Weather shifts to cold Wind brings Canada far south Stars white in black sky Gas stoves cast orange glow Hot flames flicker with quiet joy Warmth melts away cold Thoughts of bed entice Cozy under heavy quilts A warm, safe cocoon Dreams of summer days Green trees, red birds and blue water Fill this winter…
Category: Timed Writing
Flash Poetry Prompt: Venturing Into The Unknown – 1973
First, having scoured all the travel books, And sold my car, And gotten my passport and plane ticket I don my Backpack of purple canvas My silly “Earth” shoes My ‘70’s maroon jeans and top. I am on my way Not like Jack Kerouac with his drunken friends Cruising down Route 66 But on this…
Prose Poem Prompt: Hamster Wheel
Today is one of those days when I want to do nothing. Absolutely nothing. Go sit out in the sun and just let its rays wash over me. Warm these cold feet of mine. Fill me with power from somewhere other than myself. I get tired of the need for constant self-initiative. When you are…
Flash Essay Prompt: The Word “Other”
Other? What does that mean? Other means not us. Someone different. Someone who does not share common traits or beliefs or locations or even species. Other is a word that comes up a lot when people want to judge someone harshly. He has other beliefs. She has other interests. Not ours. Against us. Not with…
Prompt: The Word “Encounter”
Encounter is a word that conjures up mystery. Encounter is not just a meeting, but something more fleeting. An encounter suggests movement, as if both parties are on their way to somewhere else and they briefly come in contact. One can imagine an encounter in a stairwell, where two people pass and glance at one…
Flash Fiction Prompt: A Shift in Perspective
The sky was light in the east, and the world had just begun to stir. Calista sat at her kitchen table and thumbed through the LA Times. Where was Brian and why hadn’t he come home last night? He usually called if he wasn’t going to make it home. The dog barked. Calista knew this…
Prompt: Reading and the Recession
Beloved. I need to read Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Rachael has asked me to help her with one of her college essays on the book, plus one of my high school students will be writing about it in his AP English class and asked for my help. I’m happy to read it; I’m delighted to read…
At Night at Disney Hall
Ray and I went down to Disney Hall tonight and heard the L.A. Phil perform Mahler’s 1st Symphony. It was “casual” Friday so Gustavo Dudamel, the LA Phil’s 30-year-old conductor, came out in jeans, a polo shirt and Converse tennis shoes. All the rest of the orchestra was dressed in jeans and tee-shirts, too, which…
An Empty-Nester on the Move
Tonight I am too tired to write much. The truth is I hand wrote an essay for my blog, but am too tired to transcribe. Students and preparation for my online class, plus a major room switch prompted by our youngest child moving out are the blame. I am happy with the room switch, however,…
My Imaginary Friend, Tommy Wizzims
I told this story to some of the volunteers at the St. Thomas the Apostle Breakfast Club where we were feeding the homeless this morning. Someone was saying she fell in love with a teenage boy when she was three. I had to tell her about Tommy Wizzims. Here is that story written a while…
20 Minutes a Day 