1395 - Another Place

 

Image by ChatGPT

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

spiral craft signal draft shallow rule dense send shell sham slapping laugh

Another Place

“Silence is sometimes the best answer.” 

— Dalai Lama XIV

The smoke spirals slowly upwards

The air is dense with aromatics,

Drifting slowly in the breeze,

On the draft that flows gently,

Languidly, through the building,

Swirling ever so lazily.

◊

The outside boils.

A world of rules.

Must this.

Should that.

Buy. Buy. Buy.

Constant pressure.

Craft your life.

Chase your dreams.

Buy. Keep. Forget.

A shallow shell

Without meaning.

Or purpose.

Sham friends.

It has laughter,

But no joy.

It is all rush.

It slaps noisily

Against the temple

But cannot enter.

◊

Inside the stillness

The smoke spirals calmly,

Sending a message of both

Impermanence and continuity—

A signal that life can be embraced

Peacefully, serenely, in another place.

A temple bell rings.

◊

1394 - The Blessing

 

Image by ChatGPT

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

voices time story debris present travel lead doors roots prophecy last mirror

The Blessing

The voices of time grew louder.

We both heard them.

We still walked the garden paths,

held hands in the quiet,

but the last door was coming into view.

On a wheeled-walk,

one of her final weeks,

while she was still fully present,

she stopped, looked at me,

and with a steady, loving breath said:

"You must find another wife".

It was not a prophecy.

It was a blessing.

We stood together

at the doors life sets before us—

grief, solitude, freedom—

and she pointed me toward

the one marked Live.

Roots run deep in the story we shared;

growth belongs to the new leaves.

Now the mirror of the past

still shows its debris and treasures,

but it does not bind me.

I travel forward,

letting love lead,

knowing it can be given twice in one life—

once as a beginning,

once as a renewal.

A blessing.

◊

1393 - The Path

 

Image by ChatGPT

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

souvenirs free touch know cracks siren window waves sting show ring give

Poet & Storytellers had the following prompt: 

"What’s the most important step a person can take?"

My answer is 'forward'.

The Path

"The past is not a tether but a teacher. 

When the lesson is learned, step forward."

— Unknown, possibly inspired by Rumi.

They are everywhere.

Windows on a past life.

Souvenirs fill my space.

Not all mine.  Not all ours.

That’s the sting, of course,

I have become the curator

Of someone else’s loves.

But they do touch me—

I know why they were special,

Mostly.

Special to someone else.

Rings, of course, stay,

Their story is eternal.

But where to from here?

◊

The past.  The future.

The linkages crack,

The grip loosens—

The sirens of life, a living life,

Call me, pull me,

Set me free,

Leading me on—

To the future.

◊

Behind me,

The past waves,

Blows me a loving kiss,

And wishes me well.

I step forward.

◊

1392 - Patience

 

Patience

"thump...thump...thump..."

A dog, 2025.

A quiet retreat

Is sometimes necessary.

That's okay.  I'll wait.

◊