Must you leave?
Come here to rest
Lean in close, I’ll do my best
Do not wake or rise too soon
To leave me here all alone
When you do, your memory haunts
And those warm yearnings taunt
My body and my mind
When you leave me here behind.
***
Fandango’s Flashback Friday — February 23rd
Tomorrow marks the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. After months of stalemate, Russia saw a victory when it occupied the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops have made progress attacking Russian targets in Crimea, forcing Russia to move its Black Sea naval fleet.
🎧 NPR’s Joanna Kakissis reports on Up First that Ukraine’s progress has made the Black Sea much safer. Ukraine says its grain exports are back to pre-war levels. Kakissis spent time in Kharkiv, near the Russian border. The second-largest city in Ukraine has been building schools underground and holding classes in subway stations doubling as bomb shelters. A Ukrainian teacher tells her that students just want to play outsideand they ask her every day when the Russians will stop “bothering” them.
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4 line stanzas, as few as one stanza and up to as many as you like. 8 syllables or less per line. Rhyming is AAAb.
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Ice cream sweetness wanted, craved
Sugar cones or waffle engraved
Sugar indulgence misbehaved
Too bad I dropped it.
Clumsy fingers did not engage
Hot pavement received cooling swage
Cravings in unsatisfied stage
No pennies for another.
***
I had to smile at the oxymoron prompt 👍🏻
Ovi Poetry Challenge 36: NEGATIVITY is your inspiration.
Lights and a siren again, as the fire engine pulled into the complex parking lot. It always arrived first in any crisis. The ambulance followed and the first responders jumped out. They had stopped the screeching fire alarm upon entry as old residents in pajamas filed out onto the street. Such an ongoing occurrence means no panic set in. This time the fire alarm had been triggered by frozen water pipes—I don’t understand the correlation, but I’m no plumber. Since the opening of this complex people including staff come and go. Acquaintances are brief.
***
Writer’s Workshop Prompts for February 22, 2024
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Red and satin ribbons
Seem enticing at the start
Tying hearts together
Not to be torn apart
The cardboard starts to fold itself as feelings tweak
“I’ve been locked inside your heart-shaped box for weeks”
Beginnings can be beautiful
So sad when the dream ends
Acts become dutiful
And romance doesn’t bend.
***
Happy birthday, Kurt🎉
I’m black and shiny and roll along
Have extra padding if she sits too long
I can be cranky and stick my brakes
I don’t care how much strength it takes
I sound mean, admit I love to complain
But I’m her only way to maintain
Independence, so I should be nicer
Sometimes I smoothly glide to entice her
To use me, and get out of her other chair
Get out of the house for some fresh air
Once in a while we go shopping
It’s fun in the parking lot, not stopping
Then I’m loaded into the trunk
Causing a short feeling of funk
While waiting for another adventure
Life’s not bad, being a chair.
***
W3 Prompt #95: Wea’ve Written Weekly
Sleeping is not an easy task
Even with a lights out mask
Suddenly awoke with red all around
Took the opportunity to be bathroom bound
The doorbell jarred my brain loud and clear
It’s piercing for people who cannot hear
Then accompanied by a few knocks
I answered “who is it” donning my socks
Firemen ma’am they said, not distressed
I answered, hold on a sec I’m not dressed
I asked after moving in
If I could put the doorbell in the bin
Apparently it’s a housing law code thing
It’s not like the old ones that ding-alinged
With a melody or happy tune
It pierces your ears like a harpoon
But all is well nothing to fear
Fire and rescue is common here.
***
This was definitely weird: I was woken at one to red lights flooding the bedroom and then a knock on the door. I don’t wear full pajamas so I went to the door and asked who it was, “firemen” they said. Yikes! I said “I’m not dressed, hold on a sec.”Apparently they were from a rescue ambulance sent to an apartment where there was a note saying to get her key from me. I don’t even know the person in that apartment! They believed me but needless to say I got no sleep the rest of the night. By the way those two firefighters were so young and cute and smiley no wonder I couldn’t get back to sleep😂
One-Liner Wednesday – Weird
This week marks the start of the Snow Becomes Rain season. It’s a time of transition and awakening as the first signs of spring emerge. Embrace the seasonal changes and create poetry inspired by the kigo words.
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spring light in sunrise
sky brightness is a false warm
strong cold winds prevail
whipping cold tendrils descend
baby birds cling to straw nests
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24 Seasons Syllabic Poetry Challenge, No. 22, 2/20/24, Part I, Snow Becomes Rain (February 19 – March 4) Usui 雨水
her daughter Jill. Jill had been in labor for two days and last night was supposed to be “the day”! “These new age doctors make me uncomfortable. Jill has been in pain for a long time, exhausted and should have delivered already. I wonder if she needs a c-section? Will you call and talk to Joe? Maybe the doctor won’t ignore her husband like he does me.” After Joe’s little “talk” with the doctor, Jill was transferred to a different hospital with a more knowledgeable obstetrician.
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Fandango’s Story Starter #137
The Bag Lady 
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