1870 - Vox planetae

 

Image: scavenged from the internet and modified with PhotoShop.

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

jaw debris stitch slather voices beasts tides salty vault edges silver tilt

I didn't use all of them in the end.

Poets and Storytellers had the prompt to work with the Terry Pratchett quote: 

“There was a light at the end of the tunnel, and it was a flamethrower.”  

I drew inspiration from it without a direct reference.

Vox planetae

[Homo sapiens, triumphant] 

We are supreme, we rule this earthly place!

We run the shop; there is no escape,

We tame the beasts and control the space.

[Planet, quietly] 

Don’t bet on that, you arrogant hairless ape.

[Homo sapiens]

We sit proud atop the world's food chain

We mine the land and sieve the salty seas!

Nothing can stop our onward racing train!

[Planet, quietly] 

They think they can just do as they please,

Give me time, and the scales will tilt my way.

My time frame is longer than theirs—

All their neglect will create bills to pay.

[Homo sapiens, defiant]

We are the apex animal, we have no cares.

We consume at will, with mountains of debris—

We fill our vaults with precious cash

And happily parade about for all to see.

[Planet, quietly] 

Their house of cards will fall and burn to ash

And their tears will be both copious and salty.

[Homo sapiens]

Those who doubt our reign are off the mark

Their thinking ranks both crude and faulty

[Planet, quietly] 

They think planet governance is a walk in the park

Yes, tides will flow — yet rise and rise still higher.

They have been forewarned what the futures hold

But are blindly jumping into the fire.

Of what use then is their silver and gold?

[Homo sapiens]

Our onward progression has no edges!

[Planet, quietly]

You will one day learn that this is not so.

[Homo sapiens]

There is no proof—science just alleges

That they know the final way we’ll go.

[Planet, quietly]

I have endured far worse than you before;

Your reign is brief against my tidal span.

You tilt the scales — but I reset the score.

Time is my ally. Time unmakes your plan.

[Homo sapiens]

(laughter and dancing)

[Planet]

...

1869 - Two Loves

 

Image: Grace and me.  Apologies to Banksie.

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

split cringe breathe pieces wings cracks beneath hesitates stretch ship spin chaos

Poets and Storytellers had the prompt "A love story" - I merged the two prompts.

I also put it in dVerse's Open Link

Two Loves 

Margaret Kennedy: 05/02/1952 – 11/02/2024

Laurel Kennedy: 05/07/1933 – 11/02/2024

One day, two deaths.

A chaos, half expected.

I hesitate to draw meaning—

I could spin it many ways:

My world cracking, splitting…

But also a release,

In a dark sense, a freedom.

I have moved from being harbour master

To being an unmoored ship.

I resist the urge to cringe away,

To withdraw from a hostile world,

A world that shook beneath me,

A world that stretched 

Beyond my vision on that day.

A world that lay in pieces.

Like a new born chick,

I stood on the pieces,

Breathed deeply

And tested my wings.

◊

1868 - A Shared Shelter

 

Image: ChatGPT with a little human intervention.

What's Going On invites us to write on the topic "Shelter".

A Shared Shelter

If you really want to escape the things that harass you, 

what you're needing is not to be in a different place 

but to be a different person".  Seneca (c. 4 BC – AD 65)

Refrain

You can run but never hide

For the demons live inside.

You must endeavour to restrict them

Consciously constrict them,

Best of all, evict them

For they love to hitch a ride.

I

You know the story—

The darkened path at night,

Did you hear footsteps? Not sure…

Your pace and pulse increase,

Home is in sight, you hurry,

You fumble but manage the door,

Inside!  You lock the door.  Safe!

Behind you, in the room, in the dark,

You hear someone clear their throat.

Refrain

You can run but never hide

For the demons live inside.

You must endeavour to restrict them

Consciously constrict them,

Best of all, evict them

For they love to hitch a ride.

II

A new partner, the last one never explored you

A new house, the old one simply bored you

A new job, the company openly ignored you

But the new now fills the spaces just now gone.

Has it occurred to you

That the song has a common chord, too?

New words, yes, but the malady lingers on.

Refrain

You can run but never hide

For the demons live inside.

You must endeavour to restrict them

Consciously constrict them,

Best of all, evict them

For they love to hitch a ride.

◊

1867 - The Renewal

 

 Image: ChatGPT but with a little human intervention

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

below renew weaves through cloaks holy untethered tendrils gods spark ash wonder

Poets and Storytellers had the prompt words "flesh" and "spirit" - I merged the two prompts.

The Renewal

Whether you believe

In the gods above

(And in worse below),

Or in the spark of fate

Or in holy interventions,

The tendrils of life

Are largely untethered

And extremely tenacious—

Nothing can cloak or diminish

The wonder of it.

◊

And, without doubt,

There is wonder—

Wonder at how 

Life weaves its cloth;

How flesh becomes spirit,

Passes through ash

Returning once more as flesh.

Continuum.

◊