Haiku & Other Poetry, tutto e niente

New Hope

Tina Stewart Brakebill

Rising from the depths,

the solo flame meets daylight.

In concert, they join

to purge the night’s dark shadows.

Illuminating new hope.

Image credit https://unsplash.com/@codyhiscox

It’s been a long time since I’ve been here, but I’m determined to make time in 2023! So thanks to MindLoveMiserysMenagerie’s Photo Challenge and Linda Hill’s JusJotJan challenge for getting me back in the game. Please visit their sites for guidelines for the challenges and for some great writing.

Here’s to purging the shadows!

Flash Fiction, tutto e niente

Red is Definitely My Color

Tina Stewart Brakebill

I was never a “convertible person.” Hot in the summer. Cold in the winter. Buggy. Windy. Nope. Not for me.

But … I had to admit, I looked good. Red was definitely my color.

A horn blasted and I shifted my gaze to the truck also reflected in the store window. Resisting the urge to flip them off, I meekly waved. They roared past me, blasting exhaust.

As that rumble faded, the sound from the trunk grew louder. Time to get back to the task at hand.

I indulged in one last look. Yes. Red definitely was my color.

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Thanks to Carrot Ranch 99 Word Story for the inspiration.

Haiku & Other Poetry, tutto e niente

Summers Gone By

Tina Stewart Brakebill

It’s miserably hot (again) in Florida, so I hibernated inside today. I was skimming through some photos and found this from a recent trip up north. It brought back memories of my youthful summers in the Midwest. August had a different feel back in the day 😉 It inspired the haiku (or maybe it’s a haibun) below.

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Tassels Touching Blue

That Summer Gone Forever

August In My Mind

Thanks to Colleen’s Tanka Tuesday Share Your Day Challenge

Flash Fiction, tutto e niente

Un’altra notte rossa

Tina Stewart Brakebill

All around me, conversations swell. I understand little but instead of seeming cacophonous, the words soothe. They distract from my reality until the prosecco dulls the pain.    

Then the old woman who runs the osteria stands over me, “Ciligie”?

Seeing the cherries shakes me from my stupor.

She continues, “Devi rimanere per La Notte Rossa.”

The Red Night.

Stuck in an unrelenting loop, I had forgotten the world moves on. Ciliegie abound. And the people celebrate. But not us.

The cherries taunt me with their promise of sweetness but my mind fills with another red night as darkness falls.

This 99 word story was made possible by the https://carrotranch.com/2022/07/25/template-story-challenge-in-99-words-3/