Tag: FOWC

Frost Bitten

Gnarly, these withered limbs,
this vessel more rigidity than flow,
winter upon me, a permanent clouding,
sunnier days passed – oh how vivid
the imagination when blue skies
met green grass, no hindrances

Old dreams hover, tethered to fences –
defences to camouflage vulnerability,
offences to keep my paths cleared

Find balance in isolation –
an old tree, past her prime –

Would cut loose this precarious
hold on all things fantastical,
but fear the act a harbinger –

So, I bide my days in this
frigid limbo, and hold on.

(Today’s poem is inspired by the image from Willow Poetry’s challenge:  What Do You See?  I am also linking up to dVerse’s pub night, where Sarah is hosting with the prompt: harbinger.  Ragtag Community provided balance, and Fandango’s word is tree.)

Role Models

When Scarsdale failed,
she resorted to corsets,
and girdles – trussed up
like a teabag –
sucked in her bits,
hair a touch too red,
nails forever chipping –
Dad’s disapproval a sour note –
watched as Mom steeped
in resentment, waited
for the boiling point.

(This quadrille is written for dVerse, hosted tonight by Mish, with the topic of steep.  I am also linking up to Ragtag Community – note; and Fandango’s – resort.)

Lighting Call

Winter defines this stage,
this page, night descending
too early for my taste.

If I catch a falling star,
can I shed the excess
layers of this confinement

Follow animal impulses
to a sunnier clime, restore
exuberance of noble youth?

Passion persists, intelligence
in tact, just need a brighter
angle from which to reveal it.

(Lillian is hosting dVerse poetics tonight with the prompt: shed.  I am also linking up to Willow Poetry’s “What Do You See?” challenge: photo prompt; and Ragtag Community: angle; as well as Fandango’s: noble.)

 

Foundational Flaws

Proficient at constructing frames,
I plaster over old mistakes,
convinced that survival equates
with marble – am I not a living
example of metamorphosis?

Yet, my doorways lack locks
and there are intruders in
the basement – confidence
dissipates as rage heightens –
optimism evanescent.

(Penned for the prompts of Ragtag Community – marble; Fandango – plaster; and Manic Mondays Three Way Prompt – evanescent.)

Darn Finances

Money –
that vital ingredient –
threatens to rebuke us,
these haphazard habits
equating to negligence.

Investments –
retirement’s foundation –
falter, then plunge,
a mini crisis hitting
too close to home.

Change –
prodded by re-evaluation –
commands control,
scoffs at ideal’s naiveté,
imperfection highlighted.

(Written for dVerse’s quadrille night, hosted by Whimsygizmo, whose prompt is change.  All submitting to Ragtag Community’s, vital; Fandago’s, rebuke; and Manic Mondays 3 Way prompt, imperfection.)

January’s Frost

As Mother counts her last days, and I open my heart to forgiveness, a daughter calls, reaming me out for wrong-doings – January is not cold enough to freeze tempers – family coals burn and shatter, and all we can pray for is metamorphosis.  Soon, I will return to warmer temperatures, attempting to elude this frigid climate, save the scorching for the sun.

Hearts have seasons too –
I lumber through chilled air,
crave a touch of warmth.

(A haibun for dVerse, hosted by Kim tonight.  I am also submitting this for Ragtag Community’s lumber, Fandango’s metamorphosis, and Manic Mondays 3 Way Prompt, shattered.)

Sharing Space

Morning, he perches,
resplendent in heron gray

Like a beacon, he watches,
sets a rhythm for my day.

Is he lonely, I wonder,
eyes silent and still?

Later, he’ll wade his slow,
mindful hunt, while I tarry
waterside, camera aimed.

We’ve grown accustomed
to sharing this quiet space

I, the more curious, but
surely he ponders me too.

Is he lonely, I wonder –
Are you? his presence asks.

(Inspired by the resident Great Blue Heron and the promptings of Ragtag Community – resplendent, and Fandango – formidable.)

Forgo the Mask

Discontentment –
that restless inability
to surrender to distraction –
not easily masked

Wired, I am, for intrigue –
a dramatic actor displaying
mystery, baiting an audience

Denial dons noise-cancelling
headphones, blinders –
invested in illusions

Harmony the end-goal –
no point disguising,
discontentment ignored.

(Written for Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Challenge – mask, in 45 words, and Fandango’s –intrigue  -, and Ragtag Community’s – harmony .)

Routes

No straight road,
no easy, out of the pod,
solutions – complexity,
it seems, reigns.

I travel circular paths
past ancient structures –
having erected statues
to past wounds – present
walls barely standing.

Unseen forces drive –
societal angst,  perhaps –
know only that life
is possibility, and I
sorrowfully lag.

(Written for Twenty Four’s 50 Word Thursday, with help from the daily prompts of Fandango – easy, and Ragtag Community – pod.  Image supplied by Deb Whittam of Twenty Four.)