Category: Author

While upon the sea
with the stars above
and the hills lost
over the horizon

A beastly sound
arouse from the deep
such as a warrior’s blade
scraping across a rusted ship’s bell

Timid were we
captain, crew and all
our gaze fastened
on the bottomless blue depths

Within my mind
horrid creatures appeared
such as had never been seen
sure was I we’d all soon be eaten

The sound came again
so loud it set our boat a-jar
two more came then
another mimic of the same

Bubbles they splashed
waves swirled around
when a huge whale
lifted his head beside us

Gasped we all did
when he said to soothe us all
“Pardon me boys
I had too many beans with my catch!”

Sunday Confessionals: Dictionary January 26, 2025
Posted by Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie

Intelligence – Having or pertaining to an IQ less than
40.

Question – A word used to produce an inane

countering or rambling response unrelated

to the original query.

Honor – Irrelevance

Empathy – Weak individuals lacking a backbone.

Compassion – An archaic notion used only by Liberals
and Democrats.

Religion – The practice of worshipping misogyny,
bigotry, racism, discrimination and greed.

Loyalty – Love of one’s self exclusively.
(i.e.) Formerly described as narcissism.

Reverence – Any mirror or picture of above titled
person when gazing at it personally.

Hate – Power

Fear – Control

Truth – 1) Something never to be divulged
2) Something incomprehensible
3) Something to be avoided at all cost

Lie – A form of speech adopted by politicians

First snow has fallen it’s one a.m.
everyone is sleeping curled up in their beds
It comes down hard like a long summer’s rain
freezing me into my own private world

A world where palm fronds wave in the wind
never fearing the cold of a winter’s deep freeze
Where warm water laps upon golden pink shores
and seagulls battle for fishing rights below

The air is tinged with the scent of plumeria blooms
and even the storms sent by Lady Ocean herself
leave just enough rain to replenish the splendor
of mountain rainforests and botanical wonders

In winter when the wind steals my breath
and the thermometer promises instant death
My mind retreats to a fantasy world of warm Tradewinds and someone I can call my own

This old splinter sits in the shadows
reminiscing with the ghosts
of her fading memories

Honey colored eyes gaze into a mirror
with a golden edge and cracked by time
where it leans against a large granite stone

Reflected within the shards of hazy glass
is a bright red rose bud
held between the sharp beak of a crow

Reaching for the wavering image her hand
gnarled and claw like the bird slips away
steaming into oblivion

In response to The Unicorn Challenge 01/02/25

The rules are compose a story, maximum of 250 words, inspired by the above photo prompt.

He resides there, up there in the castle on the knoll. His father before him ruled there, as did the father before that. He can be seen, not often but at times, like now, leaving the domain where he rules, to walk among the people, his people.

Everyone bids for his attention. Everyone clambers for a piece of his time, an hour here or a minute there. It can not be said that he flits from one to the other, as to each he goes with direct intention, if only for the briefest of time.

While his eyes traverse the crowd, relentlessly searching, seeking something he has not yet attained; when speaking, the listener believes he or she to be the center of his universe. For a time, until he is gone and then the void left behind by his leaving is soul wrenching deep.

He and his entourage walk back to the castle on the knoll, their mood jovial, the air of camaraderie within them a physical entity. None of them look back, he does not look back, all that went before forgotten in leu of the next big adventure.

Those he touched, those he smiled upon; watch the leaving wistfully, before returning to the darkness of their own homes.

In this life we wear many faces. We carry many burdens. We celebrate many joys. We make mistakes from which we learn. We have triumphs that give us wings. We have biological families, extended families, accidental families and chosen families. We argue, we agree. We fight over inconsequential matters and we fight for that which does matter.

Through it all, the misunderstandings, the joyous understandings. The untruths and the beautiful truths, family is family. This bond, whether formed from one’s birthing or forged from one’s living; is good, is real, is true.

To be true, to be real, to peel back the layers of painful disguises to open our eyes, takes courage, takes strength, takes love and takes faith. Faith in ones true self and faith in the trueness of others.
Faith that through the pain, the answers will emerge.

Faith that each struggle will strengthen us. Faith that each heartache will fill us with compassion. Faith that each loss will remind us to live life to the fullest in the truest way we know how. Faith that when one moves from this life to the next, all transgressions are understood and forgiven. That all slights are forgotten.

That all triumphs are celebrated and all failures embraced. That in this moment of startling loss we remember that we are human, not infallible but definitely indomitable in our quest for knowledge, for understanding, for love and finally for peace.

A future lay in ashes
it’s reckoning scribbled
within the constellations

Three by three circles
a life once filled with promise
falling into fiery flames

Curses rise unheard
in the narrow mindedness of man
where only emptiness blows

Who is that woman in the mirror,
looking back at me?
Someone from the future,
not someone I’d hoped to be.

Where has all the time gone,
somehow it slipped away.
My hair so very thin now,
just look at all that gray.

A back no longer straight,
but bent and racked with pain.
No longer can I skate or ride,
or even walk again.

Each day I face the sunrise
with hope this pain will ease.
Every night I go to sleep
thinking my prayers are just a tease.

Not sure when all this happened,
of my family there is none.
Looked up from life’s requirements
and found I’m all alone.

Sitting in the dark
wondering what part
I’ve played within my own life

A part that I have played
several times but never stayed
was that of the adoring loving wife

I stuck it out until
it became a bitter pill
life was only filled with angst and strife

Seems no matter what I do
don’t know if it’s me or if it’s you
I’m left here sitting and contemplating life