Microfiction Monday #68

Susan Carlton hosts something called Microfiction Mondays. A picture is given and we are challenged to write a story for it in 140 characters or less.

Yup, this'll be a real lifesaver for everyone living downwind of us!

Sunday Scribblings #252 - Safe

The Fortress

we are builders,
all
who struggle every day
stacking stones around ourselves
the fortress must hold strong
whether to protect our overflowing treasure
or hide the barren room, once full
we must guard against those
who dare come too near
the risk is so great
the cost so dear
so you will understand
why I can not
let you
in

Looking Back

Looking back…

I see a string
of stained coffee cups,
battered boxes
filled with regret
dirty sheets,
dirty laundry
broken crockery and
promises
with a thin film
of dust
covering it all

I dared
to eat the peach,
but it was mealy
and tasteless,
a sticky mess
dripping down my chin
and I…
I am left
with the pit

This poem was originally written for a creatvie challenge by the Facial Expression Poetry Group.

Mag # 50

THIS WAY TO THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED

Lyric 2 Poem - Flash’s Song Lyrics

My Sister-in-law (Flash) challenged me a long time ago to write a poem made up of lyrics from 17 songs she chose. That means country western music, which generally makes my ears bleed!So, of course I did the only thing I could - I promptly lost the word doc. with the lyrics and my notes. I recently ran across it though, purely by accident, so inspite of great personal risk, I finally completed the challenge. The following poem is the result.

My story’s infinite
I have seen the ocean
I have seen the sky
and the birds, the trees, the falling snow -
no they were not made for me.

Sure as night will follow day
I’m certain that I am alone
(And) afraid of being left
I keep crawling back to you

We have crossed the Rubicon
let’s see how long
we forget
how the game goes
and I lay you to rest
just
to feel the give
and take
trying to hold on
I keep crawling back to you

It’s a hard road
creating want by
holding back
so my darling just
let it go by
you’re scared of what you’ll lose
or what you might gain
I ‘m afraid of crossing lines,
I’m afraid of flying blind
(so) I keep crawling back to you

I should have known better…
but now here I am
the world’s gotten colder
and love is not your stranger
it shattered slowly
it’s broken through-
so that’s today’s memory lane
with all the pathos and pain
(and) I love you more than I should
so I keep crawling back to you

The bad news is I never found the original doc. with all the titles and artists, so I can't properly give credit...unless Flash saved it and can help with that.

Sunday Scribblings #251 - Eternity

Eternity is…
Standing on the wrong side of the bathroom door
Waiting your turn in the doctor’s office
How long the kids have to wait to open their Christmas presents
The time it takes ‘Cherry Bomb Red’ fingernail polish to dry
A figure eight on its side
The time it takes me to balance my checkbook
How long I will love you

Alternate final line:
How long I will be a sap over loving you

Microfiction Monday #67

I'm trying something new. Microfiction Monday. Write 140 characters or less about a picture that has been posted (although I suppose this is a mirocpoem). This week it's:

He felt as grey inside
as the fog that surrounded
him
as he waited at the bridge
with the anxious child

Magpie Tales #49

This time I'm not using my own words. I don't usually do that, but when I saw the slightly mischevious look in the eye of the middle lady the Jethro Tull song 'Skating Away' just popped into my mind! :o)

Skating a-wa-a-y, skating a-wa-a-y
Staking a-wa-a-y, on the thin ice of a new da-a-y
-Jethro Tull

The Many Moods of Mary: Body Poems

I have been playing around witht he Rictameter form for awhile now and enjoying it. Here I decided to use the word 'Body' and as I started the poem, I got ideas for others. They are all quite similar, but coujure very different feelings. So, here they are, just a little fun with words:

And a quick review, Rictamenter is a poem with lines consisting of a certain number of syllables per line: 2-4-6-8-10-8-6-4-2 and the first word is the same as the last.

Body - Three Takes

Body
Heat is rising
Beads of sweat are forming
Pulse rate quickens, muscles tense
Ragged breathing builds to a crescendo
Both blood and interest start to drain
As you roll away from
My now useless
Body


Body
Heat is rising
Hearts race and faces flush
Gasping urgently we race on
Frenzied movements build to a crescendo
Gently, dreamily we come back
To ourselves, and savor
One another’s
Body


Body
Heat is rising
Beads of sweat form as my
Heart rate rises, breaths come shallow
Muscles twisting, turning, writhing, pulling
Standing here in this dressing room
As I try to get these
Damn jeans on my
Body

Daughter Ache - Magpie Tales #48

Daughter Ache

I Watch
As my daughter of seventeen
Preens in front of the bathroom mirror
Perfumes and lip glosses
Scattered across the counter
Contact lenses spooning
On her azure eyes
She is an opening flower
Still dewy with the new day of her life

She prepares herself like a sacrifice
Lacquering her lashes
Fitting silver droplets to her ears
Pale curls frustrate her most valiant
Efforts at containment
And erupt over her shoulders
She concentrates, lower lip thrust out
And the ghost of her three-year-old self
Escapes from my heart

And how can I let her go out
Into a hard, jagged world
Already riddled with casualties
When she is as vulnerable as a reed?
Yet, I cannot take this opening bud
And press it under glass
Or stick it in a dried arrangement
On my coffee table
Preserved and safe
And dead

I wrote this for and about my daughter Kate when she graduated from high school. She is an accomplished pianiast, so this week's Magpie prompt made me think of her.

Potluck Poetry - Did You Notice?

Did You Notice?

We are
Rapt
In a cocoon
Of
Miracles

Poets' Rally

Thank you Jingle and everyone who voted fom me!

Magpie #47 - Family

Pulling:
Outside agents
Like centripetal force
Threatening to separate us
Thus we must hold fast to one another
Or else our nuclear family
Will be blown apart by
Outside agents
Pulling

Sunday Scribblings #238 - Progress

This is my entry for the prompt 'Progress' I feel as though it still needs some work, but at this point I'm not sure what to do with it. So, here it is:

So what exactly is my goal?
I’ll be damned if I know
But I know this, it must be deep
A thing not just for show

No increase earned in bank accounts
Or decrease in my waist -
The shallow realm of status,
Is bogus and misplaced

It’s big and it’s ubiquitous,
A hard thing to define
A quest to be more human
And also more divine

It won’t fit on an ordered list
Not linear, more free-form
A plunge into the darkness
To ride the chaos-storm

To learn what lies beneath the mask
In darkness and in light
To separate and yet connect
Within this sacred rite

So what exactly is my goal?
To laugh and cry and grow
And make peace with the paradox
That I can never know.

Random Haikus

Ok, I have resolved to write more in 2011. I woke up early, unable to sleep and wrote a poem about progress and resolutions. At this point it's still crap though, so I won't put it on here yet, but I also have some Haikus of varying quality, with my favorite first. And without further ado I give you Haiku. Ok, that was lame, but anyway, here they are:

The Bowl of my life
Sits empty on the sideboard,
A decoration

Please won't you save me
From becoming one of those
Crazy cat ladies?


Counting syllables
Haiku is both easy math
And complex writing