Author: Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris

  • The Train

    (A response to NaNoWriMo prompts: train, reflect, fog, night, incense.)

    Rumbling and rattling soothing sounds to a train engineer Annoying clatter to the car waiting there

    A little boy bounces his safety seat swaying counting how many cars the big red engine pulls through the night

    A woman sits quietly at the stop without signals Her red rimmed eyes and tear streaked face reflect her youthful agony

    Obscured by the incense of fog a possum struts across the tracks in blissful ignorance until the moment bright lights mark his imminent demise

    The Train

  • Squirrel

    (In response to Bartholomew Barker’s November Visual Poetry Prompt)
    By Ami (Gypsie) Offenbacher-Ferris

    We sat eye to eye
    Me, inside my warm, cozy cabin
    Sweet scent of hot apple cider
    dancing happily around me

    Him, resplendent in his home
    Snow framing his petite form
    Boughs of evergreen
    bouncing softly in the breeze

    A bite of my cinnamon stick
    He gnawed on his and stopped
    Taunting me
    Teasing me 

    A chattered challenge
    I took up the melee
    popping the entire sweet
    onto my exuberant tongue

    Not to be outdone
    he devoured his delight
    Those sharp teeth sawing
    with meticulous precision

    Shiny brown eyes glare at me
    through frost glazed windows
    Two cinnamon sticks had I
    poor mr squirrel he had none

    https://livingpoetry.net/2021/11/01/november-visual-poetry-prompt-5/comment-page-1/#comment-5834

  • Vellichor

    Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt # 233 “VELLICHOR”

    by Ami (Gypsie) Offenbacher-Ferris

    The heavy, window paned door slams shut behind me. The tinkling of the brass chimes hanging from the knob cheerfully serenade new-comers and sing of impending revenue to the shop owner.

    My nostrils luxuriate in the heady aroma of worn bindings, weathered pages and endless dreams.

    https://sammiscribbles.wordpresauthor/sammicoxwriter/

  • Bamboozled

    Response to Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS October 30, 2021 “Boo!”

    Bamboozled by a bamboozler

    bamboozles me into

    bamboozlement

    Bootless bamboozlers are the worst

    Barefooted boozers they are

    boorish jackbooters

    Boozers and bamboozlers

    together we find

    are the boondoggling kind

    Boondogglers can trick

    but they won’t trade

    Jackbooted boozers boor one and all

    Beware bamboozled boozers

    Watch out for boorish jackbooters.

    Charm you they will until fully bamboozled then

    off with your boots

    ………………………they will go

  • Compassion

    Compassion 

    Ami (Gypsie) Offenbacher-Ferris

    Her sanctuary invaded, she greets the new neighbor yet again, as he enters without a welcome. His man body betrays the child still living within it but, his voice and speech reminds her he is but a young, undisciplined boy who reeks of nescience concerning societal and cultural expectations. Compassion.

  • The Couch

    Tala and Koda

    The couch is your home and there you both sit or together you lay here in our small home

    Once dinner is done a big stretch and some yawns it’s back to your cushiony throne

    A noise from outside gets you up with a start off to the door you run hoping for romp and for fun

    It’s that nice delivery man with a nod and a smile he’s delivering the box full of food, toys and new chewy socks

    So it is true what I’m saying these two beasts that were playing are now curled up here at my feet the two loves of my life making my life pure delight

  • Dancing by Myself

    by Ami (Gypsie) Offenbacher-Ferris

    Shadows thick enough to hold the edges of my gown up and away from uneven cobblestones beneath my feet, twirl along with me as I dance by myself.

    Music drifts through the neglected garden, the high pitched notes muted by the strong arm of the fog; only the low notes, the bass and the drum beat could be heard out here.

    Around and around I twirl, the drum beat rising to a crescendo. Fog and shadows merge into one, holding my hand, cradling the small of my back and still I twirl.

    A sharp crack, a stone dislodges, my heel catches and down I go, dancing by myself ‘til the end.

  • Question

    Response to Sammi Cox’s writing prompt #232

    By Ami (Gypsie) Offenbacher-Ferris

    Question politics

    “Ask naught what can my government do for me but what can I do for my government?”

    Hypocrisy

    Question hypocrisy.

    “…let all men be free in mind and body,” as both are denied and strangled by the constraints of government and religion.

    Persecution

    Question religion.

    “In order to gain entrance into that heavenly paradise, you must tithe a Godly portion of your earnings to the Church for life,” or be persecuted.

    Authoritarianism

    Question authority.

    “We know what is right and good for the masses,” herded.

    Question the politicians.

    Question the educated prophets.

    Question authority.

    Lead!

  • Cancer of Man

    by Ami (Gypsie) Offenbacher-Ferris

    Cancer of Man

    by Ami (Gypsie) Offenbacher-Ferris

    Coral reefs destroyed A world at its end Humans disappearing disintegrating

    People locked inside their confined commonalities Unable to see to acknowledge culpability

    Even as good struggles to prevail Darkness threatens Life

    Overfishing, pollution, global warming ice flows melted rainforests raped degradation

    Ecosystems slaughtered for goods and profit Obscure warnings forgotten

    Nature prevails against the cancer of man genocide complete mass suicide

  • 13 Days of Samhain Volume II prompts for 2021 A Horror Halloween Writing Challenge

    The Thinning of the Veil Prompt Day 1 – Graveyard Shift by Ami (Gypsie) Offenbacher-Ferris

    Be they human or be they animal, she wondered. Then she thought, mayhap they were neither one, but the monsters in the dark, barely visible through the thinning veil her grandmama warned her about her whole life.

    “You stay away from that graveyard, you hear me?” She’d warned in the crackly voice of an old one. “When Samhain comes, the entire graveyard shifts. What should be down comes up and what’s supposed to be up, well, let’s just say it’s not nothing you ever want to experience!”

    The female’s companion raised his bow, poised to shoot a thick, deadly arrow through the chest of, whatever it was standing there unmoving beyond the mist. It was small, but standing very close, he would not miss. The veil was thinning. He could slip in and out of it now if he concentrated.

    She placed her hand on his arm, halting his movement, delaying the shot. Her companion sighed, lowering his long-bow to his side. If he could just spear one of those pale-haired, mutant monsters that eluded even the most experienced hunters; he would be a hero. He could have any female he wanted.

    “Come now,” she said, “tis only the first day of Samhain, we’ve got twelve more to go.”

    Reluctantly, he turned his big body away from the mist shrouded veil, following her home.

    On the other side of the veil, little Marta tugged at her mother’s hand. “Hurry mama, they’re back! The monsters! I just saw them in the mist!” Marta was insistent, pulling on her mother’s arm.

    Her mother patted her small head and smiled.

    “Ahh Samhain! When little children’s imagination’s run rampant and the monster’s come out to play…”