1908 - The Place

 Image by ChatGPT

MLMM Monday Wordle #487 
presents the following words for us to work with:

cheers, choir, grand, ill, man, place, reserved, rest, stool, together, turn, twinkle.

Up front confession: I didn't use choir or twinkle.  
 

 

The Place

 Dedicated to the lovely Linco Li.

An accountant,

In France,

With a spreadsheet

And ergonomic stool,

Who wished him no ill,

But no longer needed him

In his grand scheme

Of rows and columns,

Decided it was his turn

And he was “let go”.

Être remercié—

To be thanked.

 

◊

 

New staff were shown

Every desk—

Except one.

“That one’s taken.

Take one of the rest”.

The man who had sat in that place

Was not there now.

But he could be.

 

◊

 

So, she reserved his desk.

She kept it clean.

And, should he return—

It was ready for him,

There would be cheers.

And cake.

And they could sit,

Quietly,

Side by side,

Working together 

Again.

 

 ◊

 

 

1907 - Fallow

 

Image by ChatGPT

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

home world denied bees pleas forgotten folklore wonder strum fallow sigh sky

Fallow

The sky was clear,

A gentle wind blew—

Strumming the trees,

Rustling the grasses.

Bees, ants, and butterflies

Went about their business.

Birds flitted from tree to tree.

Animals grazed at ease—

The occasional disagreement

Over mates or territory

But calmly and normally.

◊

Man, as was his wont, denied

that the world, his home,

Was at risk of collapse.

Pleas for him to be aware

Went unacknowledged

And were quickly forgotten.

Eventually, man faded away.

The planet gave no sigh of regret.

He became the folklore of the herds,

Of the flocks and of the schools—

The inheritors of the wonders

That he could not see.

◊

1906 - The Reason

 

MLMM Monday Wordle #486 presents the following words for us to work with:

change, known, fault, seen, money, silence, flowers, excited, irritated, hand, table, kept

The Reason

“You don’t buy flowers anymore.”
Silence.

“You don’t seem excited to see me anymore.”
Silence.

“You have changed, you're not the same anymore.”
Silence.

“You seem irritated, annoyed nowadays.”
Silence.

“Do you think it is all my fault?”
Silence.

“I’ve kept meals on the table…”
Silence.

“I’ve seen that we have enough money…”
Silence.

“It seems to be getting out of hand.”
Silence.

“I’ve never known you to be this quiet.”
Silence.

“It's nearly a year since you died.”
Silence.

◊

1905 - Unruffled

 

MLMM Monday Wordle #485 presents the following words for us to work with:

town, anxiety, box, half, wrong, sound, today, full, bench, running, message, again

Unruffled

Pigeons—

Ever hopeful,

Eyes on the box

On the bench

Beside him.

His half-eaten lunch.

Today,

As on most days,

He sits on the bench

And the pigeons wait,

Shuffling impatiently.

A little anxious,

Scattering as runners

Jog past nearby,

Reassembling again,

watching, waiting.

Beyond the bench

The sound of the town—

Horns, 

Beeps, 

Clatter—

Muted by the trees

But a message full of urgency.

Not his message.

Oblivious

To the thrum around him,

He breaks bread

With the pigeons.

◊

1904 - Lotus Position

 

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

voicemails high exhale wind begin unaware scared glows ghost storm story lotus

Lotus Position

Inhale. Exhale.

Begin.

Inhale. Exhale.

Focus.

Inhale. Exhale.

No story.

Just be.

Inhale. Exhale.

Unaware that the

Ghosts of urgency

leave voicemails.

Inhale. Exhale.

Focus.

The wind passes.

Storms too.

Inhale. Exhale.

Not scared.

Inhale. Exhale.

Just be

Highly aware.

Inhale. Exhale.

The present glows.

Inhale. Exhale.

That’s all.

Just be.

◊

1903 - No-one Calls That Number Now

 

 Image provided by ChatGPT

MLMM Monday Wordle #484 presents the following words for us to work with:

call, delete, diary, found, level, maiden, nobody, now, phone, reprimand, tired, vindictive

No-one Calls That Number Now

In remembrance of 

P.W.Petty,

Who talked to his wife every night.

She was not there

To reprimand him—

She would never even know.

Nobody would know.

No-one called that number now.

He looked at the phone—

Her contact page looked back.

Found by accident,

Looking for something else,

And now, there it was, in front of him.

He paused…but could not delete it.

◊

Later that day, tired and lonely,

He opened his diary,

Picked up his fountain pen,

Looked at the blank page

Open in front of him

And paused again—

Pen poised—

He hesitated to write the first words,

The maiden words,

On that clean, white page,

The words that would take him 

Back through the day’s events.

◊

It would not have been vindictive

Or somehow disrespectful—

Logic, level and clear,

Said to delete it, it was the past.

But he could not.

He put his pen to the paper

And began writing—

“My love…”

◊

1902 - Acts of God

 

Image nicked from the internet

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

shot foot dark bright prairie grass hot ash dead resurgence fight god 

Poetic licence: Australia doesn't have 'prairies' so I substituted 'paddocks'.

Acts of  God

It was a hot day.

One of those windy summer days.

The air shimmered—

Blurred by the heat.

People stayed indoors.

Animals hugged the shade.

The first ominous sign

Was a small pillar of smoke.

Then the wind took it,

Carried it, spread it

Across paddocks and grasslands

And into the oil-rich gums.

Flames shot over fifty feet 

Into the aching air, racing

Through the canopy.

Ash and burning leaves,

Carried by the wind,

Took the fury ahead of the flames.

Houses gone.

Animals dead.

Lives lost.

Nightfall brought darkness

But no relief.

Just the constant threat

Of resurgence.

The next day—bright and clear,

It rained.

◊

1901 - The Free Man

 Image provided by ChatGPT

MLMM Monday Wordle #483 presents the following words for us to work with:

Heat, concern, rush, dug, imagine, elderly, provide, work, box, digital, drop, halt

The Free Man

It rings—

Incessantly.

A digital shackle

Generating urgency.

Rush! 

Concern! 

Response!

Pavlov would be proud.  Woof!

◊

Outside, away from the noise,

An elderly gardener

Drops seeds into grooves

In the recently dug soil.

He works with purpose,

Unbothered by the heat,

Tolerant of the flies,

Imagining his future crop

And the pleasure

It will provide.

◊

When his work done he calls a halt,

Puts his things into their box

And goes inside again.

He pours himself a drink.

The phone rings—

“Dad!  Are you okay?

You haven’t answered the phone!”

“That’s right” he replies.

◊

1900 - The Tinkerer

 

Image by ChatGPT

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

judge tinker bounce loop heaven brutal end stream string track welcome drive

The Tinkerer

“It will come in handy, even if I never use it” 

– Ray Kennedy

So many boxes,

All with a label—

More aspirational 

Than functional.

He, of course, kept track

Of everything in them—

Nuts, bolts, loops of wire,

String, old clock parts,

Bits of kettles, washing machines,

Drives from phonographs,

Things that puzzled even him,

Some had come to a brutal end,

But were too useful to toss.

He never judged them.

Everything was welcome

And nothing was rejected.

Looking at the room

It was a grandfather’s heaven.

From it emerged

A stream of toys—

The new, the repaired,

The oddly familiar but not,

Things with noise and bounce,

Things to bring a glorious shine

To a young child’s eyes.

◊

1899 - Unplanned

 

Poets & Storytellers have the following prompt: We will invite you to find inspiration in the following quote, by C. S. Lewis, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” 

Most of the wondrous things in my life have been surprises, totally unplanned.

(Ironically C.S.Lewis wrote a book called “Surprised by Joy”, presumably undreamed of.)

So, I went a bit contrary to the prompt:

Unplanned

The joys of my life—

All my greatest treasures,

Were all surprises.

◊

1898 - The Tide

 

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

wave turning unholy lips swagger lost dead rise twist blade feast edges

The Tide

The tide is not for turning.

It swirls, twists, rises—

The unwary are swept along,

The waters crashing over them.

Below them, below the waves,

The swagger of the dead—

Amused, feasting on their plight.

They too fought and lost

But they offer no advice—

Their lips are sealed,

Their story is well recorded.

But that’s the problem, isn’t it?

Data is a double edged blade.

We are drowning in an unholy,

Unending sea of information.

No supporting driftwood to grasp—

Just a constant, increasing surge 

Of floating froth.

◊

1897 - Reflection

 

A Pardalote that keeps attacking its reflection in my study window.

MLMM Monday Wordle #482 presents the following words for us to work with:

Shoulder, hide, care, join, share, pride, pleasure, steps, betrayed, friend, kind, missed.

Reflection

Small, feisty, determined.

It attacks with intent—

To defend what is his.

A proud heart.

A stout heart.

Who is this intruder,

Hiding in his realm?

No friend of his, to be sure,

“Begone, yon vassal!

You will not be missed.”

◊

It is morning.

The man in the mirror

Stares back at me,

Examines me.

Shoulders bare, 

Face lathered,

A kind look, quizzical.

We share the ritual steps

Of water, soap and razor,

Join in facial contortions

To ensure coverage

For the twin blades.

But does he share

My pleasures, this image?

Does he judge me?

Does he care what I do?

Have I betrayed him?

He watches, mute.

I wipe down and leave.

◊