Category Archives: Stories

Making Friends with Night #Poem

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I used to await the night with dread,
because I couldn’t sleep
Or had nightmares when I did drift off.

There was no cozy cabin in the woods for me,
no memories of picnics with deviled eggs,
no land of blossoms,
no trusting unicorn prancing for a ride.

And so, I became a night owl,
even as a child.
Being older now,
I still don’t sleep well at night,
and I still have nightmares at times.

Yet I await the night
like the dawning of the Age of Aquarius,
for this is when ideas take shape.
Cotton clouds drift across my mind,
becoming day dreams turned reality.

It’s night!
It’s showtime!

—
My response to Linda Kruschke’s
Paint Chip Poetry Prompt #43: To Night.

Boutique of Thoughts #SixSentenceStories

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When I hear the word boutique, several things happen in my head. They happen so fast that I’m not even sure of their order, but nevertheless, here they are!

I think <“OOO, fancy!”

I lament, “No, not in my budget, which barely meets necessities, much less high-end (Read: high dollar) desires!”

And I remember a time before the time before I knew what money was, before I realized my so-called situation in life, a time when I just thought of a boutique as somewhere it would be super cool to visit–and maybe they would even have tea and cakes!

I’m a realist, but I also believe in keeping childhood dreams alive!

—
For Denise’s “boutique” prompt at
#SixSentenceStories.

Fielding Life #SixSentenceStories

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I’m forever fielding questions and conflicts, smoothing out the rough edges of life and personalities for my loved ones, or trying to.

I’ve just finished refereeing a match between the personalities, desires, and feelings of my husband and my son.

The real issue is mine, and it is this:

I’m damn tired of putting others’ fragile egos before my own preferences!

Sorry, I didn’t mean “before;” I meant “over and above,” “instead of,” “regardless of,” whichever you choose, it’s still the same.

And I have just enough energy left to ask myself what would happen if I met my own expectations for a change, instead of meeting the expectations of others at the expense of my own!

—
Six sentences for Denise’s “field” prompt at
#SixSentenceStories!

Two April Mornings #Poem

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One April morning, breakfast done,
I got an envelope.
O it was big, with rais-ed seal.
Yes! It was what I’d hoped!

My work and study done at last,
At least for there and then.
The Masters I’d committed to
Was in my trembling hand!

I felt just like a waterfall,
My heartbeat loud and hard.
With glad relief I took a breath,
For that ordeal was large!

Another April morn did come,
When some three years had passed.
A rainy car ride ended in
A devastating crash!

No one was badly hurt, but still
I trembled with the shock.
It could have flipped and killed us all;
A big tree made it stop.

With grass stains on my shaking hands,
The medics helped me out.
Skyscraper high, my blood pressure
Was up without a doubt.

We made it safely, four of us,
To hospital and home.
But let’s just say that in a car
I lost my wish to roam!

When I see April mornings now,
Each different as these two,
I try to stop, remembering
The saving Spirit’s truth.

When it’s my time, then I will go,
But then and not before!
So let me, in my life and time,
Sing praises evermore!

—
I got so carried away writing this poem in the style of William Wordsworth’s “The Two April Mornings” that I forgot to include Linda’s
Paint Chip words,
which were the reason for the poem in the first place! So, I went back and added stanzas containing four of them. I guess there really is a first time for everything!

Darktober #Poem

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The darkness of the womb I could not stand!
I came three months too early, so they said.
It wasn’t part of anybody’s plan,
Except my own for newborn wings to spread!

I heard much more than most, but could not see.
The darkness of this world I know so well!
They sent me to another family
Wherein the story of my life to tell.

It’s not all dark and dreary, though each year
I feel the light is fading from my mind.
And when my birthday comes, I have no cheer,
For though I cannot see, I am not blind!

I see the hell and hatred of this world
And people feeding into it in droves.
It’s like a battle banner is unfurled.
We truly are the same, yet no one knows…

I’m only one, and one I’ll ever be.
I cannot save another soul at all.
But if, somehow, I find the Light in me,
Then someone else may stumble, but not fall.

I have my music, comforting and sweet,
To keep my mind from reeling in the dark.
And books have always been for me a treat,
An inspiration showing me a spark.

I’d like to think, by sharing who I am,
I could inspire another just the same.
Though heartache brings the tears and bursting dam,
There’s still the Light, and Light is still aflame!

Therefore, I do not ask the dark to go,
For night has all the right of every day.
I only ask, God, through the darkness show
The next step on the path that is my way.

October can be dark and cold and drear!
But by the blaze of Spirit, Light is here!

—
My true life story, told as a dark October theme ballad for
dVerse Poetics.

Resistance is Futile #SixSentenceStories

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Whoever said, “Resistance is futile!” was right.

Resistance really is futile, because change is inevitable!

We don’t have to like the deal, but we do have to deal with it.

How we choose to deal with it is what makes change either easy or difficult, good or bad for us; not just the change itself, but the whole transition process involved.

Because transition, too, is inevitable!

There will be bumps in the road, oh yes indeed, but do we ride with them or rail against them–that is the question!

—
For Denise’s “resistance” prompt at
#SixSentenceStories!

Speaking of Volumes #SixSentenceStories

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Braille books are huge!

Not only are the physical books big, but it takes many, sometimes many, many, many, numerous volumes just for the Braille equivalent of one single, normal size, manageable print book.

For a totally blind student, it’s hard, if not almost impossible, to learn to spell with any proficiency, unless you read Braille.

This is doubly true if you take a foreign language, of which I studied five!

I was lucky, because I had access to Braille books from elementary school all through high school.

Unfortunately, seven years of carrying Braille books from class to class in an extremely overloaded backpack gave me chronic back, neck, and shoulder problems, which still plague me every day!

—
For Denise’s
#SixSentenceStories Prompt, Volume.

Epic Fail: A Twisted Tale #Poem

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This is the tale of a real epic fail;
So you already know from the start.
But you get to decide, after reading inside,
What the failure was, and on whose part!

A woman divorced had good friends through its course;
She played music with gusto and skill.
When her birthday came round, o the pleasure she found
In the flute that her wishes fulfilled!

On the hard other hand was a more jealous man,
Her fiancé with masculine pride.
He was at his wits end, because one of her friends
Gave a gift that he couldn’t provide.

Well, his anger was great, and he clouded her day
With his questions and rantings and worse.
And it hurt her a lot, took the pleasure she’d got;
In her mind, then the flute was a curse.

So it came in the end, she lost touch with her friend,
For the man she loved didn’t approve.
Now she plays through her tears, for a friendship of years
That she sadly had sent down the tube.

Yes, she married the man with his ever high hand,
And she so needs the music for peace.
But down deep in her heart, she is pained by her part
In a tale that’s more bitter than sweet!

—
Written for Michael’s prompt
Tale Weaver #294: Epic fail.

Surviving Insanity #Threethingschallenge

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Well, I’ve got a torch, a ticket, and a tall order: To defeat the pressures of life without getting myself locked up!

No, it’s not a midlife crisis, not an anniversary, and there will be no party or pealing bells afterward, assuming I accomplish this mission. It might all be futile in the end, anyway. Even if it works, I’ll have a cascading portion of earthy (or is it earthly?) consequences to contend with, be they positive or negative. These pale in comparison to the madness I’m living through now!

If, by the Grace of God, I do accomplish this feat, here’s what I’ll do. I’ll take out some money, buy a nice dog, find a fresh place to lay my head and play my songs, or at least spruce up the place I’ve got with some new brackets and artful decorating ideas, put on my new dancing slippers because I’ve always wanted some, and leap around my living room, grateful that I’ve survived a whole new level of insanity!

Last, but certainly not least, I’ll start blogging about the whole adventure! Oh, I think I’ve already done that!

—
For this week’s #Threethingschallenge Take Seven prompt at
Pensitivity101!