Clichéd Fun

March 8, 2020.Reading time 1 minute.

The grass is always greener –magnificent clichescarry on –the writing on the wall,a little bird told mein the nick of time,don’t cry over spilled milk –Is it cliché to saymuddied waters –me over the edge? Thank you all for keeping me entertained with your creativity. My poem is compliments of your gifted responses. Here are […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #85: mission

February 24, 2020.Reading time 1 minute.

Winters in Ontario, Canada, can linger far beyond their past due date – not a scenario I look forward to – so this week I’ve made it my mission to seek out signs of spring. While the river is still frozen, I found this break in the ice on an offshoot stream. It’s a start. […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #84: sun

February 17, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

Despite Ric’s protest that the light is not good, I take the camera and drive to the river. It’s February, traditionally a sunless month. I need to get out. The sky is heavy and grey, clouds undefinable. Still, the sun makes his presence known, as if he too is tired of the somber mood. I […]

V.J.’s Challenge #83: Product placement

February 10, 2020.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Product Placement Unintentional My shampoo is soft,sensitive with rose petals –his is fortified,extra fresh – blind purchases,both conditioned. A tanka inspired in the shower. Too much I say! Products invadingmy creativity. Hope you have fun with this one. To participate, create a post, link back here or leave a link in the comments. Respond however […]

In a Whisper, All Changes

February 9, 2020.Reading time 3 minutes.

I didn’t dare to even whisper it. I shifted the computer screen to Ric’s line of vision, and left it there, open for him to comment. Or not. You see, we’d applied to adopt two dogs – Havanese crosses, ages two and ten months – and been turned down by the rescue agency, as I […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #82: whisper

February 3, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

I’m right behind you! The voice is whisper-scratchy, low and menacing. I can see you! I whisper back, giving my voice a threatening tone. The teacher strikes continue here and I am filling in for working parents. Granddaughter #1 and I are playing a game in which we think of normal sentences that are scary […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #81: regulars

January 27, 2020.Reading time 3 minutes.

The sound of oversized boots dragging across wooden floors announced that it was 2:40 p.m. Shuffles, as we called her, would arrive each day, walk to the back of the store where the cash desk was situated, touch three things, and then turn around and slump on to her next stop. She had a mop […]

Practice Makes Permanent

January 26, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

“This is a lot of stuff to remember, Grandma!” Seven-year-old Sloane and I are making a Zentangle. She’d tried to copy my work on her own with no success, so I’m teaching her step by step. “That’s why we keep practicing.” “Practice makes permanent!” “Do you mean perfect?” “No permanent. That’s what my teacher says.” […]

V.J.’s Weekly Challenge #80: habit

January 20, 2020.Reading time 3 minutes.

“Be careful of the habits you make,” my father used to lecture, cigarette in one hand, whiskey in the other. “They will either make of you a slave or a master.” Of course, I had no idea what he was talking about, and I hated that his sermons were always: “Do what I say, not […]

Subtract Expectations, Open to Possibility

January 19, 2020.Reading time 2 minutes.

The snow has been falling all day, filling in the roads behind the plow’s efforts. I am a bit of wreck as I write this. Tomorrow, I am planning a surprise party for Ric’s 70th birthday. The hall is booked, and I’ve delegated all the pieces, but the guest list is shrinking as people are […]

Wings

(Written during my bedbound years with ME/CFS)

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

May is Myalgic Encephalomyelitis awareness month. Also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, this disease is characterized by exhaustion after exertion. The exertion can be physical -taking a shower; emotional – worrying or obsessing; or mental- filling out forms. The best source of information about ME/cfs, as we call it, is the Bateman Horne Center. They […]

Sorry

Sorry –so much inadequacybundled into one wordas if five letterscan conveydepths of regret,shock, dismay seems I am the sparkto your lighter fluid –unintentional, I swear still reelingfrom the aftermathof the explosion attempting todeconstruct theformula –precautionary I am sorry –that you are enraged,that you are so obviously disappointedthat you are consumed with resentment –except, it is […]