Friday, April 11, 2025

1361 - Shadows

 

Image by ChatGPT

The Sunday Whirl presents twelve words for us to use in a creative writing piece.  

This week's words are:

magic, shadows, key, stretch, sage, snaps, bruise, edges, writing, blue, world, desert




Shadows


Blue-grey—

Everything is blue grey.

Dusty. Stale. Lost its edges.

He stands; looking, hoping—

But knowing too.

The world has changed.

Bruised. Scared. Empty.


Stencilled on a wall beside him

A little girl releases a balloon.

Where is she now, he wonders.


The city is deserted.

The people are gone.

No magic trick here—

Survival is key.

Caves.  Islands.  Away.

Blue-grey.  It stretches

Horizon to horizon.

Covers the world.  A shroud.

The sky too is grey.  No blue there.

Something snaps—

Knowing it pointless

He calls her name—

There is no answer.



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9 comments:

  1. The imagery is so vivid and evocative, I felt like I was right there with him, feeling his desperation and loss. You've woven the words together beautifully, creating a haunting and powerful piece.

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  2. Wow. This is so poignant. And sad.

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  3. The “little girl releasing a balloon” stencilled on the wall —it’s Banksy-esque, and yet entirely personal. A fragile memory, preserved in a world that no longer holds the one it represents. The echo of innocence in a broken place. It’s grief with memory attached.
    Your poem is a heart, stripped of illusion, still calling her name even when the sky forgets how to echo. I saw the blue-grey not as colour, but as absence. Of her. Of laughter. Of light.

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    1. It changed. I started out writing about a post-apocalyptic world and it morphed into more a metaphor for loss.

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    2. Same thing really.

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  4. Very atmospheric. And very musical too. You convey the sadness and bleakness beautifully.

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  5. A dystopic vision of a perilous future? Vivid images, poignant words.

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  6. A beautiful expression of grief sadness and loneliness. Hugs !

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  7. This is excellent, J. Your description of grays and blues is perfect for this sad poem, which I can relate to.

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