Determined to shake off the misery for just one day, Margaret vowed to adhere to her self-imposed 24-hour digital detox. Word puzzles filled her first hour. A quick trip to Trader Joe’s for flowers was next. All was good, but then she caught sight of her woebegone expression in the revolving door. Without thinking, she clicked on Insta and the dopamine rush cast a temporary “woe-be-gone” enchantment. Damn, she had failed again! Oh well, there’s always tomorrow.
As it often did, the whoosh of the burner sent Linda’s mind back. He wasn’t her type, but she had promised her roommate she’d be the fourth for one double date. Standing in her shared college kitchen, he had said “do you mind” as he had casually leaned over the stove and lit a cigarette on the pilot light. Linda had always hated smoking but something about that casual lean gave her a thrill. Now forty years later, the thrill was still there. Thankfully the cigarettes were not.
Written for dVerse MTB and David’s W3. I’m not sure if I did either justice, but I tried!
Laura, our host, at dVerse says:
Today’s MTB prompt is poetry with a colour motif:
take one or more literal colours (not a fancy colour name)
repeatthe colour word(s) throughout the poem (e.g. refrain; anaphora, epistrophe)
use colour synonyms
employ colour with its specific meaning to the poem’s theme
let your colour motif(s) also become symbolic
Lisa, our POW, at W3 says:
Fall always feels like a season of both endings and beginnings, doesn’t it? For this week, let’s explore those transitions in a Quadrille—a 44-word poem, a form first shared with us by the wonderful d’Verse Poets Pub.
Your poem can lean into endings, beginnings, or the mix of the two.
The loud click of the lock had echoed in her mind for just a moment as she shut out the last of the stragglers. But the constant stream of words had stopped.
Finally.
No more kind-hearted souls urging her to “eat something.” No more obsequious parishioners offering her sympathy and prayers. No more polite policeman asking stupid questions. No more of his exacting demands for unattainable perfection. No more of her internal screams of anguish. No more.
Finally.
She gazed out the window. His final view offering her an open road to the future.
The attempts at unblocking my writer’s block seems to be have channeled me to the dark side! Thanks Rochelle and Sandra for the inspiration for this 100 word ode to revenge or maybe regret or possibly hope. The reader can decide. Visit her site for more info on the Friday Fictioneers challenge.
Claude Monet. The Studio Boat (Le Bateau-atelier), 1876, Oil on canvas.
Today’s challenge from dVerse asks us to do either of the below:
You may write an ekphrastic poem inspired by Claude Monet’s “The Studio Boat.” Your poem does not need to include anything about reflecting or reflections, but it can. AND/OR
You may write a poem on reflection, whatever that means to you—self-reflection, reflection on time’s passing, a reflection in a pool of water, etc.
I’ve been struggling with a bit of writers/creative block so this is my reflection on that unsettling feeling.
Visit the dVerse page for more info on the prompt: