A cow is screaming across the arroyo. Looking up I pay attention to what’s around me. I notice the multicolored, fat fish in the arroyo which turns into a pond and then into a wishing well under the skylights of some mall. I photograph them with my phone to prove all this really happened.
The only coin I have in my pocket is a new penny. Perhaps they won’t mind. I toss it into the well so it can sparkle with the others like stars on the ocean floor.
Resuming my walk I wonder, as I likely should be wondering about everything, What was that all about? I decide to write a to-do list for my next walk just in case.

Linked to dVerse Prosery. Linda Lee Lyberg is hosting with the sentence “A cow is screaming across the arroyo”. It comes from Jim Harrison’s poem “Cow” which appeared in Dead Man’s Float.

What a wonderfully surreal feel this has to it Frank. As if it was all a dream. Well done!
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It was a kind of dream. I am still not sure what an arroyo is. Thank you, Linda!
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Haha! It’s a a deep gully usually caused by the quick heavy rains we get in the Southwest.
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This is a wonderful dream… from nature into the mall and the wishing well …
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Thank you, Bjorn!
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Your prose is indeed surreal and dreamlike, Frank. I like the way you bump back down to earth with a to-do list!
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I am glad you liked the to-do list. Thank you, Kim!
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Frank, this is so great. (Especially after a recent visit to my phone store, where the clerk told me, confidentially, man, I’m trippin’!)
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This makes me think of the walks that so many writer must take, where we forget where we are but have all of these wild, surreal images in our minds. Well done, Frank! 🙂
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I do a lot of walking, sometimes I notice things, sometimes only things in my mind. Thank you, Sascha!
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The to-do list is brilliant; almost a tanka. Travel across the SW sometime. Lots of arroyos will present themselves.
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I kept thinking the Grand Canyon is one big arroyo but I don’t think I’d hear the cow on the other side of it. Thank you, Glenn!
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My first attempt was something sort of surreal, but I couldn’t make it work. Nicely done, Frank.
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Thank you, Ken!
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Frank – This was a creative take on the prompt. I had to smile at the to do list. Def a dream like quality.
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Thank you, Truedessa!
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This has me smiling Frank. (K)
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Thank you, Kerfe!
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A penny is a penny is a penny, me thinks …
Nicely done, Frank!
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It is just a penny. Thank you, Na’ama!
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🙂
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I love how you handled this prompt! Forget about the cow!
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Thank you, Mary!
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I had to look up arroyo too 🙂
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Luv your dreamlike mood. Is the screaming real or imagined and your solution is so charming, that to do list
Much✏love
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Thank you, Gillena!
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Poetry Ink Blot
Test For Soul
SPeaK Dance Sing..
We Once Had a ‘Head
Stander’ Aquarium Fish
Magnificent Creature of
Closed In Glass He is then..
Hurricane Erin Came And Shut
the Electricity off for A Week…
Vigorously We Stirred His
Glass Pond For Breathing
Water Air
Eventually
Before He died
We decided to Travel
Down the Road to Set him
Free off a Bridge into a Body
of Water Called Pond Creek
i told my Wife a Lie A ‘White’
one then that ‘He’
Would Live a Long
Life Now With New Friends…
She Smiled the Lie was Worth that Smile..
Some days You can either be right or make someone
Smile i tend to tell the Truth online but i ignore lies
in ‘Real Life’ not to kill the smiles of other lies other wise
i FeeL it is
important
to document
the Truth that
the Fish Died..
in Light Now
somewhere
at least now
in a book
that will
not
make
my
Wife
Sad…
‘thing’ is…
NoW Love
STill Lives…
I’ve seen Death as the GreaTesT
BLeSSinG iN LiFE so i Always LiVE NoW
SMiLes Frank Happy Holidays i ALWaYS See Christmas for i LiVE NoW..:)
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I am sorry to hear about the fish. It makes me wonder how prepared I would be if the electricity went out for a week. Probably not very prepared. She may have realized the truth, but all that stirring was the best one could do to affirm life. Thank you, Fred!
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“She May Have Realized The Truth”…
Smiles my FRiEnD the “Head Stander Fish Parable”
Hehe about the Hurricane that turned ‘off the Lights’
And No Longer Made the Aquarium Breathable for our
Majestic Tiger Striped Looking Cigar Shaped Extra Large Aquarium Fish…
As We Stirred And Stirred And Stirred the Aquarium More for ‘Air’ until ‘His’ Swimming
Slowed… my God That Fish Kept on Getting Bigger and Bigger Close to Hard
to Turn around in the Aquarium over years of Growth.. not what we expected…
not sure… that
fish might
have been
a bit
of a
‘Super Fish’ too
at least “Super Normal” hehe..
As Far as “Head Stander Fish Aquarium
Fish” go at least.. Anyway it soothed my Wife’s
Soul of Hope in allowing that fish a Trip Down the Road
to ‘Pond Creek’ as Her Hopeful View Saw Happily Ever After
Where the Fish could Finally Be Free and Even perhaps find
Fish Like Him to Be Friends with too.. But You See what this
‘Parable’ of this Fish says is more About Human Nature as
There is Love as Love Will Be Dark as Well as Light as
Love doesn’t Always Follow the Truth in Light
Away from Dark as yes there is Negative
Empathy among Humans who
Harm Other Humans And the
Rest of Nature (God) too
Seen as Different And
Separate and
Outside
of ‘the
Tribe’ at Hand
as this goes for all
‘Labeled’ and ‘Perceived’
Human Differences seen with
Even Fear.. Disgust.. and Hate for
what is not commonly Understood
Better With a Seek and Find too.. true
though my Wife had something even more
Powerful than Love in Either Darker of False
or Lighter of Truth my Wife Had Hope no matter
What my Stellar IQ Provided me in a Reason of No
there is no way in Hell the Head Stander Fish would
Survive he is good as dead when we tossed him over the
Side of the Bridge into his descent into Pond Creek Waters…
i asked my Wife today still.. do you Think that Fish Lived.. and
She Still Proclaims Yes!
“i Hope he did!”
For She Still gives
him that Opportunity
For Life today Despite all
Odds to the Contrary that my
Stellar IQ in Rationality Rigid Brings to me..
But you See it is this Virtue of Hope that runs through
my Wife Katrina through and through that saved my LiFE
my Soul my HeART my SPiRiT True for it is also True my Sister
And My Mother were not so Rational Minded as i tend to be if i let
my Neo-Cortex take over the Whole Human Show.. as true that will
be my Asperger’s Version of Intelligence if i do not Firmly Say No
And Allow the ‘Right Metaphor of Brain’ in Social Empathic
Artistic SpirituaLiTy A Rise Again to the Surface of my
Lust and Love For Life as a Work of Art more
than Science.. for when i got SuPeR
iLL.. approved on my First Try
for Social Security Disability
And Federal Civil Service Disability
After 25 years of Active Paid Work
where the last One-and-a-half Years
was spent in Annual and Sick Leave Status
With 19 mostly Stress related Illnesses after
11 Years of Chronic Work Related Stress and
the Last 2 years of that in Flight or Fight Acute
Stress Day in and Day out my Attending Physicians
offered Zero Chance Prognosis for Recovery they literally
told me to my Face i had no chance for Recovery and my Rheumatologist
told me he didn’t want to see me anymore in his office as there was nothing he
could do to help me either.. but true my Mother And Sister And Katrina did not give
up this Virtue of Hope that was totally Lost in my Vocabulary of Feeling And Sensing Soul
as i no longer even had a Memory of the Emotions that go with a Smile or even if i had ever
Felt the feeling of a Laugh in Life at all.. truly worse than the Worst Pain known to Humankind
Type Two Trigeminal Neuralgia that was from Wake to Sleep as Shut-in For 66 Months as honestly
No Doctor had
any possible
Remedy that
they knew of to
Bring a Human Soul
of Emotions Feelings back
from the Living Dead.. no clue
just no frigging clue how to help
me any of them had… all that was left
was not my Hope but that of the Woman
Who Believes in the “Head Stander Fish” who
Still Hopes He Made it to thrive again and make
Friends for the first time like him.. Hope my Friend
Without Hope We are so little of What Human Souls
Will Come to be as Living Dead and Living again my FRiEnD
i found out Just how ‘Stupid’ my Standard IQ was in all those
Years of living Hell on Earth.. after my Release from Hell i am
bound and determined still Now to tell the Story of How the ‘Head
Stander’ Fish was Resurrected from the Living Dead and Still Lives now
by God not just lives.. writes a 7.5 MiLLioN Word ‘SonG oF mY SoUL’ Longest
Long Form Poem Bible in 75 Months.. after not being able to Speak until age
4 as Autistically Born then.. additionally Just finishing a Celebration of a “Nether Land
Bible” Sub-Titled And Sub-Chaptered Long Form Poem Bible of that Effort Risen now
to 5 MiLLion Words in 42 Months of everlasting Hope and the Most of Truth in Light i will
Bring to a ‘Table of Plenty Now’ as the Public Dance now at 12,404 Miles is only 45.5 Miles.. NoW in 75
Months too.. Away from Halfway the Distance Around the Globe at the Equator as in this MacroVerse of that
Continuing Effort on Average of Dance 166 Miles Per Month Overall Continuing Now.. Yes in the Blog Post
i am Writing Now i am Celebrating This Milestone/Featnote as i Sing and Dance Now the Story
of the “Head Stander”
Fish Resurrected
From the Living
Dead not only
to Swim but
to Float
And
Fly
on Terrestrial
Land Public Dance
And Most of all a Story
That Says God is no Myth
God is No Fable God is the
Difference Between Life and Death
For God is Hope God is Truth in Light And Dark
That And Who Exists ALL Survives LiVeS AnD LoVeS NoW
Thanks For the Seed of Inspiration my
FRiEnD and The Garden of Space that
You So Freely Allow my Light
to continue to Escape
as only
Belief
And Hope
That is Faith of Love Will..
With Sure A Bit of ReaSoN
SPRiNKLeD in too but not
Enough to Rot the Love to Death As Light RiseS AGAiN
Out of Ashes of Rigid ReaSoNinG too My FRiEnD God
Bless You ALWAYS WitH AnD As LoVE NoW aS NoWS
CoMe To Be i AM for You too..
Smiles i Will Dance Sing Merry
Christmas in FAct of
Art i ALWaYS
Do it Now For Real
As ‘Head Stander Fish’
Out of ‘Pond Creek’ Who
Resurrect From the Living Dead
Just Do WiTH SMiLes oF LoVE Free NoW ALiVE..:)
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I hope he survived as well. And I’m glad to know he might have.
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SMiLes.. Thanks Frank..:)
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Well, your to-do list made me laugh out loud! Great take, Frank.
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I am glad it made you laugh. Thank you, Sarah!
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sounds like a meander into dementia … or an unusual dream, like it!
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I like that way of describing it: meander into dementia. That fits what I was thinking of. Thank you, Kate!
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that’s how it FELT to me Frank, well done!
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Malls and such are often built on the outskirts of town, where old farms and terrain were home to so many animals… the cow’s scream kind of sets a surreal stage here.
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That makes sense. Those transformations may well have happened over time. Thank you, Margaret!
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Your list made me smile and made the whole piece work, regrounded it, which somehow made the suspension of disbelief more possible. Good technique to remember – that list. Thanks.
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Thank you, Christian! I am glad you liked that list.
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Smiling I am at the ending of this one!
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Thank you, Lillian!
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Very well written! I like picturing all those pennies on the bottom of the lake like stars. Excellent work. Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you!
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