A Tanka
So calm and serene
Only the sounds of nature
Leaves rustling beneath
Twigs snapping under my weight
Ambient, soft, like cashmere
Dark Wooded Night is written in response to Sadje’s prompt. As always, thank you for reading 🙏💕😊
Image credit: Image Credit; Marko Blazevic @ Unsplash
A Tanka
Just another day
Pizza or McDonald's, hmm
In the neighborhood
We at Lincoln Park chillin'
Sit down, relax, be easy
This Tanka is written in response to Sadje’s prompt. Thank you for reading! 💞🙏
Image credit; Julee Juu @ Unsplash
A Tanka
Why such a hurry
People move in a scurry
No time for hello
Passersby in a flurry
Sitting I watch and worry
Such a Hurry is written in response to Sadje’s prompt.
Image credit: Антон Воробьев @ Unsplash
As always, thank you for reading! 🙏😊💞
The door to the bodega
Opens with lyrics
🎶🎶 Aguanilè
Aguanilè, mai mai
Feeling like you stepped right onto an island
The groove moving up your spine
Bop your head move your feet
Lips turning upward forming a smile
Let me get a Ham with American cheese
And a buttered roll on a Kaiser bun
A grape strawberry Mistic, a quarter water too
🎶🎶 Aguanilé
Aguanilé, mai mai
Waiting for your meat to be cut
The lyrics fill the air
You start to dance, salsa or two step
You get to the front to pay
Bum at the counter beggin’, “let me get two loosies man!”
In a hurry to get back, you get mad
Then you hear
🎶🎶Aguanilé
Aguanilé, mai mai
Forgetting the unfolding drama
You move your feet, your hips, your butt
While waiting you go to the lottery case
Slipping a piece of paper to the cashier, play these pick 3 numbers
Oh and a pack of watermelon, grape and apple Now and Laters
🎶🎶Aguanilé
Aguanilé, mai mai
The door to the bodega
Closes behind you
Ears flooded with police sirens
Horns blowing
Arguments and expletives
Feeling like you stepped back into a war
As always, thank you for reading! 💞🙏
You see her walking down the street
Purpose in her eyes
Meaning in her walk
Strut like you have never seen
Delicate flower, she be
Wearing her armor of protection
The look in her eyes lets you know
Back up or I will cut you
A face that tells you she means business
She ain't here for the games
Delicate flower, she be
Like the weeds that grow in your garden
The dandelions that grow in the empty lot on the corner
Growing in between the cracks in the ground
She rises up
Delicate flower, she be
Having the nerve to go where you wouldn't expect
She stands tall and firm
There are years that ask questions and years that answer
Looking at her reveals both; question and answer
Delicate flower, she be
Hard pavement of the concrete
Matches the hard look on her face
Meeting your gaze she stares back
Not a smile anywhere to be found
Delicate flower, she be
Inside she is just waiting for someone
Someone that sees her and brings out the smile
Simultaneously holding her delicately and firmly
In full bloom as delicate as can be
Delicate flower, she be
Delicate Flower, She Be is written in response to the W3 Prompt #148: Wea’ve Written Weekly. Violet Lentz asks us to write about elements of the human condition and include at least 1 of 3 quotes in her guidelines.
Human condition elements I wrote about are emotions, social interaction, resilience and growth. How people can look so hardened on the outside but are really loving and kind on the inside. A smile is just bursting, waiting to come out at the right circumstance.
The quote I chose is by Zora Neale Hurston, “there are years that ask questions and years that answer.”
Image credit: by Josch13 from Pixabay
As always, thank you for reading! 😊💖🙌
beautiful to see
love, warmth, kindness, protection
only moms possess
keeping offspring safe, happy
indeed, the eyes tell it all
Near and Dear to My Heart is in response to Sadje’s prompt.
Image credit: Leandra Rieger on Unsplash
Theoretically speaking, you wonder if
Happenstance has come to the forefront
Eliciting answers about this thing
Offering no more cues than when it began
Responding with conjecture, whispering, gossip
Entertaining the masses with your theory
Trying not to let others around you
In on the fact that you want to know
Curiosity killed the cat
And still, you don't stop
Letting your mind drift about the situation
Learning that this is someone else's reality
Yearning for truth about today's morbid curiosity
Theoretically Speaking of Morbid Curiosity is written in response to the word prompt by Sammi Cox.
Image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay
In the salon chair
Close your eyes let your cares fly
Fly far away and down the drain
Tears chasing thoughts
Thoughts undealt with for years
So relaxed in the salon chair
Not caring who hears
Hears you release pain, regret, disappointment,
Hurt, dreams unfulfilled
Like water, let it flow freely down your cheek
After all who will notice
In the salon chair, scalp being massaged
Forgetting where you are you begin confessional
Spilling details most dear to your heart
In hopes that those hands can relate
The hands of the person in your proximity
Letting you be free with your truths
She or he listens with understanding
Empathy, caring and non-judgement
They know this is your time
Time to let your hair down
Relax, talk, cry, listen
In the salon chair
Where best kept secrets are kept
Never revealing the tears that wept
The smiles, the laughs, the shared tea
Moments at the salon that involve three
The chair the stylist and me
No other entity compares
In the salon chair
Like therapy in many ways
Going in one way and leaving another
Altered both emotionally and physically
Hair looking fresh to death
Feeling and looking your best
You smile and your strut beams confidence
Suddenly you remember to keep your head up
Image by Michelle Raponi from Pixabay
In the shadow darkness hides, use your hearing to find your way
In the shadow what you hear is the true beat of your heart
In the shadow, heartbeats echo so rhythmically like you can reach out and touch
In the shadow, feeling the tactile beating heart, gratitude wells up in your throat
In the shadow, gratitude leads to the road of happiness
In the shadow of that happiness the face of envy is rising
In the shadow, envy is obliterated with humility, stay kind
The Green-Eyed Monster Hiding in the Dark is written in response to the W3 Weekly prompt.
Thank you for reading!🥰🙏💖
Bunions roam free by the sea
A place untapped for this sort of thing
A place where the Bunion can be itself
It can come out in public without judgement
For the Bunion is not afraid
By the sea, no cover up is needed
Just pure, unadulterated glory and freedom
Oh by the sea, let the Bunions breathe
This writing is in response to the prompt by Sadje.
Thank you for reading! 💞 Hope I can help you have a laugh today 😁
Adventure Awaits
How exciting, the feeling
Jump in the water
No way, someone will see us
Life is short, why not dive in
Hidden Adventure, a tanka, is written in response to the picture prompt by Sadje.
Thank you for reading!
Image credit: Pavlo T at Unsplash
Renewal of Hope
A difficult task at times
Times of natural disaster
Floods, fire, tornadoes
Hope is tested
Even unthinkable
Suddenly you realize
Tomorrow is here
The dawn of a new day
The sun kissing your face
Laughter, smiles and hope returning
Knowing you have survived, hope renews
Image credit: Pexels from Pixabay
Awakening of Rejuvenation is written in response to the prompt by Sarah David.
As always, thank you for reading! 🌻💖🙏
A Tanka
Cramped, I feel standing
In the subway car freezing
Can’t reach my pocket
Nose running; I need Kleenex
On lapel mucous escaped
Hope you enjoy Tissue: So Close but Out of Reach. Written in response to David’s W3 Prompt #141, Wea’ve Written Weekly prompt.
For anyone who has ever been on the subway and knows how tightly packed and crowded it is will understand. You can hardly move, nonetheless, reach into your pocket at the moment you need to the most. 😄
Thank you for reading!
Is it hard to wonder
why people shy away
weather like lightning and thunder
resembling romance and all its blunder
Being swept off your feet
Knowing love is there
Dreams to never give into defeat
To commit is something concrete
When you know it is so fun
Romance is beautiful and serene
Shining bright like the sun
Don't let overcast think it has won
Image by Shirley Mwanje from Pixabay
The Allure of Love was written in response to a word prompt by Sammi Cox. The challenge is to write a piece using the word commit in exactly 64 words.
Wraps you in warmth
Comfort takes over
Muscles relax as you settle in
Settle into the cover
Nose and ears are red
Hands stiff
Heat engulfs your body
Like a swaddle
Soothing the senses
Heat permeates the skin
Coming indoors from frigid temperatures
Aaahhh!
Thank you for reading! 🙏❤
Image by Homeo Grapher from Pixabay