Poetry: Assonance, Metaphor and Imagery... Oh My!

So, I've been told I need to write more, since people (real people!) seem to enjoy reading my ramblings.
Whether that's a widely accepted opinion or not is still up for debate, but as I was made aware of it by my Creative Writing teacher (who is an actual writer) I think I'll take it. Here's a poem that she particularly liked; I'm not sure if it's one of my best pieces or not, though it's probably my best poem. It was originally supposed to be a narrative poem, but it has a ton of sound mechanics and such. I really have no idea how I got to writing on the topic it's about, but the direction of my thoughts rarely make sense to me, so I hope you like it:

Book Review: The Art of War (for Writers)

Recently, I read a great little book called The Art of War for Writers, by James Scott Bell. It's written in the style of, obviously, Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese battle tactician and author of the original Art of War. Split into three parts, Bell's how-to-write novel isn't like most of it's genre; it doesn't teach basic writing principals, it doesn't give tedious examples of "good writing", it doesn't ask the question "What is writing?' and it certainly doesn't give impractical, fantastic examples of successful writing. It tells only what you need to know, nothing more, nothing less, while giving witty- and often thought provoking- quotes along the way.

Short Story: Rewrite a Fairy Tale

I've been on vacation for the past week, so forgive the lack of posting. A while ago, we had an assignment to rewrite a fairytale of our choosing. We could update it somehow, change the setting, some of the plot, etc., but we had to keep the basic storyline the same. I failed. I just couldn't think of what to change about the story I chose (it was Old Sultan, which was really very bad. I'm not sure why I chose it) and my finished story was too similar to the original. So, for our revision assignment, I chose to redo my failed attempt. Instead of sticking with the farm setting of the original, as well as my first attempt, I made it into a post-apocalyptic kind of thing, somewhat akin to that tv show Jericho (which I don't particularly reccomend, but the setting was very cool).  I think it turned out a bit better:

Prompt: Control

Sorry I haven't really added much here, been busy... Anyway, last week we got into small groups and read and shared ideas. My group read a lot, then did a few random prompts. My personal favourite was control. I'm not sure what this writing would be classified as, or if it's any good, but I kinda like it. Keep in mind that this is just a first draft:

The Fountains of Paradise; A Retrospective

A few years back, I found my favourite author- Sir Arthur C. Clarke- and since that wonderous day in the back of the public library, I have read nearly every Clarke book I could find on the shelves. This book in particular, The Fountains of Paradise, became an absolute joy, and one of my favourite books. Now, looking back and re-reading it from an apprentice writer (assuming that is the correct rank), I've gained a new outlook on this marvel of a book.