Melting Hearts

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

They told me to steer clear of ice-maidens.

So it was that you were a touch frosty when we met.

Walk away they said when the roses get covered in snow.

But snow-covered flowers signal that a fresh start is on the way.

The sparse beauty of a winter wonderland has much to offer.

And in many aspects snowflakes are like us - imperfect.

They too grow unevenly, in a short span can be broken, melted and refrozen.

If that isn't being human I don't know what is.

Winter does not last forever.

Ice-maidens too have hearts that melt.

***

Written for Friday Fictioneers. Word Count : 99

To read the other writers this week click here

I'd love read what you think about this post...

Crown of Thorns

PHOTO PROMPT © Ronda Del Boccio

Locked in your embrace I begin to bleed

Bloodied rags lie scattered across the room

I hide these wounds from the world

My secret ornaments lest they look at me askance.

I smile at the strangers who stare

Shining a harsh light upon my veiled life

Conjuring up explanations for my appearance

Deflecting and assigning blame to myself

To others we shine in the light of the day

I fear sunsets as my quivering heart attests

So when tempests rage in hidden sight

I question myself when will the storm subside

And why do I wear this crown of thorns?

***

Written for the Friday Fictioneers.  Word count:100

This week's prompt did present some prickly problems so I decided to go the poetic route on a subject that is a scourge on the society.

To read the other writers this week click here.

I'd love to read what you think about this post...

The Third Eye

She talks of chakras and mandalas

Of invisible wheels of energy flowing

Sacred consciousness

Coursing through the body divine


I stand before her

Silently listening

Washed over by

A torrent of words


Gazing at her doe eyes

As she explains

The seven wheels of energy

That turn in perpetual motion inside


Right from Sahasrara

The thousand-petaled lotus

Radiating pure

awareness


Anahata

The heart chakra

The tiny flame burning within

Unhurt, unstruck, and unbeaten


Ajna

The perceptive third eye

Of intuition and intellect

I steal another look and wonder


If she really knows

That spirituality

Remains a cover

For my desires

***

Written for the Friday Fictioneers.  Word count:100

The thing about writing poetry is that it is a subjective form of creative expression.  It is also the type of writing that I never shared in the past but in the last year or so I find that I am unafraid to share it, so bring on the bouquets or the brickbats :-)

Edit: I added some links to explains some of the Sanskrit words used.  At a minimum the word chakra denotes a 'wheel' or a 'circle' and a 'cycle'.

To read the other writers this week click here.

I'd love to read what you think about this post...

Fake Roses

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Fake roses make me think

Of our life together

Where I expected to inhale

The fragrance of a life entwined

Of warm companionship and bliss

What I got instead

Was a bunch of plastic flowers

Colours gaudy

A gilt edge border

That was meant to entice

But it never did

Lacking not just the aroma

But a soul

Laugh you may

At that thought

Of a spirited flower

So close your eyes

And in your mind

Transport away

To a verdant vale

Where flowers bloom

Inhale their delicate scent

Their short lived life

Leaves behind a fragrance

That lives forever.

***

100 words.

Welcome to another week of Friday Fictioneer.   Missed last week due to extra work commitments and with this being a busier week, I thought I'd get one in before the week gets hectic.  It is a day of sad  memories for us, can't believe five years have passed since this  entry In Our Hearts Forever   

To read the other blooming writers this week, click here. 

I'd love to read what you think about this post...

The moon shines brighter tonight

PHOTO PROMPT © Gah Learner

The moon shines brighter tonight
I stand and gaze on its light
This our time on weekends
When we hit the town.

Those youthful days that I recall
In company of friends spinning yarns
Laced by nostalgia and a warm glow
That time brings to days gone by.

Our past years have been spent
In this very room where I now stand
Overlooking the hills in a distance
Our very own ‘room with a view’.

Not my first choice you would joke
How bare and bereft it seems now
Machines unplugged and humming no more
The moon shines brighter tonight.

***

The moon shines over another week of the Friday Fictioneers.

I am going for two submissions this week. The second one can be found here -> Lunatic

To read other stories by the Fictioneers this week click here

I'd love read what you think about this post...

Remembrance

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Cleaning out the house I found knick knacks

Like those crystal vases you delighted to buy

Bringing each one out from under the wraps

And waiting to see if I would blink an eye

I held each one up and thought of you

Of words, emotions, love never expressed

Not outwardly while feelings inside me did brew

Bringing memories long dormant and suppressed

Your happiness was like watching a flower bloom

That you had bought them from shops I always knew

Saying nothing as the joy you got filled the room

I feel it now even after bidding you adieu

***

And on this week's episode of the Friday Fictioneers it's back to some more poetry.  

To read other stories by the Fictioneers this week click here

I leave you with a song that I have been listening to a lot these days.

I'd love read what you think about this post...

Reflections on the A to Z Challenge

A thank you post says the mail
Put one up along with reflections
Must I really, I thinks, and wail
Do I now write some of my perceptions?

As a writer of flash this was a new direction
Stories and narration are my usual thing
I just hoped not to submit an imperfection
But that with the words some joy I'd bring

A challenge I thought to myself
From the letter A to the letter Z
Should I with poems fill my blog's shelf?
Can I do it or is the idea to too crazy?

It's true disappointments there are some
In lonely unread, uncommented posts
I had hoped that new readers would come
And not just a blog inhabited by ghosts

But all that disenchantment is temporary
Because I've had loads and loads of fun
To lovely kind people who visited and wrote
It's you who kept my hope afloat

So I am going to end with a few words
Thank you all and see you next year

***

I'd love read what you think about this post...

Zebra Brews a Pot of Tea

Designed by Freepik

Early morning I walked into the kitchen

And found a Zebra brewing a pot of tea

While checking out the news on the television

Would you like to have a cuppa too says he.

He offers it to me a cup inside a silver zarf

An ornamental metal cup holder if you didn’t know

What next, I wonder, breakfast cooked by a dwarf?

I act nonchalant hoping my confusion won’t show

I see brightly coloured ribbons flutter about his head

I notice now that he is wearing a zucchetto

A round skullcap that is coloured red

It doesn’t surprise me when he starts singing a libretto

You must be hungry too, here have a zeppole

The perfect time for a deep fried dough ball

I think as I dig in deep and have it whole

Surely I hallucinate I think leaning against the wall

In thoughtful contemplation I stroke my face

What’s this? A flowing drooping Zapata

A most magnificent moustache lies in place

This turn me into a persona non grata

Enough of this witchery I cry aloud

I will still live my life with zest

Then I hear the clap of a thundercloud

I find I am alone in the kitchen and at rest

***

On to  'Z' for 'Zebra Brews a Pot of Tea'.

Finally this is the end of the challenge as I reach the letter Z.  I have absolutely enjoyed doing this.  It is different from what I normally do, i.e. flash fiction, but was fun all the same.  Would have been nicer to have received some comment love and feedback, I would have done it just the same.

My A to Z entries can be navigated to from this page - A2Z, please do take some time out to read and comments on the poems.

I'd love read what you think about this post...

Yogic Art

Created by Freepik

I came across my flatmate and he was contorting

A jumbled mix of feet and arms all over the place

I whipped out my mobile and started recording

Following the modern reaction of the human race

It turns out that he was otherwise perfectly fine

Just a tiny misjudgement of the correct position

Though it did look like it was caused by wine

Nothing broken, everything was in good condition

He told it was all because of his wanderlust

He had spent the past year in an ashram

Mastering his body, learning to lunge and thrust

Controlling his breathing with Pranayam

Now he said I can do standing back bends

Stand perfectly still and do a one legged pose

I know enough asanas to teach my friends

I meditate to find respite from the world’s woes

When you found me sprawling on the ground

It was not any faulty technique on my part

It did look suspicious the way I was found

But I fell while posting to social media my yogic art

***

On to  'Y' for 'Yogic Art'.

My A to Z entries can be navigated to from this page - A2Z, please do take some time out to read and comments on the poems.

I'd love read what you think about this post...

Xenophobia

Just the other day I was walking down the street

A car driving past stops and the driver I see

Poking his face out and without missing a beat

Yells out go back to your own country to me

Thank you, I call out, but I am really here to stay

I know that you really prefer me to be unseen

And hurry back to that place where I grew as you say

I can assure you that to back I am not very keen

My parents came to this land years ago

Fleeing their past and determined to succeed

Tell me of their struggle what do you know

To fulfil our desires with hard work did they bleed

Their hands they never did spread out for alms

Work hard they said and your story will change

No job is too small of hard work have no qualms

I remain true this lesson and will never it exchange

Though continuing the conversation I say

Some aspect of what you say does appeal

I would really like to go back for a holiday

You seem to know the way homesick hearts feel

***

On to  'X' for 'Xenophobia'.

My A to Z entries can be navigated to from this page - A2Z, please do take some time out to read and comments on the poems.

I'd love read what you think about this post...

Wisdom

Book vector created by Freepik

I come seeking wisdom

A word from the wise

He says

Mouth opens wide

He grins

I wonder what advise

I can give?

If I knew then

What I know now

That the world can

Be cruel and unkind

It can chew you up and

Spit you out.

Would I have then

Done things differently?

Or would I have

Never changed a thing

Because in the midst

Of  anger and betrayal.

I have also felt

The kindness of strangers

Been enveloped by love

By family and friends

Helped by Samaritans

When I was down.

I now embrace

Sorrows and joy

All in equal measure

They have made me

What I am now

Older but much wiser

***

Getting wiser in this month ;-) so 'W' for 'Wisdom'.

My A to Z entries can be navigated to from this page - A2Z, please do take some time out to read and comments on the poems.

I'd love read what you think about this post...