Not-so-Prompt Gathering

A delayed round-up of fairly recent prompt responses. Always a fun thing to do. Not only does it help to get me writing, it also stretches what I think I can do, and reading other people’s replies is a treasure trove of ideas, inspiration and learning material. All good.

 

Don’t stay in timberland then whine if you’re chopped down
#hangtenstories 619 (Timberland)

 

Please linger a little longer
Until I’m a little stronger
#hangtenstories 620 (linger)

 

She loved like a hummingbird, fast and on the wing
#hangtenstories 621 (hummingbird)

 

At home, hoping, checking her facebook status, constantly missing her
#hangtenstories 622 (status)

 

Using devotion
Instead of fostering love
A weak safety net
#hangtenstories 628 (devotion)

 

Grounded fedora
Singing loud for its supper
Coppers gather round
#hangtenstories 629 (fedora)

 

In silence, people will hear the tacit answer they want.
#hangtenstories 630 (Tacit)

 

His gentility
Was airs and graces
Superiority
Behind two faces
#hangtenstories 631 (gentility)

 

Roundabout words because succinct feels brazen on my shy tongue.
#hangtenstories 632 (succinct)

 

Getting in with the crowd and end up losing yourself.
#hangtenstories 633 (crowd)

 

This monsoon of ours…brought on by our changing wants.
#hangtenstories 635 (monsoon)

 

Self-serving flattery to impress made a cliche of his philosophy
#hangtenstories 636 (cliche)

 

Each word is a pure nugget from your goldmine mind.
#hangtenstories 636 (goldmine)

 

No sweeter nosegay through this Winter than her floral memory.
#hangtenstories 665 (floral)

 

Out of my depth and in trouble, drowning in you.
#hangtenstories 666 (trouble)

 

Snatching in panic
Fearing all those missed chances
Impulse purchasing
#hangtenstories 669 (impulse)

 

When heavy words failed him, his trumpet sang the tune.
#hangtenstories 670 (trumpet)
Just can’t get enough

 

Of your beautiful expanse
Breathtaking viewing
#hangtenstories 671 (expanse)

 

Your eyes are a peculiar shade of coffee and bedroom.
#hangtenstories 672 (peculiar)

 

Smile for the camera. Cheerful staged and caught on film.
#hangtenstories 673 (cheerful)

 

The first penny dropped: legal tender for figuring you out.
#hangtenstories 686 (first)

 

Her skin was a folio. Her mystery in the folds.
#hangtenstories 687 (folio)

 

The mind can invent what the hearts knows is fantasy.
#hangtenstories 688 (invent)

 

Poet, jumpstart my dead heart
And turnover this cold mind
#hangtenstories 689 (poet)

 

Your candle went out, leaving me with the longest dark.
#hangtenstories 693 (candle)

 

Events soothed by time, made painfully recent by keen memory
#hangtenstories 696 (recent)

 

The mirror’s cruelty luring us to interact with shallow companions
#hangtenstories 697 (interact)

 

One plus one is us
Such simple arithmetic
But divisible
#hangtenstories 694 (simple)

 

Bringing light into her life…bound to leave a shadow
#hangtenstories 701 (shadow)

 

Take refuge for a while
In gentle arms and smile
#hangtenstories 703 (refuge)

 

Your hello and my goodbye coincide, wishing we’d both pause.
#hangtenstories 705 (coincide)

 

Blank page, drying ink
Vociferous are my doubts
Whitespace overwhelms
#hangtenstories 707 (vociferous)

 

His cuisine surprised her senses, stirring old appetites for breakfast.
#hangtenstories 708 (cuisine)

 

Can make a chain or a treasure out of memory.
#hangtenstories 713 (treasure)

 

Angling for something
With lies adjacent to truth
Overfishing trust
#hangtenstories 714 (adjacent)

 

The bake is done, now icing doubts with sweetened hope.
#hangtenstories 731 (bake)

 

‘I assure you’ loses value the further away you are.
#hangtenstories 732 (assure)

 

This timid language
Where love is struggling to speak
Gently feel the way
#HaikuChallenge (love)

 

Careful tiptoeing
Fearing the crunch of eggshells
Loving in peril
#HaikuChallenge (peril)

 

Selfish attraction
Not letting go when you should
Decaying orbit
#HaikuChallenge (orbit)

 

Various flavours
An assortment box loving
Leave the nutty ones
#HaikuChallenge (various)

 

Some always profit
As the fearful say bless you
Posies line pockets
#HaikuChallenge (bless)

 

Me and my big mouth
Find out how deep I can dig
Naive shovelling
#HaikuChallenge (deep)

 

Through computer screens
And browser diagnostics
Disguising the sick
#HaikuChallenge (sick)

 

If you make us cheap
It’s easier to throw out
Misdeclaring goods
#HaikuChallenge (cheap)

 

Comfort or unease
In this moment of quiet
Lonely or alone
#HaikuChallenge (quiet)

 

I got a copy
He bought the original
Awe within our means
#HaikuChallenge (original)

 

The image was clear
Interpretation was skewed
Parallax error
#HaikuChallenge (image)

 

So long without flight
You’ve forgotten you have wings
The sky still mourns you
#HaikuChallenge (long)

 

Have been on both sides
Of what it is to manage
Work then getting by
#HaikuChallenge (manage)

 

This or the other
Where grass is always greener
Choosing sows regrets
#HaikuChallenge (other)

 

Spilt blood looks so deep
No bottom to it at times
Things go unanswered
#HaikuChallenge (blood)

 

You said follow me
And I slipped my hand in yours
Footprints side by side
#HaikuChallenge (follow)

 

The silt we stir up
Sedimentary answers
Buried under why
#HaikuChallenge (why)

 

People on the wing
And twisting murmuration
An unsettled roost
#HaikuChallenge (people)

 

Those piano keys
In the comfort of our bar
Slowly unlocks me

 

Ripples on the lake
Where we once swam together
Raining saltwater

 

Our words have shattered
And each sigh slices deeper
Silence drains us dry
#HaikuChallenge (sigh)

 

All those little lies
Slipped smoothly into habit
Yes, I’m fine, thank you
#HaikuChallenge (little)

 

Saying you resist
When nothing tempts or threatens
Claiming unearned praise
#HaikuChallenge (resist)

 

Often misvalued
The first of so many things
Paid some hefty bills
#HaikuChallenge (first)

 

Thought contentment lay
In never having to yearn
Lived in denial
#HaikuChallenge (yearn)

 

Plant hope in dry hearts
Like a pioneer species
Dreaming of forests
#HaikuChallenge (plant)

 

Digging foundations
Found footings from former times
History grounds us
#HaikuChallenge (history)

 

Fearing losing out
Snap up plenty on offer
Manufactured need
#HaikuChallenge (offer)

 

No encore call for
You, me and us in three acts
It was all for show
#HaikuChallenge (show)

 

Wear filtered glasses
Through which to see the famous
An unfocused view
#HaikuChallenge (famous)

 

Two sides of a coin
Willing to be and to do
Must invest for growth
#HaikuChallenge (willing)

 

A grey area
Thinking never or maybe
Cliff edge’s fine lines
#HaikuChallenge (never)

 

Howling past the door
Blows a sympathetic wind
Spooky backing group
#HaikuChallenge (spooky)

 

Not pausing for thought
Trying to manage too much
Predestination
#HaikuChallenge (manage)

 

Just build a bypass
Past cities’ clogged arteries
Ignored congestion
#HaikuChallenge (bypass)

 

He said I believe
And I believed him back then
Should have known better
#HaikuChallenge (believe)

 

With each word you say
Our light shifts into the red
Becoming distant
#HaikuChallenge (light, each)

 

An afternoon treat
A Curacao sky on ice
Melt into evening

Learning to let go
Can’t carry this anymore
Last straw weighs the most
#HaikuChallenge (anymore)

 

Thought you were too loud
But your quiet makes me ache
White noise can’t cover
#HaikuChallenge (quiet)

 

I took a short route
You took one fraught with danger
Both got six feet deep
#HaikuChallenge (fraught)

 

Bent oak trees point the way their sculptor #mistral went, where he drew back curtains of wintry clouds, dried his earth-tone palette and blew dust off distant mountains.
#vss365

 

After it broke from a nasty fall, I never thought this heart of mine would quicken again to pump a #blush across my cheeks.
#vss365

 

‘It hurts, Gramps.’
‘Aye, and I wish I could say heartbreak gives lifelong immunity against fallin’ badly again, but it’s more like a string of booster jabs.’
‘How many before you met Gramma?’
‘It were #nine.’
‘Ow!’
‘Yeah, but she were worth the hurt. She were a panacea.’
#vss365

 

Can’t believe your folks left you this house! his eager exploration declares. Why do you wait on the #stair? his laughing asks as he rushes past. Nursery right here, his smile boasts. Why the down face? his frown demands. But he never lived here; all he sees is veneer.
#vss365

 

He stared; her vase had broken into so many fragments, scattering out like blood splatter from some violent, unforgivable crime. When his daughter rushed in, he smiled ruefully: old hands, eh? He watched her pick up the pieces, envying #china that knew how to look broke.
#vss365

 

‘That’s funny!’
‘What is, Gramps?’
‘That they called this thing #internet.’
‘Oh?’
‘Yeah…all this clickbait, cat-fishin’ an’ fishin’.’
‘How so?’
‘Well, look at ye all, hooked on yer screens! Baited and practically leaping ‘into the net’.’
#vss365

 

You just need better eyes
You scolded me unkindly
When will you realise
You’re following that blindly
What you need is within me
And what you choose to #observe
Is unnecessary
And not quite what I deserve
For this #cathedral I’ve built
Love me, be absolved of guilt
#vss365

 

Where a zebra becomes a #wolf threatening the sun, and our summer day start to chill.
#vss365

 

Gonna #disappear
For a short breather
Try to reorganise
And rest these tired eyes
Cos I’m a bit cross-eyed
Bit frazzled and fried
So I’m going to chill
And rest up until
The words don’t get muddled
And I’m less befuddled
#vss365

 

The tea is long past #tepid … can’t nurse it no more.
#vss365

 

Go on #laugh out loud
Go roll on the floor
Sockless and assless
If that suits you more
Ignore the tight crowd
With their tighter lips
Who think it madness
As your laughter rips
That heavy storm cloud
From your once blue skies
And tears rain proud
From too long dry eyes
#vss365

 

Taking down our pictures as you fill rubbish bags. You talk of moving on, how this will be good for both of us. Maybe it will. As the walls got thicker from framed moments we barely looked at, we got thinner until we both got paper-cuts from our #poster thin marriage.
#vss365

 

‘The men say he’s mean.’
‘Don’t let others see for ye. He gives #thanks in simpler ways.’
‘Really, Gramps?’
‘Ye need to see further, lass. There ain’t no fence he won’t help fix or farmer he’ll turn down in time of need. Some forget that quick when life’s comfortable.’
#vss365

 

He paused. Timing was everything. He knew she’d weep and demand an encore, but he’d had his soliloquy prepped for weeks for this #finale. The stage was set, but she stole his limelight when she slid her ring across the table and said his performance of late lacked drama.
#vss365

 

He loved with #relish. It went with everything, adding a bit of salt here, sweetness there, bitterness at times, or a heat that burnt but felt so nice. He made me hungry, greedy and want to lick fingers clean, made me love the heat in the kitchen.
#vss365

 

‘Don’t mourn lost #opportunity, lass. Ye’ll never leave the wake and waste on simple fare and regret. Bury yer hurt and doubts and go make yerself another.’
#vss365

 

This #lassitude wraps around; cosy at first…a welcomed embrace when the mind is fraught. But then it tightens, smothers and chokes, a weight you can’t throw off. And it feeds itself, getting fatter as you waste away, telling yourself you’re not hungry anyway. But…
#vss365

 

It was meant to be black and white, easy. Kill the beast, get the hide so a foreigner got a hearthrug he could brag over. But the #zebra was black and red and his mate was a mess under dripping hooves. The poacher yelled and ran…but he was one, and the zebra were many.
#vss365

 

They made glorious moments where their edges overlapped. He tried to urge her on; she tried to settle him down. His mundane was her #extreme and they just frayed each other’s seams. But darned hearts are stronger and a little wiser for their unravelling.
#vss365

 

His words chiselled her jibe by jibe, hacking away, leaving gouges and grooves her thoughts followed into pools of his own #irrational design. But she was deeper than he thought, and he drowned in the shadows from the valleys he’d sculpted and the gaslights he’d lit.
#vss365

 

‘Love can be short, lass; don’t mean it’s any less for it.’
‘You knew it’d end, didn’t you, Gramps?’
‘Ye both came to see the same thing so different. Where he saw gentle hills you saw mountains, and for yer #narrow valleys he saw gorges. Ye couldnae walk far together.’
#vss365

 

‘Do you think we should’ve become mountaineers and learnt to abseil?’
‘Maybe, lass, but you cannae do both at the same time and be together.’
‘I feel so…’
‘It just don’t work sometimes. The wise know this. An’ on yer mountain or on yer rope it ain’t #gutless to let go.’
#vss365

 

The suffering seems so soundless
A cry a drop in deep oceans
Gathering to break on deaf shores
Salting remains with soft shushes
The guity #denounce the loudest
With their rogue wave protestations
Sinking suspicions to sea floors
Where the weight of silence crushes
#vss365

 

Expert in camouflage, when her #sob broke through their giggles, she smiled, wiped away a tear and laughed louder. They never guessed a thing and later said she’d been the life of the party.
#vss365

 

In the cafe, the sugar and jug of cream between them and their barricades of hot unsweetened black coffee. A mere #hiccup had put them at odds. The wrong name slipped out, a secret spilt, and seeing it in each other’s eyes, the correction would never make them be right.
#vss365

 

With purpose or not
We #engineer our own fate
Results may vary
#vss365

 

A visceral rhythm
Hijacking tongues and hips
Infectious tradition
On pleomorphic lips
Where secrets spread and flow
Hidden in #calypso
#vss365

 

It didn’t happen all at once. His collapse was done in stages, prolonged: a #cascade failure. Maybe that’s why no one noticed as he fell in bits, until dashed on rock bottom, his pieces just floated away into ‘what ever happened to him, anyway?’
#vss365

 

Does you good to #wallow just a little, every now and again, to ease the daily bites and stings and remember we can feel contentment, delight and pleasure in simple joys. Just don’t stay too long…’til you’re wrinkly and the rest of living has passed you by.
#vss365

 

Is it really that #obvious
I haven’t got the foggiest?
No clue, no plan, no overview
Of all the things I have to do
I thought by now I’d have some clue
Of the best ways of getting through
Based on some clever strategy
But it’s just fine cos you’re with me
#vss365

 

Am I #restored?

I make queries
In the mirror
As though this thing
Left welts or marks
That disappear
When healing’s done
I see nothing
My skin is thick
Learning too well
To tell its lies
About someone
I once knew well

In shallow glass
The stranger smiles
Gives no answer
#vss365

 

That’s it! That is the final #nudge
Pushing me to single living
With a sigh and much lip smacking
You polished off my homemade fudge
#vss365

 

‘Gramps, why’ve you left the last row of beans?’
‘I know what it’s like to have a belly as empty as yer wallet yet see excess from fields rot in shops and cupboards. Sometimes in taking too much, others #obtain too little.’
‘Charity.’
‘Nae, lass. Harvesting is work.’
#vss365

 

The #hatch closes and thru the small window you see me. You collapse under my smile and allow them to pull you away. I wait until you’re gone before my tears fall into the cold saltwater rising up around my neck. I sigh, strangely content: I couldn’t face what you will. #vss36

 

‘Why ye sulkin’, lass?’
‘Teacher asked us what #aurora were and the kids laughed when I said it was Mother Nature washing out her ink #bottles after painting the day, like Gramma told me.’
‘Ah, lass, sometimes a thing may be true in one way, but be right in many.’
#vss365

 

He woke under starry skies, wondering how he’d escaped the horror lurking within the tunnels. His ecstatic breath exploded from his chest in heady laughter, and at the alien sound, the glow-worms on the #cavern ceiling blinked out, one by one.
#vss365

 

Are you on the same page as me?
He asks oh so impatiently
No I’m reading where you’re skimming
To the end I’m just beginning
You’re reducing each #chapter
That I devour with rapture
And I realise you leapfrog
To what must be an epilogue
Did you have the same book as me?
#vss365

 

‘It’s so easy for them, Gramps. I can’t get the knack!’
‘Hmm. There’s them born to a #craft, talented ones, like yer friends, and then there’s the rest of us, who have to dig down and in and work and fail dozens o’ times to learn we had the knack all along. Practise.’
#vss365

 

She sits opposite, gnarled hands above the crystal ball and her silver charms dangle like faithless swords of Damocles, as she peers through me to some distant time and place and my future condenses in her eyes; a perfect salted #globe falls, stabbing the last of me.
#vss365

 

With a #crown of daisies, she ruled over my Summer.
#vss365

 

This lasting impression of you
Still leaving creases in my skin
A flexibility issue
Bending along your old scoring
My paper heart cannot forget
#DimpleVerse #poet #poetry #micropoetry #vss #mpy #poetrycommunity #WritingCommunity #poem #prompt

 

An hourglass we fear to turn
A stage of life where we yearn
To make a moment timeless
And memory limitless
But no life in sand held fast
Trapped in an echoing past
#DimpleVerse #vss #history #micropoetry #mpy #Poetry #prompt

 

Ballroom galaxy

Hosting a glimmering dance
For our long, last waltz

Held in spiral arms
Of milkyway moves
And music of the spheres
#DimpleVerse #micropoetry #vss #poetry #mpy #space #cherita #prompt

 

You gave no chance to face
The love smothering us
Allowed no state of grace
To exist between us
Stealing the confession
From my uneasy tongue
With your easy passion
Only playing along
If you’d let me confess
Would it have hurt us less?
#DimpleVerse #vss #poetry #prompt

 

You are my alchemist

Taking my burden
Turning it to gold

Not gifting immortality
But healing my words
And giving life to dreams
#DimpleVerse #micropoetry #vss #poetry #mpy #cherita #prompt

 

Threatening to burst
Shattering silence
Low clouds are gathering
So dark and deafening
With the echoes of rain
Upon the window pane
And testing patience
In these times of thirst
#DimpleVerse #vss #Autumn #poetry #mpy #clouds #prompt

 

This red thread

Spooling out
To stretch between

As long as wanted
As short as needed
As strong as silk
#DimpleVerse #23words #cherita #micropoetry #vss #poetry #Japan #3words #destiny #prompt

 

Thread between us all
Red strands weaving through the air
Living tapestry
#DimpleVerse #23words #haiku #micropoetry #vss #poetry #Japan #3words #destiny #prompt

 

With the remains of the day
Building castles on a cloud
Where everyone’s allowed
To make mortar from wishes
And imagination riches
Makes sovereigns of beggars
And those in wordly cold fetters
Are finally flying away
#DimpleVerse #vss #micropoetry #mpy #prompt

 

Found our plot

Eager hands work the land
Hopes beneath the soil

Tended with keen care
And tender patience
Grows our memory garden
#DimpleVerse #23words #cherita #vss #poetry #micropoetry #prompt

 

You were the sweetest agony
Unravelling me from heart to head
And expectations wound so tightly
You let spool out like too tense thread
And I take the first breath I’ve ever had
#DimpleVerse #Romance #vss #poetry #mpy #micropoetry #love #Neruda #prompt

 

Just slip your hand in mine
And whisper all is fine
Because at this moment
Shoulders down and back bent
I’ve lost my way and view
Of where we travel to
So sit a while with me
And remind me gently
This road will get us there

 

I apply layers of clay; sculpt the memory of a face from bits of bone found in a shallow grave. But the face I give the police wont be yours. I’ll always be the last who had you.
#TalesNoir

 

Your delicious shiver when my breath haunts your neck and the nervous stutter to your walk whenever I step into the corner of your wide eye are my bread and honey. Your distress is my appetiser. Soon, I’ll want my dinner, and you’re getting sweetly tender.
#TalesNoir

 

The monster’s under my bed, Nanny. Go look! Please! Closer, Nanny…you gotta get right down to see it in the dark. That’s it!
You see it?
It sees you.
Shhhh, Nanny…don’t kick the floorboards so! You’ll wake Mummy and Daddy, and I don’t want to feed them to it yet.
#TalesNoir

 

My save! That was my save, my moment and you stole it, sweeping in like you owned it. I was close enough to touch her, to see sweat like pearls on her skin, but they only saw you. And you wonder what turns us bad. Next time it’ll only be me…and there will be no hero.
#TalesNoir

 

Lady Luck drifted through the bar, licking the bent necks of winners and losers alike. Losers tasted of salt and copper, but winners were bittersweet: shame and glory mixed with whisky. She lapped it up, lifted the hem of her skirt, teased them both into one more game.
#TalesNoir

 

They pulled too hard
Too fast and far
Now left deformed
Inelastic
Past the hope
Of returning
Back to before
Stretched out of shape
Feeling and living
Foreign lines of
Plasticity
You cannot change
Life is brittle
And set in place
After their touch
#DarkLines 300 plasticity

Pick and Mix (part 1)

I was going through my files, and I have a few stories (most incomplete), practice pieces, that have been lingering on my computer. I can’t think of where to put them, so I thought I’d settle them down here. They’re quite long, so I’ll dish them out in palatable chunks…see if anyone finds them tasty. If they are, then I might carry on with them. At the very least, I hope they entertain…or be a prod to get me back into them.

I have to say in this story, I’ve taken characters created by the brilliant Agatha Christie and inserted them into a world enhanced by the fantastic HP Lovecraft. It’s a fanfiction piece, I guess. I admire these authors and I hope I’ve done them justice.

 

Jakob’s Trial

 

Prologue

 

“Will you write my story?”

Her voice was cracked and roughened with age—it was barely a rasp—but somehow it filled the tearoom, smothering all sound, save for my own thumping heart. The emotion pouring out behind the words was enough to silence the grate of cup against saucer and the clink of cutlery, and for a moment, her voice was the roar of a gale in my ear. Soon, the gay chatter and clatter returned, but just as shutting a door does not end the storm, so this return to normality did not soothe my mind.

Her green eyes, still so keen despite her years, were fixed upon me, and there wasn’t despair or hope in that gaze, but a determination. She wasn’t pleading with me, she was demanding an answer. I doubted her story as it stood would be suitable to catch the public imagination, but she was paying rather well for the services of a ghost writer, and the money would fill my pocket as nicely as another’s.

My gaze drifted to the three, black, leather notebooks on the table. The leather was worn and the spines heavily creased; numerous markers stuck out like bunting, and I could see that the yellowed pages within were dog-eared and well-thumbed. This wasn’t an old woman’s idle fancy; it was a life’s work. I had nothing to lose and a handsome bonus to win. Joyce was away for the month, seeing friends in Europe, and my play was into its third season, so I had the space and time to tackle the task potentially being discharged to me.

However, my aunt always advised a moment’s worth of waiting before settling upon a choice, so I mimicked her and took a slow sip of tea. I doubt that I received the same blessings as she in that secured moment beyond the greedy here-and-now, but when my cup rested upon the saucer, I knew my answer.

So it was that later, after seeing the elderly widow back to her hotel, I sat nursing a Dalwhinnie at home, staring at the three books resting on the low table. There was the familiar thrill of something new, the tension stirring beneath the skin, the burn of something requiring quenching. I hadn’t realised how I’d longed for this and how long I’d denied missing this.

The glass was cold and smooth and the scotch smooth and warming. I was prevaricating, so as to enjoy the moment of exquisite anticipation—when would I have the chance again to feel this enthused without guilt? I swallowed the remains of the honey-coloured whiskey and settled back with the first of the books.

It was late when I slowly, thoughtfully, slid the book back onto the table. I glanced at the others, but my discomforted gaze slipped from the black covers. My stomach churned, and the delight that had buoyed me evaporated in the crucible of my reading, leaving a heavy foul residue in my soul. I shuddered and rose to pour another drink. I needed the warmth.

The widow had provided details about the books, and I knew—or thought I did—what it entailed. But to read it! I took another deep swallow. And those notes in the margins!—strange glyphs, looping and curling along the edges of the pages as if sealing, trapping, the hideous words upon the page. As a macabre tale, the story was without equal…but the idea…the possibility that it was based on fact. No! Even if she had looked me in the eye and assured me truth were penned on those age-yellowed pages, it just couldn’t be.

The drink was blurring the edges, and my mind became more amenable, maybe for safety’s sake, to the idea of it being a horror story, one to dazzle the rather bored audiences of late. I knew they craved something to challenge their sense of safety—for the one hundred minutes within a gloomy theatre, at least. The widow had given me leave to take what I wanted from the books; all she wanted was the work tidied and…and there was something else, but I failed to condense the sensation into something I could grasp.

The clock upon the mantle ticked away, almost declaring each wasted second, but I wouldn’t rush—even when softened by drink—into this. It was too…big. If I were to delve into the strange and complicated story of Jakob Vanderhoos, then I wanted to make sure I could find my way out. Frustrated with the consistent tick, I went to gather the books, but I hesitated, my fingertips barely brushing the dark cover. I would sleep and consider my plan in the morning, as haste would no doubt be the ruin of me.

I slept without interruption, which surprised me, as I had expected a night of nightmares and bouts of sleeplessness, but still and despite this, I was not rested. I felt as though some weight tugged at my mind and limbs. The weather seemed to complement my mood: dark grey sky and a chill strong wind. From my window, I saw every attempt to keep me in my home, but I knew I had to seek advice. My unease had grown, and my hand trembled as I lifted my cup. I was caught on the edge of something vast: either literary or terrifying.

The train to St Mary-Mead was running slow, and the longer the train rumbled along the tracks, the more my intention weighed down. Questions slipped and diverged through my mind, branching off down unsuspected routes…much like the streaks of rain across the carriage window. And much like those streaks, they obscured any clear view.

The ride lasted most of the morning, and I was feeling miserable when I alighted from the train onto a dismal and empty platform. Rain dripped from the eaves of the waiting room, and thin rivers gurgled across the smooth stone. I hadn’t contacted my aunt that I would be visiting, which more than anything highlighted how erratic my thoughts had become. As such, no cab waited for me, so I trekked to the village, dancing around puddles and wincing as rain slipped down my collar. Luckily, the village wasn’t too far from the station, and after twenty minutes, I entered the outskirts, greeted by merry cottages and neatly walled gardens, and of course, the pub.

The sight of the whitewashed building cheered me, and it was with a lighter heart that I dropped my case and smiled at the receptionist. Within half an hour, I was in my room, a crackling fire warming me and a pot of tea to dispel the chill that had settled in my bones. I had sent one of the local boys with a note to my aunt, and I was feeling content. I knew my aunt kept a busy schedule—her kind of mind needed constant stimulation—and so didn’t expect an answer before dinner.

To my surprise, a maid knocked on my door at just after three, saying that a lady was waiting for me in the parlour. Various pleasant possibilities flittered around my mind, but I knew it would be Aunt Jane.

“Why, Raymond, how nice to have you here!”

Her voice was warm, yet it also held that infuriating quality of knowingness. Nothing seemed to surprise her. I often wondered what it would take to test her perception and skills at deduction, and selfishly, I hoped to be the one to have the honour of proving Miss Marple fallible.

She embraced me fondly enough, dispelling the notion that I had failed in some way by being…predictable, and we settled down to high tea. If ever there was a ceremony, it was high tea—what better way to stretch out a drink and encourage conversation?!

Across from us, a young couple sat, eating their finger sandwiches and sipping tea, but I could see my aunt watching them with an almost pitying gaze. Could she see their future in the way they sat and deduce their unhappy end? A chill skittered down my spine. What would it be like to have the kind of mind that could piece together tiny fragments of someone’s life and complete it, laying it bare and naked for intense scrutiny? I couldn’t fathom it, but it made me conscious of what Aunt Jane thought of me. I watched her sip her tea and realised the fragility of secrets.

“She loves him, but he doesn’t love her,” she murmured from behind her cup. “Oh dear,” she sighed softly. “Why are the young so bound by expectation rather than by what they can learn?”

I waited until the couple had donned their coats and left before offering a response. “I thought he was attentive and adoring.” I hadn’t intended to whine, but I felt as though I were defending myself rather than the stranger.

“Many things can mimic love,” she countered gently—almost a scold to my guilty ears. “Yes, many things look like something else.”

I paused, the cup almost against my lips. She couldn’t know!? I hadn’t spoken to anyone about the real reason behind Joyce spending time with friends. I hid my discomfort behind a sip, and from the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of irritation scurry across her powdered face.

Inhaling, she lowered her cup and smiled warmly. “But you didn’t come to St Mary-Mead for an old woman’s rather dry observations.”

I smiled weakly and turned to face her proper. “No, Aunt Jane,” I replied, glad for the change in conversation. “I have been asked—well, to be honest, I need your advice about a…project.”

“I am and will always be here for you, Raymond.”

Little Collection

Hello…been a while. I went back to the UK to visit my family, eat oatcakes and pick up some essentials, such as Heinz Baked Beans and Brown Sauce. Then we went on holiday. Had a…hmmm…interesting time, but overall was excellent.

As before, my writing is still going slowly, so I’ve lumped bits and pieces together…safety in numbers.

 

I expected it to be difficult, so made myself #hard; I thought it’d be rough, so thickened my skin. I thought I’d get lost so never went far; figured I’d lose so rarely risked. Then you pulled me in, pushed me along; you held my hand and taught me to dare and completed me.
#vss365

 

Under thick skin, behind the cool facade, past quick smiles, buried within experience, wrapped up in control and bound in lessons learnt, in the smallest chamber of a broken heart is the last #crevice of untouched me and where I hold you dear.
#vss365

 

The #founder of all this
Birthed in one thoughtless kiss
Nurtured in longing glances
And needy taking chances
I bear the blame

This cuckoo love ousts all
‘Til emptied baskets fall
And underfoot thin eggshells
Crack like our distant deathbells
Tolling out shame
#vss365

 

Gravelly blues
#jazz, classic tunes
Fine arias
And operas

Gritty dramas
Of noir vistas
Horror and gore
Sci-fi galore

A bit of spice
And all things nice
Some juicy writes
And poem bites

Fab sequences
Thrilling pieces
Ever impressed
With vss
#vss365

 

You won’t break apart

You’re flesh not #glass
Sound cannot pass
Thru your thick skin
The words you keep
Will never seep
Past those tight lips
Your unheard pleas
Stay ill at ease
Behind your panes
Start battering
And shattering
Those prison pains

Let me hear your heart
#vss365

 

I have forgotten the sound of silence
Reminiscence cast off its smothering shyness
And no #hush from me ends the whispering
Or drowned-out plea on the cusp of wishful sleeping
Will grant me release from endless echoes
The susurrus of regret through evergreen woes
#vss365

 

Spent half a lifetime looking for a #kindred spirit, not realising that until I knew myself, I’d never recognise them.
#vss365

 

‘Gramps, what does ‘not #normal’ mean?’
‘What d’you think it means?’
‘Dunno…people say it a lot when summat’s gone wrong or people get all contrary, like…but that don’t feel right all the time.’
‘Yeah, then you got a better knowing of the term than most, lad.’
#vss365

 

She stood on the shore, eyes sore from tears and briny winds. The grey sea churned, roaring as it attacked cliffs and beach. Out there they’d barely made a #ripple when the ship went down…here, rogue waves battered their hometown. How she envied the comfort of distance.
#vss365

 

Had enough of waiting for her ship to come in and salting sand from heart breakers, she swam out…past selfish beachcombers, fickle tides and deceptive shallows. She’s out there now, an #island …beautiful and remote, her own distant shore.
#vss365

 

Great characters
The varied verse
Fab acrostics
And thrilling twists

Plot devices
Reveal vices
And metaphors
Open up doors

Quickened heartbeat
From each skilled #tweet
Creating worlds
In daily words
#vss365

 

Remember how we burnt
Tongues an accelerant
And lips a firebrand
And our mouths left contrails
From our heated exhales
Remember how we burnt
So our days were #lambent
For I still remember
Warmed on our last ember
#vss365

 

‘Gramps, why’d you get cross with ’em?’
‘Cos they were bein’ unkind.’
‘But they said he were only cryin’ over spilt #milk …’
‘Yeah, but that ‘milk’ were all he had to drink, and they should’ve have remembered.’
‘Why didn’t they?’
‘Cos they have more than enough milk.’
#vss365

 

When he was in his element it was like he was a #swallow carrying Summer, keeping days fine from way up high. Glorious days, but still she sighed all bittersweet.
Only time she got to hold him was when he fell, grounded, and that was to lift him up so he could fly again.
#vss365

 

All that mad #conjuring
And frantic posturing
As you’re still laundering
All your plundering
From dirty promises
And reassurances
In proud performances
Played out on cliff edges
#vss365

 

He cast her bones, read leaves on blistering skin. He was in his cups when he wielded batons. But for all his efforts, he wasn’t the fortune teller. She was. And she divined a new future with the #six of swords and haruspicy.
#vss365

 

For that bleeding effect, just smudge the edges and #blur the lines between what you should and shouldn’t do.
#vss365

 

Never heard the meaning beneath the stirring #roar and by the time ears stopped ringing and feet wondered where they were, it was too late to walk away. This was why Gramps always waited for echoes to fade before he rose up; he’d learnt the hard way to listen to whispers.
#vss365

 

I gave an #inch and you took a mile
But that’s okay, we need the distance
Following paths of least resistance
But those routes get deeper every time
When learning curves don’t get steeper grades
And verges rise up like barricades
#vss365

 

She never strayed; her Grandma swore to that. And the woodcutter said he’d tried his best, but it’d had been too fast, too strong, too quick, and because it wasn’t their child and he had the axe and winter was due, no one asked if the wolf had worn boots upon its #paws
#vss365

 

Held on to it as #tightly as I could. Was too scared to relax my grip, too selfish to let go. Held until it shattered and the contents slipped away.
#vss365

 

These headaches, Doc, they’re the worst. Feels like something wants to #swell ‘˜til it pops out my eyes. How am I lucky?! ‘˜Chosen’? Wait…what do you mean, let it fill its #belly? Doc! Doc?
#vss365

 

And grief sat down to dine
Added salt to her liver
Before cutting a sliver
Downs a heavy red wine
With a side of shredded heart
Chosen from the a la carte
For its sweet tooth it #feasts
On candied delicacies
And petit fours memories
It loves these ‘all-you-can-eats’
#vss365

 

I knew I’d misunderstood his request when the words ‘hot, #fiery and passion for the culinary arts’ slipped out to hang in the air between us like a bread roll in the gluten-free aisle. They were nice about it, though, and turns out I can cook the books how they like, too
#vss365

 

In the last chance bar
Last few coins in hand
Tried playing with cards
But they just cut deep
Next there was roulette
But the bullets missed
The wheel of fortune
Just shattered old bones
So I’m at table
Feeding my monsters
Betting all on #black
Cos dark’s never lost
#vss365

 

‘You had stabilisers all along?! You fibbed!’
‘Ye learnt to #cycle well without ’em’
‘My knees might’ve been happier’
‘Them sort o’ things are there for if ye need ’em not want ’em. Aye, they take away the fear o’ fallin’ but they also stop ye learnin’ ye can be fearless’
#vss365

 

There’s fear in being laid #bare. Used to think it was over what you’d know.
But I realise I’m no longer sure what’s hidden underneath this…amalgam of what I think you’d like, filling in.
I don’t want to see my cavities or you to cut your tongue on my ragged truths.
#vss365

 

Fearing the silence

Placebo words smother
What you cannot hear

Let just breath slip free
Hear the forest’s symphony
And life’s soothing cadence
#DimpleVerse #23words #micropoetry #vss #poetry #mpy #cherita #Monday #prompt

 

Locked in

This strange prison
We’ve built

Walls of surreal expectations
Bars of skewed perspective
And a warped door stuck in its frame
#DimpleVerse #micropoetry #vss #poetry #mpy #cherita #prompt

 

Clean the windows

Of what we know
Of what we’re told

Open the blinds and see
The cosmos revealed
In a widening eye
#DimpleVerse #23words #micropoetry #vss #Poetry #poem #Space #Prompt #cherita

 

After the Fall

It wasn’t Spring
Nor to spite Winter

Was your promise
Of a soft Summer
That made me face the sun
#DimpleVerse #23words #micropoetry #vss #poetry #prompt #cherita

 

Soft summer invites
Strawberries and lemonade
Sweet nothings on lips
#DimpleVerse #micropoetry #vss #poetry #prompt #tenwords #haiku

 

Prey
Do pray
Seek parley
Attempt to sway
For another day
But it’ll dismay
Not hold at bay
When we play
Decay
Pay
#DimpleVerse #23words #micropoetry #vss #Poetry #mpy #poem #prompt

 

Blind and deaf

Sudden onset
With poor prognosis

The commonest
Co-morbidities
Of toxic infatuation
#DimpleVerse #Micropoetry #cherita #vss #poetry #mpy #prompt

 

You’re richer than you think, when you proffer a hand.
#hangtenstories 542 (proffer)

 

Whence comes this good deed? Don’t confuse aid with apology.
#hangtenstories 544 (whence)

 

Nuance is in the small print…which few ever read.
#hangtenstories 547 (nuance)

 

Meant to be my exclusive, but you proved too impulsive
#hangtenstories 549 (exclusive)

 

Disguising getting by as moving on, crying in the rain.
#hangtenstories 554 (rain)

 

Tired of your landlocked promises while I’m out at sea.
#hangtenstories 556 (sea)

 

Does it comfort you
Convinced they didn’t convince?
Two-faced coercion
#hangtenstories 562 (convince)

 

Weft and warp choices
Leave woven consequences
Reveal our fashion
#hangtenstories 591 (fashion)

 

No rose-tinted shade
For eyes too honest to close
Barbaric vision
#HaikuChallenge

 

A bolt of morning
Then cut cloth to dress the day
Evening adds the trim
#haikuchallenge (trim)

 

In there, he says. I know what he wants, but he can’t trick me into looking, learning to love. There’s no happy ending in silver and glass. I’m not Alice. But I relax my fists; I’ve learnt no matter how many mirrors I smash, the cracks remain on my face.
But I look, humouring him. And then shame burns between the scars, and I see
what he wants me to learn: him, standing by me.
Paragraph Planet

 

Through this saltwater
I can’t see clear
And sometimes that stings
But it also brings
Antiseptic blur
So I can’t discern
You’re no longer there

 

No more spoons today
The cutlery drawer is bare
Sip unsweetened tea

 

Sun warms the waiting
Caterpillar and spider
Silk cots and coffins

 

Stars on empty boughs
Resting ghosts of fallen leaves
Wind cannot whisper

 

Waves shush salty shores
Gently washing furrowed brows
Soothing where it broke

 

Follow the seabirds
At dusk for land, dawn for fish
Only men get lost

 

Hands upon a face
Then and now and then to know
Fingers on his skin