March 2019 – Poetry, Short Prose and Walking

Eminence

After moving to the beach town whose eminence attracted him he no longer got up early to join the seagulls as the sun rose above the ocean. He no longer paid attention to the tiny lizards running on the sidewalks. He stopped celebrating the tropical climate and started complaining about the heat.

It shocked him to realize that he no longer wanted to go to the Cuban-run bakery for a cortadito. He made his own coffee.

His relatives from northern lands were still awed by palm trees and lizards, but by moving to paradise he had become a local.

Linked to Carrot Ranch where the theme for this week’s 99-word flash fiction challenge is “eminence”.

Lizard Sitting Still Hoping I’ll Go Away

Cave


When the guide turned out the light
The darkness drove away the space.
Without the stars to show the night
Reality crashed in my face.
Kentucky vanished, out of sight.
This cave below became no place.

Linked to dVerse Poetics where Anmol is hosting with the theme of geography. This poem tries to show what can happen to the sense of geography when the lights go out.

Nasty Troll

 
No one knows why my troll’s bad.
I think because he’s rarely glad
When someone wandering passes by.
I cross his bridge and yell out, “Hi!”

He blames me then for being there - 
“Being noisy everywhere!”
He’s justified to shout at me,
Reverberating mystery.

Linked to dVerse Quadrille. I am hosting with the word “troll”. Come join us with a 44-word poem using the word “troll” in some form in the poem.

Written in Stone

The gargoyles know about this place,
This lookout for the lucky birds.
Elaborately simple grace
Can feel the meaning of the words.

Linked to K’lee and Dale’s Cosmic Photo Challenge on Monday where the theme will be “written in stone”.

Bucket of Water

Grace fills a small bucket of water from her sink for four plants on her balcony overlooking the bay overlooking her former life far away. She hopes the plants thrive. They may not like it here and they have no way to escape.

With the water delivered she looks down on the tiny neighbors walking the street all accustomed to being here, mentally preoccupied. They look happy, but who knows? Happiness is not what it’s all about. It’s all about – what?

She figures those tiny plants have to trust her, but sometimes water comes from the sky as well.

Linked to Carrot Ranch with 99-word theme: "bucket of water"

It Is Well With My Soul

Prairie Writers Guild - NW Indiana

Every Sunday we see them
walking down the aisle
bent and hobbled.
An elderly man leads
a wizened old woman.
“Here I am, Lord, if you need me,”

Tottering along behind,
the gray-haired son, head down,
slouched, uneven gait, slightly rumpled.
“It is well with my soul.”

They enter the pew, bow their heads in prayer.
The son rocks to-and-fro in a steady rhythm
throughout Mass.
“As the Father has loved me so I have loved you.”

Mass over, the family files out of the pew,
out of church, silent, they speak to no one
as the choir sings,
“’I love you, you are Mine’, says the Lord.”

Poetry above by Pat Kopanda, photography below by Frank Hubeny.

Linked to dVerse Open Link Night.

Cornfield During Winter

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One-Liner Wednesday – Levitate

The next time I levitate I’m going to make sure no one’s watching so they don’t feel obligated to bring me back down to earth.

Linked to Linda G. Hill’s One-Liner Wednesday. It occurred to me I doubt I would have thought of this levitating theme without having read V.J. Knutson’s poem, Levitating.

#1linerWeds badge by Cheryl, at dreamingreality646941880.wordpress.com/

Between Identities

 
I

Sitting, singing on the street,
Voice turned-off from drugs,
His fingers playing on and on.
They still recall an ancient song
That brought him love and hugs.


II

She pours her years into the child
Who digs soft, shallow sand.
He takes those years and buries them
To seed their future land.


III

The trolley takes me round and round
For free. I listen to the sound
Of Spanish first, some English, too.
The Sun knows what it has to do.
The sky will keep the water blue.
I board and leave the ground.

Linked to dVerse Poetics where Gina is hosting with the theme of balancing identities with poetic hum. I hope between those three identities there rises a poetic hum.

Technology: Chisel

Brad knew he didn’t have the proper tools to do the job right, but he rarely did. The door and opener cost under $50. He’d reuse the old hinges.

He did have to buy a chisel. They told him he couldn’t return it when he was done. He could live with that.

After sort of measuring everything, he realized it wasn’t as easy as he thought to carve out where the hinges should go.

Eventually in spite of everything he hung the door.

Happy wife happy life: she was happy. For the most part the new door even closed.

Linked to Carrot Ranch where the theme for the 99-word stories is chisel and to K’lee and Dale’s Cosmic Photo Challenge where the theme is technology.