Haiku & Other Poetry, tutto e niente

the agonies of change

days became decades

forged in fire but still easy

our love endures all

Reena’s 400th Prompt asks us to play a game. Visit the site of An Almanac of Birds: 100 Divinations

Click on any one of the 12 pictures. Read the divination and write whatever comes to mind.

I landed on the card above. We’ve been together for 42 years, so this one really resonated. Visit Reena’s page to read more.

 

Flash Fiction, tutto e niente

this time

Memories flooded my brain as the smoke from the flickering candle enveloped me. The hint of menthol cigarettes lingering in the air only amplified my déjà vu. My cowardice urged me to turn and run, but before my feet could obey this frantic command the sight of the Two of Swords reminded me of the weight of the choice ahead of me. I couldn’t let one bad incident stop me from seeking guidance. Maybe if I had listened that time, instead of mocking, I would have taken a different road, so instead of taking flight, I sank into the chair. Holding my question in my mind, I shuffled the cards and made a promise to myself:  this time, I would listen, really really listen.

The Two of Swords card, conceptualized by Pamela Colman Smith

I had fun today, creating a six-sentence story and incorporating some additional word prompts that included CARDS, AMPLIFY, CHOICE, and INCIDENT. Visit the site below for more info and more great writing. 

 

Flash Fiction, Random Rants, tutto e niente

tomorrow is another day

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.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

 

 

 

Flash Fiction, tutto e niente

first dates and pilot lights

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.

Photo by Mateusz Feliksik on Pexels.com

 

Thanks for the inspiration to tell a highly fictionalized version of our first date. 

 

 

Haiku & Other Poetry, tutto e niente

the end, the middle, begin again

the end comes like purple haze  

with shards of red

penetrating the deep blue

inside the middle

inky black and sparkling white

swirl above the buried blue

begin again with shards of red

the inky black burns pink

and the deep blue rises again

Photo by Steshka Croes on Pexels.com

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.