Thursday, May 14, 2026

1888 - Coma

 


The Sunday Whirl presented these twelve words for us to use in a creative writing piece.  
wide line self hollow rare track twist eye trance trudge powder empty 
It has a faint connection to Poets & Storyteller's prompt “Mostly dead is slightly alive.”
Also posted to dVerse



Coma

“Do you think he can hear us?”
Fragments.  Self. Others.
Fragments of life—jumbled.
Scrambling, tumbling.
Like a trance.  But not.
Lost.  Found. Puzzled.
A birthday party.  Mine?
A bush track, somewhere.
I trudge behind.
Bells!  A wedding.  Whose?
A line of guests.  Not me.
A woman?  Mother?
I can smell soap.
“Wash your face, it’s filthy”.
Dancing!  The Twist! 
“Open wide!”
Ugh! Bex Powder!
A house!  Who’s?
Hollow, empty, dusty, dark.
A letter.  A rare treat. 
It vanishes.
A dog, is it mine?  Not sure.
Warm, brown eyes.
I hear voices.  Familiar.
Distant.
“No. Probably not”.

12 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this It's like following a trail of breadcrumbs leading towards stories

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  2. I've never experienced a coma, but this makes me believe you have. I have experienced coming out of anaesthetic a few times – and also being aware of a conversation conducted by medical staff while I was having cataract surgery, even though I was unable to move or respond or feel any pain or anything else. So, this sounds real to me. Also, I like the ironic beginning-and-end.

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  3. An intoxicating and mysterious unfolding of imagery and story-telling - Jae

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  4. All these fleeting images in a life, this is a tantalizing introduction to a movie!

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  5. I love this! Not only does it belong to the Friday Writings challenge, it definitely belongs on the dVerse Poets "list challenge." Please consider entering it. It's deserving of a large audience. https://dversepoets.com/

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  6. It appears a person in a coma may be half aware of the surroundings around him. Wondering if he feels the pain of surgery but cannot voice it out. Great take Cosmo!

    Hank

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  7. Oh wow, you've really taken the quote and created something very new and powerful from it. Really nice piece.

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  8. I love the scattered thoughts in this. They say people in comas can hear the voices around them. Powerful poem, J!

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  9. No coma for me, but I have been in a similar experience when having surgery once.... I did not experience anything of what was around me.

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  10. wow i could actually see a family coming and going visiting chatting amongst themselves in a whisper... as one and then another would come forward hold his hand and speak to him directly... the whole time he is answering back tho not a movement is seen... good one!!!

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  11. love poem, felt like I am inside a dream..

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  12. Very creative write for this prompt JCN 👏

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