Lucky Strike

     Image by R.A.D. Stainforth 

I remember

gentle pressure of your lips.

Friction, spark, fire:

you ignite,

I burn.

But that’s past.

Turns out the brass ring

was only smoke.

A stale future

permeates my clothes and hair.

Ashes,ashes,we all fall down.

Check out more responses to the picture by R.A.D. Stainforth at The Mag weekly, online writing prompt provided by Tess Kincaid.

Merry Christmas

                 Let Heaven and Nature sing

              Peace on Earth, good will to all...

Apocalypse: Plan A

   Image by fanpop.com

   Here I sit at the end of the world

   with my bags packed and hair neatly curled

   I’m expecting the Doc’s

   great, big, shiny, blue box

   with its red carpet neatly unfurled.

   Plan B: "Go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of this to blow over." –Shaun of the Dead

  This is just a little fun for G-man's  FF55.  Go there to check out more 55's of wit and wisdom, and maybe even add your own.

Sandy Hook 12-14-12

    Image by cnn.com 

Bushmaster semi-automatic assault rifle - AR-15

- Charlotte Bacon, 2/22/06, female

Caliber: 5.56 NATO/223 Rem

- Daniel Barden, 9/25/05, male

Weight: 6.7 lbs.

- Rachel Davino, 7/17/83, female

Length: 32.5”
- Olivia Engel, 7/18/06, female

Barrel length: 16”
- Josephine Gay, 12/11/05, female

Muzzle: ½ x 28
- Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 04/04/06, female

Barrel: 4150 chrome-moly steel w/chrome-lined bore/chamber
- Dylan Hockley, 3/8/06, male

 The .223 caliber load is popular because it has better fragmentation upon impact…
- Dawn Hochsprung, 06/28/65, female

Parts, whether newly manufactured or surplus, are plentiful from dozens of companies - which will sell you non-restricted parts.
- Madeleine F. Hsu, 7/10/06, female

Ban Criteria Features: Post-Ban AR-15 rifles, by law, cannot have more than 2 of the following features:
- Catherine V. Hubbard, 6/08/06, female

a. Detachable magazine
- Chase Kowalski, 10/31/05, male

b. Pistol grip
- Jesse Lewis, 6/30/06, male

c. Threaded barrel/flash hider
- James Mattioli , 3/22/06, male

d. Collapsible stock

- Grace McDonnell, 12/04/05, female

e. Bayonet lug
- Anne Marie Murphy, 07/25/60, female

f. Grenade launcher

- Emilie Parker, 5/12/06, female

With a Bushmaster for security and home defense, you can sleep tight knowing that your loved ones are protected.

- Jack Pinto, 5/06/06, male

. Bushmaster offers everything you need to ensure the safety of you and your family.
- Noah Pozner, 11/20/06, male

Our high-quality pistols, carbines, and rifles are extremely reliable, easy to shoot, and include lightweight carbon models that are perfect for women.
- Caroline Previdi, 9/07/06, female

With the "Sunset" of the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban on Sept. 13th, 2004, Bushmaster can again offer features on the AR15 type rifle that had been deemed illegal for those 10 years
- Jessica Rekos, 5/10/06, female

such as

- Avielle Richman, 10/17/06, female

flash suppressors,

- Lauren Rousseau, 6/1982, female (full date of birth not specified)

 bayonet lugs,
- Mary Sherlach, 2/11/56, female

collapsing telescopic stocks
- Victoria Soto, 11/04/85, female

and high capacity magazines.
- Benjamin Wheeler, 9/12/06, male

Availability: As a result of the military’s adoption and continued usage of the rifle, the shooting public is blessed with a variety of manufacturers of AR-15 variants.
- Allison N. Wyatt, 7/03/06, female

The author - or Bushmaster Firearms, Inc. / Quality Parts Co. - assumes no liability for accuracy of the information herein contained.

Note: Victims’ information from Huffington Post 

Weapon information can be found on the Bushmaster Website, including an article, A PROSPECTIVE AR-15 OWNER/BUILDER'S PRIMER, by Ron Wu. 

This is linked to dVerse Poets and IGWRT where each has an open link night.

The Ride Home

    Image by Andy Magee

My throat tightens 

when I spot you waiting,

among the clump of students filled with

young, slouchy energy.

Then the mom-worry kicks in.

You look exhausted and rumpled,

smell faintly of stale beer and cigarette smoke.

I wonder how much sleep you've had this week,

this semester.

But finals are over and you’re mine again,

at least for the next three hours

while we drive home.

Your dark, 5-day growth

reminds me that you are a man now,

but still my baby - always my first baby.

You stretch and push the seat back to its furthest  position,

as we head west out of the city

listening to System of a Down.

It should be snowing, you say.

I agree as we look past the windshield wipers

into the grey December drizzle.

I turn up the defrost, as the atmosphere

inside the car is changed by the warm breath of two.

Then the special magic of a long car ride begins.

You shift in your seat, turn down the volume

and start talking…

And then

everything is all right.

This is prompted by The Mag creative writing group.  Check it out.

A Tolkien 55

We shouldn't be here,

if we'd known…

but it's often that way;

a habit of the old.

Their paths were laid

from ashes,
from shadows

both sweet and bitter.

Brave things, old tales, adventures,

ones that really mattered

they had forgotten.

Turning back, inside the story,

can we change 

the course of the future?

Written for G-man's Friday 55, this is a variation of Erasure poetry, which is a form of found poetry created by erasing words from an existing text in prose or verse and framing the result on the page as a poem. It can be allowed to stand in situ or arranged into lines and/or stanzas.  The poem I've assembled above is from the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, as a tip of my cap to him on the opening day of The Hobbit movie. If you're interested in Erasure Poetry I suggest you go to dVerse Poets Pub.

To read more 55 word tidbits click on FF55

Lost in You

     Borders  drawn, 

     points plotted,

     artificial boundaries

     matter not.

     All you need to know is

     YOU ARE HERE

And now for another edition of the "Top 10 Immature and Inappropriate Comments" List (all 12 of them!)

    1.       Go West young man!

    2.       What do you mean the borders are being re-drawn?

    3.       Who says there’s nothing left to explore?

    4.       No wonder the polar ice caps are melting…

    5.       Hmmm…I think maybe I’ll get a piercing in Belarus.

    6.       So, what about continental drift and tectonic plate movements?

    7.       No wonder there’s always a waiting list to get into the new geography teacher’s classes.

    8.       He’s got the the who-o-ole world in his hands…

    9.       How the hell do ya fold that?

   10.   Gives a whole new meaning to a year abroad…

   11.   Henry Miller’s inspiration for Tropic of Cancer?

   12.   And always remember: be good to Mother Earth!

    This inspirational image was provided by Tess Kincaid at The Mag.  Join us there!

Reflections

Image: Google images

I wonder who looks back at me

When two-way pane is all I see.

Who’s hidden there behind the glass

watching me as I walk past?

From underneath the polished sea

I wonder who looks back at me

My eyes can’t see what swims below;

what worlds are there that I can’t know?

And walking through the misty night

beyond the edge of pooling light

I wonder who looks back at me;

my shoulders hunch, protectively.

With everything that’s come to pass,

reflected in the looking glass

while it’s my features that I see,

I wonder who looks back at me.

This is an example of a Quatern, which is made up of four quatrains with the first line appearing in descending order in each stanza, ie: Aabb aAcc ddAa eeaA.  It one is also iambic tetrameter.  This is the Form for All over at dVerse.  I'm too late to like up but you should still check it out; you won't be disappointed.

Dear Santa

I’m trying to be a good girl and not expect too much

but do you think that you could manage a little Prada clutch?

and a shoe or two by Jimmy Choo

would keep away the holiday blues

Although…

the geek in me wants a ‘Big Bang’ T

and blue box next to the Christmas tree!

This is my Christmas list in 55 words for both Mr. Knowitall's FF55 and Mama Zen's IGwRT prompt.  Check them both out!  And for all you non-geeks out there, the last two things on my list refer to 'The Big Bang Theory' and Doctor Who.  And I actually already have the big blue box  :o)

 This is me helping keep the Universe safe.  You're welcome.

About Time

Image: Object to be Destroyed by Man Ray

Object

to be Destroyed

keeps watch over me with

disdain as I practice my scales.

I never did like piano lessons

in that room that smelled of cabbage.

So go on, destroy it;

you know I won’t

object.

Here's another take on the image:

Tick,tick, tock

scolded by the clock

I never could keep time…

And then I got long-winded:

Tick, tick, tock

scolded by the clock

I never could keep time…

Keep it, spend it,

measure it, treasure it

race it and chase it,

but never erase time.

If I could

I woul leave,

lose my place

in this line of time -

coil my time line

like a lasso

and tie it in a lovely knot.

Then my 70-year-old self

could remind the 7-year-old

to floss and study hard,

and 26-year-old me can

reassure me-at-13

that Jeanette is only a mean girl,

and not really important.

And just perhaps, 14-year-old me

could remind the 41-year-old

to lighten up and have some fun.

But, tie as I might,

the knots won’t hold;

my time line

is cut into snippets

by clocks and calendars.

Tick - there goes another golden moment

tick – and another,

tock…

Thank you for taking the TIME to read this and thanks to Tess Kincaid for this prompt at The Mag.