Individual Work
Girl's Day Out

This piece is made up of three different parts: 1) the poem, "Girl's Day Out" 2) Kerry Lawrynovicz's notes on the poem 3) "Shards" which is a poem composed of statements made in the Houston Chronicle that followed the event that inspired "Girl's Day Out"

When you visit the page, there are three different links you can click on to read all three parts of this piece. The background of the page is filled with images of the country and a horse. This immediately presents the theme of a country-style setting. The top link, located on the right side of the page is labeled as "poem." The next link is in the middle of the page on the left side and is labeled "author's note." The final link is centered on the bottom of the page and is labeled as "Shards."

After clicking on the first link, you are taken to the poem "Girl's Day Out." The black background and white text presents a dreary, depressing atmosphere. You begin to read the poem and learn about two sisters. They are riding horse-back through the beautiful countryside. The two sisters stop at a river to give their horses some rest time. A breeze rolls in and the sisters see that a storm is coming. They return to their horses and quickly head for home. One of the horses begins to aggressively move from side-to-side, wide-eyed with the sister caught in the stirrups. The other sister can barely see the event while panicking. She can only see the havoc which the horse has brought to the open field.

The second link takes you to a page which is also filled with black and white. To the right, is a photograph of Kerry with her horse named Sterling. Above this image, is a photograph of Kerry's sister, Lexie, with her horse who they call Jefferson. Kerry begins to discuss riding horses with her sister when they would vacation in Texas. The sisters were experienced riders, so they really did not enjoy riding on tours where their riding was controlled by a guide. With this notion in mind, the sisters found a stable located near their cousin's home in League City. The stable went by the name of Star Dust Trail Rides and offered decent prices for horseback riding. If you were an experienced rider, the stable would allow you to ride unsupervised after signing a legal waiver. Kerry and Lexie grew very fond of two horses at the stable, Sterling and Jefferson. Kerry explains that the pastures were not always safe. The sisters even experienced a ride in which their horses sank in mud while trotting through a heavy rain storm. A couple years after regularly visiting the stable, the sisters were shocked about the article that their grandmother found in the newspaper. The remains of multiple girls had been found throughout the pastures where the girls use to ride Sterling and Jefferson. Kerry and Lexie were both shocked and terrified about the fact that they had galloped through those same pastures on various occasions.

The third link takes you to a page with a grey background and back text. The text consists of phrases which lit up the Houston Chronicle when the bodies of multiple victims were found. Skulls, bones, jewelry and even a belt tied around a tree were discovered throughout the pastures. The body count began at six, then twelve, and rose to more than thirty victims. Victim number thirty- two was never identified. All the victims were women and had similar characteristics. The women who were involved in these homicide cases were all around the same age. The pastures were referred to as "the killing fields." The crime scenes were located near Interstate 45 in Texas.

The first and third section of this piece are poems which use a flash format. They are very creepy and describe the story of murder. The second section is more of a personal story written by Kerry Lawrynovicz which describes the actual events that inspired her own poem. I found it extremely helpful that Kerry added a section explaining what exactly happened in the Texan pastures. It helps the reader obtain a full grasp on "Girl's Day Out" and "Shards."