Photography – Page 134 – Poetry, Short Prose and Walking

Fire

Despair defeats hope with fire.

Pete wondered what that was supposed to mean while reading the fortune to his wife. He felt enough despair for it to feel like the fires of hell.

“What does yours say?”

“It’s blank.”

“Remember when I got ‘A fool at forty is a fool indeed’?”

She remembered, but her blank fortune worried her.

“Maybe I should ask for another one?”

“Let’s switch.”

“Does that count?”

They switched. She read these words, “The fire of hope defeats despair”,. and gave it back.

“This one belongs to you.”

She asked for a new fortune cookie.

Linked to Carrot Ranch where the theme this week for the 99-word stories is “fire”.

Cascade

 
My mind begins the cascade’s fall
To water somewhere down below
When I say “Yes” before the “Why?”

I’ve only pieces of it all
Though more I have no need to know.
My mind begins the cascade’s fall.

I wonder where these journeys go
And what do birds see when they fly?
There’s water somewhere down below.

Beneath that water-wonder I
Might understand the cascade’s call
When I said “Yes” before the “Why?”

Linked to dVerse Poetics where Amaya is hosting with the theme of “cascade” and a poetic form called “cascade”.

Incline at Manitou Spings. What looks like the top is just the beginning or so it seems when you get there.

One-Liner Wednesday – Memories

We don’t know in advance which of our words and acts will leave others with a lifetime of memories.

Linked to Linda G. Hill’s One-Liner Wednesday.

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

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"

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.

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.