The light was soft in the room, the windows covered by three lines of bookshelves that allowed the sunlight to come in but also diffused it. A long built-in wooden couch ran right below the bookshelves, with lime green cushions on the bottom and back with periodic splashes of orange pillows. Jacob lay sprawled on…
Month: January 2012
Flash Fiction Prompt: Write an Embarrassing Moment for a Person Quite Different Than Yourself
My daughter came home one night and announced, “I’m getting a divorce.” I wasn’t surprised about this since I’d told her before she married James that this was a mistake. First of all, James was a good-looking boy – or young man since he was twenty-five – but he was just not right for my…
Back in LA
Arrived this afternoon 803 miles across Texas to El Paso Then 700 through New Mexico and Arizona to Los Angeles Sunset Boulevard bustling People in shorts 75 degrees and sunshine Seeing students late afternoon and early evening Back to work after 2 weeks off Sitting in my living room as if I never left Falling…
To George on What Would Have Been His 62nd Birthday
Today is my brother George’s birthday. My brother who died eight years ago. My brother who was three years older than me and was my closest friend from birth. The first person I adored with all of my heart. When I was little he would ask me to go upstairs and get his shoes and…
Last Night in Texas
It’s been a good long trip and we are here for our final evening. I just heard the cat hop off of the chair upstairs – his domain – and he is now eating. Amazing how sound can travel down the stairwell. I am sitting in the staircase room in one of the yellow wing…
Prompt: A Halibun Poem: Twenty Years After
The day came when she could no longer contain her anger. She picked up a crowbar and began chasing him around the back yard. The cardinal stared The wind blew hot from the west The sun bore down hard She cursed while she ran. He rushed into the house and slammed the door. She thought…
Prompt: Take a Traumatic Event and Write How You Would Change How You Acted
When I was nineteen, I was sexually assaulted. A boyfriend turned mean and perverted what had been a loving sexual relationship. I spent three days locked in his apartment with him terrorizing me. I will turn 59 in a few weeks. I have spent the last 40 years carrying those three days with me. I…
Haiku: Tonight: January 3, 2012
Texas Tonight North wind blowing hard Cold clear night with bright white stars Moon shadows all round No bird sounds tonight Too frigid for sweet night songs Soft quiet prevails House lights glow yellow Promising warmth and safety Offering soft beds
Prompt: The Value of Writing or Not…
Blankness. That’s where I am now with this writing thing. Pure blank. Why is that? I can look around and see prompts I could start with: a chair, a lamp, a staircase, a corgi, a clock, folded clothes, a mirror and yet…I am not finding myself jumping in with any of these. Why? Because I…
New Year’s Day Haiku
The dictionary defines haiku |ˈhīˌkoō; ˌhīˈkoō| as a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world. I don’t have much in me today so I think I’ll write a haiku or two. That way I can feel as if I’m doing my 20…
20 Minutes a Day 