Can I bear the pain of pain?
Can I simply
stay
allow
bend
burn
heal
Numbness – yet another dancing partner
Stepping on my toes, whispering sweet nothings
Empty things
Things on black wings
Smelling of
Cold sweat
And turpentine
Devi, your alter ego is devouring me
The feast is lasting long into the night
The Dark Mother has me in her grip
I am seduced
…
(photo by Alice Popkorn)
“Pinch your cheeks, try not to smile too wide, and for God’s sake, don’t frown!”
“I don’t frown… do I?”
“And remember to arrive fashionably late, don’t just walk, sashay across the floor as if you own the place.”
“Um….”
“Now, this is important–try to look blasé. Nothing shouts, ‘Woman over 40 desperate to meet a man’ than a blatant scan of the room.”
“Ok….”
“Now… let’s see… breath mints?”
“Yes siree. Got Altoids right here… they’ll put out a forest fire.”
“Extra pair of underpants?”
Gulp….
“Well, then, go get them! And not the grandma ones!”
“I’m sure that won’t be necessary… ”
“Toothpaste and travel brush?”
“Yes!”
“Remember, this isn’t just another holiday, woman! It’s December, the single most depressing month of year for single men and women. This is YOUR month. YOUR time to shine. Let’s bring your sexy back, ok?”
“But what about, you know, the ‘reason for the season’ and all that? Jesus? Love? Sugar cookies sprinkled with hope?”
Blank look. “Right, right. That too. Now go out there and have some fun. Oh, and take this along…”
“A miniature bottle of brandy?!”
“What, you expect to drink plain eggnog? Hell, woman, live dangerously.”
“You know, Grandpa, this is a church Christmas party I’m going to, right?”
“Semper Paratus, my dear girl, Semper Paratus.” He winked. “Always be prepared.”
….
(This was fun to write and was another minimalist experimentation with dialogue. I love playing with brevity! Thanks to Sunday Scribbling for the prompt of “December”)
One Single Impression Prompt 76: ocean
“Notwithstanding the fact that the Buddha essence is non-polar, Buddhist iconographers use sexual polarity to symbolize the twin concepts of insight and compassion.”
——————————————————————————————————————-
His gaze the light of bliss.
His understanding empty
without her
clemency.
Money, I thought you were the one.
Always willing to take care of
me.
Relationship, I thought that was it!
Never alone… until I fell into loneliness
again.
I forgot something. I looked everywhere!
This afternoon as the sun warmed my back,
as the music turned me inside out,
Love snuck in, flew out,
stopped my mind.
Consuming me
…again.
From One Single Impression: Prompt 75: Windows
I saw her through my car window this morning…
It was the black high heels that caught my eye, the toes peeping through like painted eggshells.
Frayed blonde hair blew across her face as she stretched to adjust a sign that said,
“Open House. Ocean View!”
If it wasn’t for the white Mercedes just a few feet away, she could have been any crazy person on the corner.
At first, I thought she was a crazy person… who would willingly stand in the dirt on a street corner under the freeway?
And then as the sun shifted, I saw the smart suit jacket. The falling facelift, the too tight skirt.
Was it Channel No. 5 I smelled as I passed by…
Or desperation?
The poetry party theme from Abbey of the Arts is Summer’s Sweet Slowness.
I don’t need to be big to know love.
Even crawling, I still shine.
Being small lets me feel
texture
and
breath.
Residing in stillness…
there is no big or small.
Only aliveness.
April Belle 