Friday, November 30, 2012

November


   November strips down to her essence-
   a dozen shades of brown and grey.
   October’s color-riot fades into memory,
   while a spare, somber beauty remains.

   Geese call mournful farewells
   as they retreat to the southern kingdom.

   The spring will bring an agony of birth
   but now, Earth folds in upon herself
   as she prepares for sleep.

Written for FF55 writing prompt.  Join us with 55 words of your own.

Image by Mary Bach 

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Fit for a Queen

    Photo source can be found here

The Queen of Chaos sits upon her throne.
She looks out through the window with disdain
at these mere mortals crossing her domain.
The Queen of Chaos sits upon her throne.

She looks out through her window with disdain
then summons churning forces of the dark
to seek out innocents,  and leave her mark.
She looks out through her window with disdain.

She summons churning forces of the dark.
The Queen of Chaos sits upon her throne.
High in her crumbling castle all alone
she summons churning forces of the dark.

The Queen of Chaos sits upon her throne.
She looks out through the window with disdain
at these mere mortals crossing her domain.
The Queen of Chaos sits upon her throne.

Written for The Mag creative writing group.  

This form was created by Robin Skelton, academic, writer, poet and anthologist. It is a Quatrain, and the second line forms a rhyming couplet with the third line and is also used as the first and fourth line of the following stanza. Any number of stanzas can be created this way and the final stanza is a repeat of the first. This gives a rhyme scheme of: A. B. b. A..... B. C. c B…. C. D. d. C .… D. A. a. D...... A. B. b. A.           (capital letters are repeated lines, and small letters are rhymes)







Thursday, November 22, 2012


            THANKS!

Friday, November 16, 2012

Never Mind



Have you made accommodation
for gradual hurt?
Are there places
you no longer frequent
in your own mind?
Places that are too treacherous,
too raw, too honest...

Have civility and formality
calcified your best intentions
into a cage you can no longer escape?
Has it become too dangerous
to even think
of escape?


This is for G-man's FF55.  Go there to read other 55 word long pieces, and feel free to add your own. 

Image: Health.howstuffworks.com


Friday, November 9, 2012

One Smooth Stone



One smooth stone
I hold in my palm,
yet it remains
discrete, separate.

Filled with potential energy
and a history I cannot access,
I touch only the cool, outer surface.
Secrets within remain hidden;
giving up nothing.
It simply is.

Silent and unyielding,
an inscrutable mystery,
I hold in my palm
one smooth stone.

Image: peterbolland.blogspot.com/2010/07/smooth-as-stone.html 

This is for G-man's FF55.  Check it out for 55 words of wisdom, humor or pure good storytelling.  Maybe add your own.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

I Got the Low-Down-Political-Dead-Lock Blues


"Meet the new boss
 Same as the old boss"

Mama Zen directed us to tell her how the presidential election turned out in twenty words or less for IGwRT, but Pete Townshend already said it better than I could.  Listen to 
The Who sing it on youtube.

*Disclosure: While I think Barack Obama is basically a good man and the lesser of two evils, with the system we have even the best president is rather ineffectual.

Image: 123rf.com




Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Late Groom


She smoothed her skirts of ivory lace
while pondering their recent tryst,
and made sure things were all in place.

Her marble features showed no trace
of all the places he had kissed.
She smoothed her skirts of ivory lace.

 His love was spirited, not base,
some discipline was all he missed;
she’d make sure that was all in place.

Six hours late - she was disgraced -
he stumbled in completely pissed.
She smoothed her skirts of ivory lace.

She saw he was a desperate case
when she reviewed her growing list
to make sure things were all in place.

A glacial smile upon her face,
she gave her bridegroom’s neck a twist,
then smoothed her skirts of ivory lace
and made sure things were all in place.



This Villanelle is for dVerse open link night.  Click on the link to see more.  
Also, thanks to Christi Moon for help tweaking the meter.  Here is the Villanelle form using capitals for the refrains and lowercase letters for the rhymes: A1-b-A2/ a-b-A1/ a-b-A2/ a-b-A1/ a-b-A2/ a-b-A1-A2

Image: photo.net





Sunday, November 4, 2012

f/64


    Image: Charis, Lake Ediza, California, 1937 by Edward Weston

Take me as I am
unrefined and unretouched;
not a vessel to hold
your feelings,
or a mirror
 to reflect yourself back
to you.

Do not oppress me with your
need for perfection.
Accept my beautiful scars
and creases.
They are me.

Do not superimpose
your romantic notions on me,
but see me as I am:
brave, sharp, focused.
I will not flee;
I will not fly into the sun.
I am here.

Written for The Mag where Tess Kincaid provides a weekly writing prompt.  I highly recommend it.  

Notes: f/64 was a group of American photographers, including Weston, who usually set their lenses to that aperture to secure maximum image sharpness in the foreground and distance. In 1934 Weston  resolved to make only unretouched portraits.  This was taken in 1937, the same year Amelia Earhart disappeared.

Leaden



   Dark and threatening
   hammered tin November skies
   split and fall on me

Image: Kreuzberg'd blog 'Spotted in Passing'

Friday, November 2, 2012

Dilution


The world is filled with echoes of
tissue paper sighs;
littered with
soft, sibilant requests
and soliloquies that wither on the lips.

Hope is stored on the top shelf
of a closet
safely wrapped in old newspapers,
only taken out for special occasions.

With desire sketched in pencil,
longing diluted,
it only hurts a little.


For G-man and his FF55.  Go there to find 55 words of wit, wisdom and whimsy from a variety of bloggers.  Maybe add your own!