Spotify Playlist

With accustomed nonchalance, 

she reaches out 

for those distinct pieces of metal 

that fit into her inner ear

like airpods,

like airpods that 

transport her to another world 

where the background dissolves

into predictable thumps 

at regular intervals.

She picks them up again

as she visits the man 

in the next ward

wondering what rhythmic beats 

her spotify playlist will doctor

this time

She stands there reading 

his chart

when her trained ears 

find an occasional 

murmur

an arrhythmia 

that actually makes 

her clutch on to 

the rest of her stethoscope

and unhook the earpieces

as she clasps 

his terrified hands

into hers

to assure him

that the music in his life

will play on

Word prompt: Doctor 

Why we March!

Triggered by greed

of power,

of money, 

we’ve allowed ourselves 

to believe 

that we stand here 

with no responsibility 

for humanity’s 

collective future. 

As long as we 

get our point across

it doesn’t matter 

even if it costs

another person’s child.

To drive home a point 

we keep trying to

hit the nail on the head

but how many 

people need to take a hit?

How many more heads

need to roll 

for our laws to change

for guns to 

outrage and be

outlawed,

but not 

outnumber

our children

our future.

Like ashes 

in our mouth

we talk about 

freedom of speech

and honor of the

first amendment.

But what about those

who had to 

bite down

on their screams?

Whose opinions 

were buried 

before they 

even had a chance

to discover 

themselves,

gone too early

they say,

just because we 

didn’t have 

the courage 

to stand up 

for our future.

We propagate 

the American Dream

but it’s time 

to wake up 

and rise up

above personal gain

because we 

need to answer 

each of our

great grandchildren 

feeling proud 

that we left behind 

a better world

than the one,

we found.

Untainted Stains

Photo Credit: 'Wrench' by Heather Evans Smith

She made seams on their sides, little fingers pulling apart the fingers that fused on the top.
With severed unity, they split in halves, bidding their goodbyes,
as they spilled all over a ceramic plate.
Cracking the shell, she tore through the thin white inner membranes.
Membranes designed like flattened out bubble wrap.
Bubble wrap that had already been squished out of their powers to protect.
Precious red gems popped open, in a haphazard disarray.
Each containing the promise of the entire fruit.
Filled with the liquid of life, bearing within the seed of joy.
She clasped one between her index and thumb,
pressing it's walls to test for ripeness.
They gave in. Ink stains leaving their mark.
Juices trailing on fingers, palms, and plate alike.
Collecting them loosely she filled an entire bowl,
and crunched spoonfuls of seven seeds with each bite,
whirling them on her tongue as she memorized her homework.
Plate clean and no smudges in sight, she got up to clear the table,
wondering how some seeds had left their mark on her chair cushion,
while she was still sitting on it.





*For 3WW

Holiday Games

The winds came home, from all the 8 directions, reuniting with their brothers for the holidays. In pomp and merriment, they whistled together creating a gale of dangerously low wind chills across the grid city. 

Then one of them suggested they pitch their favorite white tent in their backyard. So they blew fiercely over the strongest trees, to find potential stakes that could withstand their gusto and enthusiasm. 

And then went looking for that great grand cover. It had been carefully stowed away, that thick white blanket of pristine clean pillowy-ness. 

They picked it up from the corners to unfurl it gently, and sprawled in different directions to spread it out evenly across the floor. 

A million feathery-white flakes fell rapidly from the skies, enveloping all of New York in a warm embrace. 

And yet no one realized that in the midst of the cold, nature was trying so hard to be inclusive.

Mending Projections

With careful deliberation, 

she wiped off the decaying patches 

of a forgotten green poster,

erased those smudges of tainted grime 

that collect between the cracks,

and blurred its character into the foreground 

filing away at all the rough edges.

A grainy dissolution of time corroded on a wall

met the glossy acid of turpentine.

She threw blobs of bright brick-red paint, 

denying the wall any memories from the past.

And brought it home. 

For display.

Because even though she wanted to highlight 

an 'exposed brick' wall inside,

she wouldn't dare exhibit those patches of shame.

Yellow Umbrella

They sit there
rustling with poise,
moving gracefully at the flick of an autumn wind's whim.

I stand below it, under a star-less sky.

Yet when I look up, it starts to feel warm again.

Landing in the Sahara

Tumbling down the rabbit hole
she was prepared
this time.
Waiting to touch
the earth under another sky.
Her sheepskin boots
made a soft landing.
Sand had replaced black mud,
for she wasn't in Wonderland.

She looked out for those
perfect white pair of pointed ears,
hoping to start off on a new adventure.
She dangled a carrot
and called out his name.
But neither did he scamper
towards her, nor did he
send word with the mad hatter.

So she gathered herself,
and observed her surroundings.
Golden particles of dust
gathered around her feet,
as she saw the silhouette
of a lonely camel in the distance.

There were no cakes or potions
labeled 'eat me' or 'drink me'
Nor tiny little doors that could
open up to new gardens.
So without any warning
she whined and wailed.
Crying her eyes out
in the middle of the desert.

She waddled her way through
the wetness, mulch and mud
and continued moving forward
without realizing that
had she turned back even once,
Alice would find
an undiscovered oasis
made by a pool
of her new-formed tears.


*For Magpie Tales

She was Out of this World

They could be impregnated to bear children, but no one to seed them.
That is what the biggest dilemma that the beings of 'Sirius A' faced.

They had been observing the Earth for centuries, from each of their moons, in an attempt to perfect the mould that would encase the breeder of human perfection. They needed to emulate her in time, to salvage their asexual species from dwindling very quickly.

Then one of them had a Eureka moment when it said, "Morose Men of Earth!" and everyone clapped with their eyes.

The journey from 'Sirius A' to the Earth was no impulsive decision. It would taken them a good 8.6 light years one way. But by the time they'd reach home, get started on their new mould and embark on another Earth bound journey, the Earthling notions of beauty would change. From plump ample bodied fuller women, we had suddenly developed an admiration for reed-like girls. When they made huge structural changes to this new proto-type, we had evolved to being lured by the hour-glass body type.

However, this time they got it right.

She was an embodiment of perfection. Flawless porcelain skin that wrapped tautly around her tight muscles. Fuller breasts, a thin waist, and a perfect apple bum, she moved with the swagger of a mermaid who had just found new legs. The only think lacking was the soulfulness in those eyes. How would they replicate a soul when they had none? So they launched her on this mission with a pair of sunglasses, and programmed her to entice a nice sparsely-haired man for his seed.

She waited with baited breath as she spotted our shiny bald beau, and lured him with a pout he would never forget. She led him to a motel room, and sat against the window. Then unwound her borrowed hair and let out a sigh. Cause for a moment, behind that doily curtain, she unveiled a pair of squiggly alien eyes.


*For 3WW
** For Magpie Tales

Moth Love

Girl's Night Out was every Wednesday night. This week, they made reservations for 8 pm at this old bar downtown. It had been long since they had indulged in loud noises and nectarine mead.

She picked her favourite outfit in gossamer, and powdered her arms, blushing as she mulled over what she was going to share with the girls tonight.

The boys she had met were old, dull and asymmetrical. A heartless breed of tricksters who'd initiate entanglement through meaningless flattery. She'd wanted something that was long lasting and beautiful. A relationship that would not end in death, decay or caterpillar children.

They flit around each other sharing stories from the week, when suddenly they noticed her glowing from the inside.

She sniggered and unveiled the bright man she had met. Of how she singed to his touch and burned at the thought of his name. "I made love to a ball of light" she said rubbing her belly.

They were blinded as they witnessed the birth of a new breed of fireflies twinkling around the bar.

* For Magpie Tales

** For 3WW

September's Fern

I was looking for that title
amidst a heap of old books
when suddenly those golden letters
glistened in the dark.
Switching on the light,
I felt the hard bound spine
ripping at the center
opening up to the folds
of an overused page.
Therein lay the frail veined carcass
of this perfect autumnal leaf.
Holding the framework of a fuller past,
it was fragmented with slashes of symmetry
with perforations as frail as
a spider's web.
Outlining the remnants, I drifted
back to the Fall of 2006
when I had moved to the United States
to pursue the passions of a geek.
September unraveled to a newcomer
like a bag of skittles.
With a promise of change,
of happiness, of love.
A motley of rust, yellow,
green, brown and red.
A crispy nip in relationships,
that would make me sing songs
and dance around trees.
I lifted that fossilized leaf
and held it against the sky
to sieve out stars.
Appreciating the current summer
thanks to that year's Fall.




*For An Imaginary Garden with Real Toads
** For 3WW
*** Photo Credit