#CarrotRanch #FlashFiction #99Words ‘The Guest Room’

This post was written in response to Charli Mills at Carrot Ranch’s weekly #99 word Flash Fiction Challenge. This week’s prompt is to write a story about gender issues. Check out other entries or take part yourself!

The Guest Room

‘Alice, Billy’ll have to stay in the guest room, tonight.’
‘Mum, we’ll be up late, finishing our project.’
‘You can’t sleep together, not since…’ She nods towards Alice’s waist, ‘you were ill.’
Billy frowned. Alice didn’t look unwell.
‘It’s not contagious.’
‘You’re not a little girl anymore.’
Billy’s eyes widened. He stared at Alice. She looked the same to him.
‘So, you’re going to punish Billy because of me?’
‘Everything’s different now, Alice.’
‘Billy’s afraid of the dark. I’m grown up, so I’ll look after him, won’t I Billy?’
Billy’s jaw dropped and he nodded. Alice was always right.

***

#NaPoWriMo Day 21 ‘Sleepless City’ #poetrymonth #April #Poems #Tanka

NaPoWriMo

National Poetry Writing Month is a poetry writing challenge to write a poem a day, which takes place every year in April. Follow the link to find out more, be inspired, get daily prompts and meet other poets!

For Day 21 poem, Sleepless City, I’ve decided to follow the optional daily prompt  ‘Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that, like The Color of Pomegranates and “City That Does Not Sleep,” incorporates wild, surreal images. Try to play around with writing that doesn’t make formal sense, but which engages all the senses and involves dream-logic. Happy (and perhaps weird) writing!

I’ve incorporated free photos from Pixabay to illustrate my surreal tanka for today.

Sleepless City

Clusters of juicy

Seeds, like city lights shine bright.

Amber-eyed maiden

Bites into the howling night,

Wipes blood dripping from burnt moon.

****

That was fun!

#NaPoWriMo Day 19 ‘Madonna of Pain’ #poetrymonth #April #Poems #Tanka

NaPoWriMo

National Poetry Writing Month is a poetry writing challenge to write a poem a day, which takes place every year in April. Follow the link to find out more, be inspired, get daily prompts and meet other poets!

Day 19 poem, Madonna of Pain was inspired by a church float, for Holy Friday Parade, I took this morning in the church of The Holy Spirit (Espiritu Santo) in Cordoba, Spain.

Madonna of Pain

Lady of Sorrows,

Witnessed son suffer and perish.

Madonna of Pain,

Crowned and draped in rich, gold cloth,

Lit up, displayed, on parade.

****

Today commemorates a sad event in the Christian calendar, Jesus Christ’s death by crucifixion.

This float represents Christ's Descent from the Cross
This float represents Christ’s Descent from the Cross.

His mother, Mary’s, sorrow is vividly represented in many symbolic rituals, such as the famous church parades which take place all over Spain. Everybody can identify with a mother’s pain at the loss of her son  which is why the paintings, statues and floats of Our Lady of Sorrows (Virgen de los Dolores) are so popular in religious art and especially Holy Week celebrations.

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Are there any special, religious rituals where you live?

#NaPoWriMo Day 18 ‘Worn not Dead” #poetrymonth #April #Poems #ThursdayDoors

NaPoWriMo

National Poetry Writing Month is a poetry writing challenge to write a poem a day, which takes place every year in April. Follow the link to find out more, be inspired, get daily prompts and meet other poets!

Day 4 poem, Doors, was inspired by Norm 2.0’s weekly challenge, Thursday Doors. Check out his challenge and blog with plenty of inspiring and fabulous doors every week!

Worn not Dead

Worn not Dead,
Weathered not destroyed,
Weary not deceased,
Weak not derelict, 
Wounded not defeated,
Will guard sacred entry,
For months, seasons, years,
And generations to come.

****

Writing poetry is like walking through a doorway into your mind and soul. It’s the place where conscious and subconscious images and thoughts melt into rhythmic words and suggestive lines…

#NaPoWriMo Day 16 and 17 ‘Fading Light’ and ‘Spring Day’ #poetrymonth #April #Poems #Tanka

NaPoWriMo

National Poetry Writing Month is a poetry writing challenge to write a poem a day, which takes place every year in April. Follow the link to find out more, be inspired, get daily prompts and meet other poets!

Day 16 poem, Fading Light was inspired by a photo I took recently  as evening fell over my garden, coinciding with the deteriorating health of an elderly relative. Day 17 took me to a Spring Day…

Fading Light

Fading evening light,

Once a powerful beacon,

Turned golden shimmer,

Bravely resisting slow death.

Unforgiving dark night looms.

****

Spring Day

Life is like a Spring day,

Rising to the sound of chirping  birds,

Long, lazy breakfast,

Watching sunrise on the porch,

Then hours of toil and sweat,

Later busy afternoon,

Frolicking and rolling in the hay.

Time to rest and ponder,

In the protracted evening,

But make haste,

Dark night falls far too soon.

****

 

#NaPoWriMo Day 15 ‘Don’t You Dare!’ #poetrymonth #April #Poems

NaPoWriMo

National Poetry Writing Month is a poetry writing challenge to write a poem a day, which takes place every year in April. Follow the link to find out more, be inspired, get daily prompts and meet other poets!

Day 14 poem, ‘Don’t You Dare’, was inspired by a photograph of John Malkovich by Sandro Miller I recently saw at an exhibition. The original photograph, on the right, is Smoke and Veil, Paris Vogue (1958) by William Klein. More information here

Both muses will come face to face in my poem…

Don’t You Dare!

How dare you judge me?
Who the hell gave you the right
To think you’re better,
More entitled to be loved,
Because your skin is smoother,
Your lips are plumper,
Your eyes less worn and wrinkled?
The time will soon come,
When you’ll stare back at my face,
As you paint on your make up,
So don’t you dare…

****

 

 

#SoCS Stream of Consciousness Saturday ‘Lips’ #FlashFiction

This post was written in response to Linda Hill’s weekly Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. Follow the link on the banner for more information

This weeks prompt is“lip” I’m going to write a 100 word flash fiction story, because as soon as I saw the word, an idea flashed into my mind. I’ve been thinking about it and now I’m going to write it. I won’t edit, but I will weed out words to reduce it to 100 max. Sounds like fun, but let’s see how it works out!

****

Her Lips

She pursed her lips. Those soft, luscious lips that had caressed every inch of my skin. Only mine.

They sank into a hard, angry line.  Lips that had told me they loved only me.

I willed her lips to move, to show me there was still hope, but they remained rigid, while blood, as red as her lips dripped onto the floor.

I love you, I told her, and at last, those lips that made me lose my mind, twitched slightly, one last time.

She pressed her lips to mine and dug the knife further into the wound. It’s over, she whispered.

****

Sorry it was a bit dark, but that’s where her lips took me!

A psychological, tense thriller in 100 words. Does it work?

#NaPoWriMo Day 14 ‘Thoughtful Spot’ #poetrymonth #April #Poems #Haiku #SilentSunday @A_AMilne

NaPoWriMo

National Poetry Writing Month is a poetry writing challenge to write a poem a day, which takes place every year in April. Follow the link to find out more, be inspired, get daily prompts and meet other poets!

Day 14, poem, ‘Thoughtful Spot’ was inspired by a Twitter post I read today by A. A. Milne, about Winnie the Pooh.

Thoughtful Spot

Sit in thoughtful spot,
Warm yet out of wind. Sit down,
Hear, watch and wonder.

****

We all need time to be mindful  to stop, sit and think before we carry on with our busy lives.

I have favourite places, but fortunately, my thoughtful spot is anywhere I can jot down ideas for poems, stories or novels, in a car, waiting for the bus, taking a walk, reading my Twitter feed or blogs I follow, speaking to a student or colleague, boring meetings tend to inspire me as my mind drifts… I just need somewhere to take notes, as I don’t like to lose that fleeting thought that may never return.

 

#NaPoWriMo Day 13 ‘Sturdy Pillars” #poetrymonth #April #Poems #Tanka

NaPoWriMo

National Poetry Writing Month is a poetry writing challenge to write a poem a day, which takes place every year in April. Follow the link to find out more, be inspired, get daily prompts and meet other poets!

Day 13, poem, Sturdy Pillars was inspired by pictures I took yesterday of the Roman Arch of Triumph in Cordoba, Spain.

Sturdy Pillars

Sturdy pillars rise,
Pierce sky, reaching for heaven.
Necks crane up in awe
To Roman Arch of Triumph,
Proud reminder, ‘We lived here.

****

Buildings inspire me, especially ancient ones which remind me of our collective past. Poetry inspired by these monuments is a tribute to the architects, designers, builders, workers, who built these magnificent constructions, which we are fortunate enough to visit, preserve and share as part of our cultural heritage.

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#NaPoWriMo Day 12 ‘Powerful Gibberish’ #poetrymonth #April #Poems #Tanka #Haiku #FridayFictioneers

NaPoWriMo

National Poetry Writing Month is a poetry writing challenge to write a poem a day, which takes place every year in April. Follow the link to find out more, be inspired, get daily prompts and meet other poets!

For Day 12, I’ve included a haiku and a tanka within a 100-word piece of flash fiction, inspired by Rochelle Wissoff Fields weekly flash fiction challenge photo prompt at Friday Fictioneers. Check out this inspiring and supportive writing challenge!

I’ve been contributing with an ongoing story about Alice and her family. Today, Alice is asking her parents’ opinion about a poem she’s written.

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

Powerful Gibberish

“Which one do you prefer, mum, the haiku or tanka?”
Sharon slides on her glasses and reads both poems aloud.
Weathered, cobbled path,
Lined with overgrown bushes.
Ancient cloister sighs.
****
Weary wanderer
Pursues answers to his prayers,
Chasing fleeting shadows,
Swaying with voiceless monsters,
Screaming in his tangled mind.

****

“The first one’s descriptive, but the second one’s powerful. What do you think Kevin?”
“Let’s have a look at the picture prompt.”
“Here dad,” says Alice.
Kevin shakes his head. ‘Neither. Cloisters don’t sigh and the second one’s gibberish.’
Sharon coughs. ‘Powerful gibberish, wouldn’t you say, darling?’
‘Of course, dear.’

****

Kevin doesn’t quite understand that writing poetry is like walking through a doorway into your mind and soul. It’s the place where conscious and subconscious images and thoughts melt into rhythmic words and suggestive lines…

So, which of Alice’s poems do you prefer?