Image by ChatGPT
The Sunday Whirl presented these twelve words for us to use in a creative writing piece
limits list still bill smoke ring distant wish silky spill fit key
Poets & Storytellers asked us to take inspiration from bookshelves.
The Club
The first thing that you see
Is all the books:
They cover many of the walls
Of the premises. Wall-paper.
Browsers—the traditional kind,
Search through them.
Others are absorbed in a book—
And a Chesterfield,
Sitting still, distant, wishing, dreaming.
A waitress appears and disappears
Into the mahogany shadows,
A silky smooth apparition,
Like a swirl of smoke,
To appear as needed
No need to ring, she knows.
Coffee, liqueurs, cold drinks
Latte, aperitif, amuse bouche.
No bills, accounts are mailed.
A board on the wall lists options
Little changes though—
The room drips history, consistency.
Change of any sort doesn’t fit.
There are limits here—
understood, not stated.
This is another world
Nothing spills into it. Or out.
That is the key to its charm.
And success.
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A very exclusive club indeed. Chesterfield....haven't heard that term used in a long time. Enjoyed me visit!:)
ReplyDeleteWhat is a Chesterfield? I know it as a town in England and a cigarette brand....
DeleteI have a sort of dream to own a small book shop, or perhaps you've helped me identify, a small book club. A few shelves, two or three armchairs and a small table to rest a bottle of malt whisky. I have the place and the books, maybe it will happen one day. Nice write JCN 👏
ReplyDeleteSo marvelously descriptive. The waitress as a swirl of smoke appearing and disappearing is an elegant image and thought.
ReplyDeleteCleverly done I loved "A silky smooth apparition, Like a swirl of smoke,"
ReplyDeleteI would dearly love to enter this room, be part of the gathering .. alas in 1885, this lady would not have been welcome. A great write!!!!
ReplyDeleteI can picture this so well!
ReplyDelete