong and I don't know
what got into me but i say
every day you live a new day
last night you weren't home
is she safe or did she go it alone?
your doggy's there, holding you tight
there wasn't a purpose in that call last night

chorus
did i say the wrong thing?
because it seemed like you were upset
that i didn't want to talk about you
but that was honestly why i called
i guess, you should read between the lines a bit more
see what's in store
for you
it's something new

verse 2
every morning wake up tired and stressed
pick out an outfit, i get dressed
every morning feel me waiting for you
i kinda get you're feeling it too
every morning you're at school
following behind me
do you think i don't see?
do you think i don't want it too?

chorus

bridge
say i can see you cry
say you don't want to say goodbye
why didn't i say i'd miss you
when that's obviously what you wanted

verse 3
prone to emotional outbursts only when you're there
prone to emotional outbursts when you've got your hands on my hair
not gonna say it, not until i'm in your arms again
tell me when...

chorus

24 April 2006

"In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel

love I get so lost, sometimes


days pass and this emptiness fills my heart


when I want to run away


I drive off in my car


but whichever way I go


I come back to the place you are



all my instincts, they return


and the grand facade, so soon will burn


without a noise, without my pride


I reach out from the inside



in your eyes


the light the heat


in your eyes


I am complete


in your eyes


I see the doorway to a thousand churches


in your eyes


the resolution of all the fruitless searches


in your eyes


I see the light and the heat


in your eyes


oh, I want to be that complete


I want to touch the light


the heat I see in your eyes



love, I don't like to see so much pain


so much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away


I get so tired of working so hard for our survival


I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive



and all my instincts, they return


and the grand facade, so soon will burn


without a noise, without my pride


I reach out from the inside



in your eyes


the light the heat


in your eyes


I am complete


in your eyes


I see the doorway to a thousand churches


in your eyes


the resolution of all the fruitless searches


in your eyes


I see the light and the heat


in your eyes


oh, I want to be that complete


I want to touch the light,


the heat I see in your eyes


in your eyes in your eyes


in your eyes in your eyes


in your eyes in your eyes

in your arms

i rushed to you
but instead of making myself uncomfortable
you made me welcome
and i melted in your arms
and you held me there
and i didn't want to let go
and i did,
but you didn't want to let go either
so maybe that's why you've been talking to me all this time.