The Bottomless Cup

Hi all,

I am sharing one of my new short stories. I hope you enjoy the read!

There was a woman dressed in curls, which hung heavily against her back. She wore a coat of peacock feathers and paraded around town with her chin up. She was so tall she looked down on other people, and her nose crinkled when she spoke. She was strikingly beautiful as a tall, bronze woman in a sea of short, common people. One day, she heard a call which pierced her ears.

“Hey pretty thing. You lack nothing,” whistled a man with a thick, gray beard. His sunglasses shaded himself from the world.

“Why are you bothering me beggar,” she barked back. She glanced down at his lonely, old cup sinking into pavement.

“You’re blind girl. Fish through my cup. There are many riches.” The woman with curls laughed at his words. She had gone her way viewing the beggar from the corner of her eye.

A few winters had passed, but the beggar was stubborn. He held out his cup of untold riches. Then she returned except she had lost her curls along life’s journey. Her peacock coat had been plucked and lost its color. Her face had dimmed from its saintly glow and beauty had abandoned her.

“Hey pretty thing,” the beggar called. This time, she returned his question with doe eyes and empty silence.

Finally she whispered, “You remembered me?”

“Time and hardship may have claimed you but I have not forgotten. Come sweet beautiful. I’ve been waiting.” She obeyed, sat beside him, and took the cup from him. She dipped her hand inside and found only the cold, icy bottom.

“Your treasure has been lost for a time, but you will find it again,” the beggar spoke. She looked into the cup sorrowfully and a few tears fell from her cheeks. She closed her eyes to pray before thanking the man. Then, she departed into a life of humility.

The curls from her hair began to grow wildly from its roots like the bloom in spring. She fashioned a new coat from her years of toiling and sacrifice. And when she looked into the mirror, she uncovered her beauty.

Haiku Heights: Illusion

Hi all,

I am writing a pair of haikus for Haiku Heights and the theme is illusion.

Thinking you possessed
The secrets of fine living
We laugh together

Now we are alone
The illusion answers us
Just live and stay strong

Change (O.S.I.)

Hi all,

Happy New Year! The theme this week at O.S.I. is change. I wrote this poem from the point of view of New Year's revelers. I pray this New Year will be full of happy, beautiful, and amazing experiences.

We smile as if we’ve met before
In the tumult of our daily lives
As we stumble, the subway rumbles
Setting all our cares aside

We laugh like chocolate cake
It is smooth and black
And has a sweetness rising giddy
In our stretching achy bellies

We are strangers glancing at a ball
That drops its diamond face
And tells us the New Year is upon us
And beckons our foreign lips to touch

We part a sky of streamers
Of horns and serenades of love
And pray this moment won’t change us
Being young and full of hope

Renewal (O.S.I.)

Hi all,

I am happy to share a new poem this Christmas evening:

Holidays become quiet sublime silences
The sweetness of cocoa gone
The tinsel on the tree bare
The gifts unwrapped
And somehow
We share
A love
Renewed

Story in the Sand

Hi all,

I've written the following short story for It's Thursday. The theme is inspired by the image from Missrockstarr.

The sand resembles me: millions of grains glistening, wild, coming together in the wind. Escapable when you reach out your hands and feel its weight. It is weightless like me. I smile like a diamond when I glance into the sky. The sun is stretched against me and I am full of shiny gems. There are hidden stories beneath me. Tales of treasures, seashells, shovels, worn clothes, jewelry, empty wrappers. They cover me with beach towels and lawn chairs and umbrellas. But I like the naked sun. I am a permanent island that laughs when the tide draws in. The ocean speaks of worlds I will never explore. I am the spot where lovers lay on their backs and play. I dare not utter their secrets. Their love makes me cry and pine. I cannot be loved or held. I sit here and reflect upon the sunset. This canvas is stretched so wide above me but I do not tire of its beauty. I see God Almighty there with His imprint drying. I dreamed the stars aligned and spelled my name. I dreamed in moonbeams and shooting stars in ways that human eyes cannot perceive. And as I wake in sunrise, I let the sand pour through me.

Enjoying the Simple Things

Hi Skywatchers,

As we approach the New Year, I am reflecting on the simple things and I have learned so much gazing up at the sky.

See before the darkness swims in
Dream before the world fades away
Laugh before the moment passes by

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Hi all,

I was inspired by Thanksgiving leftovers when I wrote this:

It’s just leftovers
Cold lumpy leftovers
From the Thanksgiving feast
The turkey plucked dry
All his bones pried open
Meat now a bare middle
Sweet potato a little less sweet
Scraped to the bare black bottom
Of a small thinning pot
And the greens less leafy
An unforgiving slippery green river
The biscuits flaking and breaking
All now a crumbled mess

It’s just leftovers
So why now does a frown
Crown itself upon those lips
And tears clear away the table
Missing are the guests of yesteryear
Is it that tender voice you ponder
As you look through age’s yonder
To that smile that dressed and blessed
Served as a dish of gratitude
That made life good and plenty
At last it is memory and love
That remains leftover

Back to Nature

Hi all,

Happy Saturday! Today I am inspired by the meme over at It's Thursday. The theme is back to nature.

Somewhere the eternal sun laughs. It laughs and amuses itself whether it is alone or in the presence of company. It cannot dim its essence or hide its mirth. It is purely sun, singular and infinite, wide and great in a plump, blue sky.

This is the return to nature, she thought as she travelled along the hard earth. She had left all her possessions along the roadside. Where she was going they were not needed. In her youth, she had loaded herself down with shiny things. She decorated bare flesh in stone and metal. She lavished herself in incense and smeared her face with rouge and dark eyes.

Then it all washed away in the flood. Her life floated down a great river and swallowed everything. It swallowed everything except her soul. There was nothing left to do but return to nature in the naked, laughing sun .

Heart of Gratitude

Gratitude in the warm sunlight
Laying its head against my sheets
Breathing in another beautiful morning
As a song of Thanksgiving leaps in my heart
Memory of loved ones and friends
Rises before me all smiles
Necessary to give thanks to God
For this most precious life of ours

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Present & Past: An Intersection

Hi all,

I'd like to share a short story I wrote about the present and past. Hope you enjoy

The present and past had spotted each other at a long intersection. There were birthdays sandwiched in between colorful cone hats and frosted cakes. There was the occasional child’s tooth floating by. The tooth fairy had forgotten to collect it as it drifted like a white star. There were children who built their sand castles as tall as the heavens. They became lost friends of memory with forgotten names.

There were former lovers with a single rose in their hands. Their faces grew more abstract and vacant. They rose like flames in the moonlight, waltzing silently. A woman dressed in red led them, collecting roses beneath her feet.

There was youth smiling like the sun without care or worry. And the moon had leaned upon it and made the world regard the phenomena.

The present split the crowd for the opportunity to talk to her past. But the past stops for no one, retracing her footsteps, always glancing back.

Loons & Fools

This is a free style poem I was inspired to write today. Hope you enjoy!

Loons and fools
They go together~I guess
If it's all the same to you
I will play a fool
On the edge of darkness
Waiting for your luminous smile to spread

Some profess themselves to be wise
Not I
I am young drifting in wide sky
The creatures they preach
And God speaks
I have but a small place in this life

The loons and fools
They go together~I guess
And confess their thoughts and dreams
Somehow we all coalesce

Weeds (O.S.I.)

Hi all,

This poem is written for O.S.I. and the theme this week is weeds.

She planted thoughts
In his head
Which made him laugh
A rose
In a world
Full of weeds

Simply Snickers & Labor Day

Hi All,

I am posting this for Simply Snickers and Labor Day. The words are labor, lies, life, linger, and love.

Laboring by moonlight
Or candlelight
Under the blazing sun
Or the silvery moon

Life’s distant smile
Bares your face
Can it erase
The lies you’ve chased

To discover what you love
On the wings of a dove
At the tip of your spoon
Crying out to the moon

Linger in prayer
Swept up in your hair
Dreams of the future
A labor of love

Obsession (O.S.I.)

Hi all,

This week's theme at O.S.I. is obsession. Here is my poem:

I look for love
Between those eyes
This obsessive nature
Of mine
Won’t have me quit
Until I die
My heart consumed
I look for love
Between those eyes

One Second Of Fortune

Hi all,

I am writing the following short story for Thursday Tales. The inspiring image is Aame at A Buzzing Mind... and a Passionate Heart.

Lee glanced down at the black under his fingernails. He could feel dirt and sweat collecting against his brow. His clothes reeked of hot, August suns in city garbage dumps. He couldn't remember the last time he bathed. He fantasized about taking a dive into that cold, glass of water on the table.

He was situated in a diner with black and white checkered floors and pretty, pastel paintings along the walls. The patrons turned up their noses and looked away. He disgusted them. He understood and kept his head down.

His mouth watered as he perused the menu. He watched an invisible plate grow with a mountain of golden pancakes, a river of strawberry and butter floating down his belly. He couldn’t recall the last time he had eaten. The pockets in his jeans were worn away and full of holes. He didn’t have any money.

A young girl with baby doll eyes and pink, pouty lips walked to his table. She had a crisp, white apron around her waist. He hadn’t loved a woman in a long time.

“May I take your order, sir?” There was an anxious quiver in her voice.

“What do you recommend miss,” Lee answered coolly. His dirty smile was not reassuring.

“People like the American style burger. We also have a special on all-you-can-eat flapjacks.”

“That sounds good. I’ll take the flap jacks.” Lee closed the menu and handed it over to the waitress. She reluctantly took the menu and bowed out silently.

Lee had his fill of flapjacks, devouring a mountaintop of buttery pancakes. Nearby, patrons ogled at the man with no stomach.

Then, the waitress turned her heels on him with a sheepish smile. She laid her tiny fingers on the table with a note. He had hoped it would be her number. Instead, it was a bill he couldn’t pay for.

He glanced at the counter top ahead of him where a man, dressed in a business suit, vacated his seat. Several bills were laid out next to the tip jar. The waitress was out of view and the patrons were too engrossed in conversation to notice him.

Calculating his moves, Lee stood and approached the counter top. He came within inches of the money when a man cleared his throat behind him.

The man in the suit had returned. His eyes were a brilliant blue; his blonde hair was slicked back. He fidgeted with his cuff links and glanced at the watch on his right wrist. He acknowledged Lee with a slight smile.

“You don’t want to take that,” he advised. “There’s a limit to that money. Fast money dries up pretty fast.” He leaned against the table and blocked Lee’s path. Lee feared the man might arrest him. After a moment of silence, the man laughed hard.

“Hey, don’t worry! I won’t give you away. I was in your shoes not too long ago.”

“What did you do,” Lee whispered. He was embarrassed to be seen this way in front of a business man.

“I got myself a job and cleaned up,” he smiled. “Money is easy to find when you aren’t looking for it. Take the money, man. You need it.”

Lee didn’t hesitate and grabbed the money on the counter. When Lee turned to thank the man, he was gone.

Lee smiled at his good fortune, paid the bill, and gave a generous tip to the girl with baby doll eyes.

O.S.I.: Uncomfortable

Hi all,

This week's theme at O.S.I. is uncomfortable. Here is my take:

Willing to smile in a place unfamiliar to myself
To extend my hand beyond what is required
To listen and laugh even when I am tired
To love even in the midst of pain
To dance in the falling rain
To stretch beyond the comfort of my walls
To answer when the world calls

Reason (Acrostic)

I believe every thing in life happens for a reason. This is the inspiration for this acrostic.

Right or wrong
Every moment possesses
A better answer
Summoning new courage
Onward we face
Now seek change

Lessons End to End

Happy Sunday all,

Here is a free style poem I wrote when reflecting on life's lessons and what they teach us:

All the lessons
End to end
They extend themselves
Hands uplifted
I recognized not
The love between
The lessons
End to end
Nurturing me

Respect (O.S.I.)

Hi all,

This poem is written for O.S.I. The theme this week is respect. I felt inspired to write a poem that expresses inner strength and self esteem.

These things torn in two
Thank yous were missed and few
Friendship stayed away for a while
And the heavens were somber and blue
Love grew distant and dissipated
Time became a silent prison
Destiny’s smile slowly waned
Only self respect remained

When tomorrow unclenches her hand
And morning smiles in sweet surprise
Lift the head and let the rain in
Prayer is always sweeter in sunrise
Light always gives greater joy
As strength extends both hands
Respect what God has given and will give
Life will release its gifts and promise

O.S.I.: Wind

Hi all,

This poem is written for O.S.I. The theme this week is wind.

What do you seek
The surprise of sunrise
Brushing against your cheek

What do you seek
The love of another
Another heart to discover

What do you seek
A push in the wind
For happiness to break in

What do you seek