haiku

ripples in still lake
become waves as storm begins
ripples in my life

for Ragtag Daily Prompt

haiku

owls vis-à-vis mice
are silent eager-eaters
me vis-à-vis cheese

for Fandango’s One-Word Challenge

haiku

full dark moonless night
forest silent emptied out
the loss wounds my soul

for Sunday Writing Prompt

slow decay

my body is not decaying. not yet, because i am still alive and i am not plagued by a gangrenous limb or hosting any sort of flesh-eating bacteria.
it’s my life that’s decaying, and along with it, my soul.

lost my job and then my spouse and kids. lost the house and then the car. lost my respect and then my personal physical safety. lost my mind.

but wait. that is not slow decay. it happened in a blink. thinking back, it might have happened in a day, to be followed by a timeless gray and black stretch of sidewalks and doorways and featureless people.

i honor my body, though. it doesn’t quit. keeps on going. too dumb not to.

for The On-line Writer’s Guild

haiku

dry creek in this drought
thirst drives wildlife to my pond
i watch as they drink

for Three Things Challenge

how i met my partner

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

i do performance art. capturing the ephemeral, that’s my goal.

on a sunny day in june, i assumed the statue’s position, hand holding head, obscuring my face. settled in. switched my brain from eyes to ears and nose and skin, hearing the park sounds, mostly the cries of children playing, random aromas from the carts of the lunch vendors, the grass i knelt on, still damp with dew.

a photographer arrived. i recognized the sounds of a camera’s settings being adjusted. an elderly person arrived, shuffling. the sound of birdseed pattering on the path. the squeaky arrival of pigeons and the harsh squawks of seagulls.

and then the magic happened, the hope and dream of every artist. a bird landed on my head and its mate, i was to learn, landed on the statue. the photographer captured the tableau and we became acquainted later as I washed guano out of my hair at a nearby fountain.

for Sunday Photo Fiction