Category Archives: words

The Quest for Love

4 Comments

I wish, oh, I wish

that I could open up your heart.

I want to get to know you

but that’s the hardest part.

I know you from the outside,

your voice I recognize.

But the real you I’m looking for

is always in disguise.

Sometimes looking into your eyes

I can read what’s on your mind.

But then you turn and look away,

afraid of what I’ll find.

I want to know what makes you tick,

what makes you run away.

I’d like to understand you,

there just seems no easy way.

If I could find a way beyond the wall

I know you’re waiting there.

Searching just like I am.

The quest for love is never fair.

Through the eyes of a legend – Trifecta Challenge

19 Comments

The classified ad was very succinct.  It didn’t use the word employee, it specifically used the word companion.  I wasn’t in the position to be picky about my job prospects or possible accommodation so I made the call.

I rang the bell and could hear the shuffling beyond the door frame.  It took her several minutes to reach the entrance and when the door swung open I was shocked by the state of her physical being.  She stood all of four feet tall, hunched and emaciated, and her skin could pass for a road map.  An oxygen tank hung haphazardly from a metal pole and she spun the wheels around to move it out of my path so I could enter the house.

Unsure of what I was about to face, I stepped across the threshold and closed the door.   The house was warm and smelled of cinnamon – nothing at all what I expected.  The walls were adorned with black and white photos and an old phonograph was scratching out “In The Mood” by Glenn Miller.  Her demeanor was welcoming and she ushered me into the living room where the smiling faces of Clark Gable, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Joan Crawford watched as I took my place on the settee.  I felt like I had gone back in time.

The service required of me was simple.  I was to transcribe her life as an understudy in the 1930’s and make sure the world read her story and, not only knew her but, remembered her.

skinny-wrinkles-1

The official age on her death certificate was 106 years.  She had lived over a century and only through her words did I understand the vast world she had seen change over her lifetime.  As I write this preface to her story, I am reminded of her spirit and her failure to relinquish her dream of fame.  It came too late but she finally got her wish.

~

Word count -323.  Image Credit – health.howstuffworks.com

Written for the Trifecta Challenge:  On to the weekly prompt.

1:  one that accompanies another :  comrade, associate; also:  one that keeps company with another
2obsolete :  rascal
Remember:
• Your response must be between 33 and 333 words.
• You must use the 3rd definition of the given word in your post.
• The word itself needs to be included in your response.
• You may not use a variation of the word; it needs to be exactly as stated above.
• Only one entry per writer.
• If your post doesn’t meet our requirements, please leave your link in the comments section, not in the linkz.
• Trifecta is open to everyone.

– See more at: http://www.trifectawritingchallenge.com/#sthash.bNnsoN4o.dpuf

Freshly bathed in saline

10 Comments

I am a churning pool of emotion.  I am one of those people who can put themselves in anyone’s shoes to feel the emotion that pulls on their heart-strings.  Sometimes it is a true blessing and sometimes the catastrophic emotional breakdown is embarrassing.  The control of the outpouring of tears in public has been much improved but behind closed doors all bets are off.

Empathy is a gift that I feel truly fortunate to have.  It is easy to be sympathetic and try to understand what another human being is enduring but to be able to delve into that raw emotion and feel the searing scars of that pain as if it were my own enables me to really reach out to that suffering soul and comprehend what they are going through.

That mutual experience of emotion, for me, is not strictly reserved for direct contact with another human being.  I experience the same overwhelming sensations if I am watching an emotionally charged movie, listening to beautifully composed music or reading a consuming book that drips with powerful sentiment.  Last night my face was awash with tears watching a simple television show.  I’m not sure what came over me but the story was deeply touching and as I felt the first tear caress my cheek I knew there were more to follow.

Perhaps part of my longing to write with such feeling is because I want the person reading to have the same experience I had while writing it.  I want the emotion that held my heart prisoner to be injected into the reader with the same paralyzing sensation that I so easily succumbed.  I can only hope that once my novel is complete, the characters that I birthed will be overflowing with angst, ready to cry on a whim and that I can somehow find a way to make those feelings jump off the page.

Random selection – Are you up for a challenge?

14 Comments

Back in June, The Cutter gave me a writing challenge.  Four random ideas were chosen and I had to write a blog including all four – my attempt is here.  I then threw the gauntlet back and offered up five random ideas and the result is here.

It was an awesome challenge and one I have been thinking about since then.  It was great having to really dig deep into my imagination and string a group of completely unrelated subjects together in one post and I wanted to put the challenge out there to anyone who is willing to participate.  Please feel free to pass this on to those in your blogging circle as well – the more, the merrier.

  • static electricity
  • Led Zeppelin
  • sushi
  • juggling
  • spray tan

Be as creative as you want and write in any form you want.  There is no word limit.   Link back to here so I can mention your post for the challenge.

Have a great weekend.

Stuck – 100 Word Song

11 Comments

If only I could let the world see me,

see where I linger.

Caught between two worlds, separated only by a reflection.

I continue to write my words, words that come from a place deep within myself,

but those words will never be seen.

Reality lies above and below me.

I can hide in both of these worlds, torn between them,

never sure of which world I will feel truly defined.

I play a role in each of these spaces.

I let those others who dwell here see only pieces of me, not the whole picture.

Caught between my realities.

Above-and-Below

~

(image credit: naturesedgestudio.ca)

Written as a first attempt at the 100-Word Song Challenge.   Lance introduced me to this challenge and I thought I would give it a try.

This is what it’s about –  A song is chosen and the post that is written has to be somewhat based on that song and written in exactly 100 words.   This week’s 100 word song – Above & Below – The Bravery. 

The Whisper of Words

3 Comments

I had the pleasure of sharing the creative process with a very talented writer and friend.  Sage Doyle and I put our heads together and this is the result.  If you had not been to his blog, please clink on the link here to check out his brilliance.

The Whisper of Words

Words are delivered in whispers

from poets who have gone long before,

channeling rhymes of wisdom

not to be dismissed as folklore.

So much to be said about words

as we speak of deprived clarity

and words restrained from whispers

disguise our private realities.

Tortured voices of writers,

struggling to capture their muse,

float like feathers in currents of air,

pain and reality infused.

The books become bitter corpses

with nothing but the scent

of musty pages and forgotten shelves

while they await the passing dissent.

The words will live long after

the pages no longer have form.

Those whispers of writers before us

take life and begin to transform.

Cherish love – WordCloud Wednesday

15 Comments

Another fun challenge at We poets show it – If you want to take the WordCloud Challenge – use only the words in the WordCloud Picture to create your masterpiece. Post your work either as a comment or if you write it on your blog feel free to post the link as a comment.

word cloud

Cherish Love

Painful past moments hold time,

loosely script tomorrow, uncertain.

Colorful future dreams includes hues,

decorated, knowing love.

Cherish tomorrow,

 hold dreams knowing tomorrow includes painful moments,

includes uncertain future, includes love.

Ponder dreams,

soul knowing script.

Cherish tomorrow.

Cherish love.

Better than a thousand hollow words

16 Comments

cartoon balloonWhen I entered into this vast blogosphere I had no idea what to expect.  There was no anticipation of anything other than freeing the words in my head but along the way something magical happened.  After a few early posts I began receiving comments.  Some of these comments made me struggle to understand their meaning but most of the words were encouraging and inspiring.  Others contradicted the original intention of my post but made me think of my words from another perspective and how a chain of ideas may always have a broken link.

I am a creature of strange habits.  I began to save the email notifications of the comments.  I was unsure of why at the time but, tonight as I scanned through the myriad of remarks, I realized what a profound effect those snippets of language have had on my journey as a writer.  I re-read some of my posts to connect the meaning of the comments and was affected by the growth of my friendships through those words.

I am fortunate to have met an extensive number of talented people through this blog – people who not only take the time to read my words, but assert their own opinions in agreement or defiance.  A simple word or two from my fellow bloggers holds great significance because it means they took the time to read what I had beaten into submission before posting.

Your comments somehow make the toil of writing so much more worthwhile.  I only hope I can return the favor and extend the same courtesy to you.  As the sun sets on the eve of my busy season, I look forward to the eventide of a new creative flow and more time to read and comment.

Until that clocks favors me with more hours in the day, please know that your words keep me honest, they keep me humble and they keep me energized.  Your few words mean more than a thousand hollow words from someone who will never understand this passion for idioms and your words drive me to sharpen my skills and hone my craft.

The Creative Clique – Trifecta Challenge

23 Comments

Unwittingly, we band together – lovers of language, warriors of words.  Invisible strings of unity tie us to one another and weave through the fabric of our writing.  We design a tapestry of idioms that gather us all under its blanket of creativity.  We find acceptance and encouragement in our world of nouns and verbs, adjectives and adverbs.  We seek the trifecta of writing – inspiration, creativity, achievement.  We create bonds through phrasing, humor and honesty.  We are writers.

words2

(image credit: thetapestry.ca)

Written for the Trifecta Challenge – This week’s prompt was borrowed from LaTonya at Black and Gray.  She left this gem in her Meet Your Fellow Trifectans post.  If you haven’t linked up there yet, please do. BAND (verb) 1: to affix a band to or tie up with a band 2: to finish or decorate with a band 3: to gather together : unite 

Oxy…who are you calling a moron?

14 Comments

I think a lot of us are clearly confused by how an oxymoron is defined. Wikipedia defines an oxymoron as a figure of speech that combines contradicting terms.  Is that lone definitive term a false truth, and is it our one choice?  It’s seriously funny that we use so many of them on a fairly regular basis and have no idea of the genuine imitation of the English language that we are twisting to suit our purpose.

oxymoron

The larger half of us would not believe how many oxymoronic phrases can interject themselves into our daily lives.  We may be absolutely unsure of what the true meaning is, but we ignore the deafening silence and still go on based on that unbiased opinion.

It would be a pretty ugly reality to think that our life is based on a series of contradictory ideas.  We struggle enough just to make sense of reality without having to look for hidden meanings and misconstrued messages.  It is old news that life is a series of mysteries, and it is sweet sorrow when we realize that we are caught in the cycle of definite maybes.

We are alone together in a churning sea of absurdity.  We are lost in the moment when genuine imitation becomes a minor crisis and we have to delve further to free ourselves from a potential crash landing.  That moment of anticipated serendipity presents itself, and I will be among the first to admit my unease with the constructive ambiguity.

While we think we are doing nothing to circumvent the problem, there is an increasing decline in that belief.  Our systematic way of uncovering these terms comes to a rolling stop and we are forced to look at the original copies of our intended idea.

Don’t let the tragic comedy of the English language confuse you.  Be aware of those oxymorons and alleviate any organized chaos in your life.  There may be the most subtle exaggeration in the nuance of words but be cognizant of the silent alarm that will be an awfully good warning of the presence of the greater evil of these false truths.

This post may be going nowhere.  But while you search for the consistent uncertainties in my writing…..give me your extensive briefing and let me know how many oxymorons you think there were in this post.  I will wait through the quiet noise and give you my educated guess after I’ve had my Jumbo Shrimp and boneless ribs for dinner.  Good grief, this post may be a whole piece of true fiction.  Sorry if it was a little much!