I have this listed under the word of the day – Acquisition … I guess I can see where I was going with that.
Hate is an acquired taste bought off discount shelves when no else would bother letting it percolate. I have no qualms about the boiling rage rushing through my veins. All the what ifs, the whys, they mingle into a frenzy, a syrup of regret and blame. I won’t be the one drinking it this time.
Today’s random sentence was: A purple pig and a green donkey flew a kite in the middle of the night and ended up sunburnt.
Here’s what came of it:
A purple pig and a green donkey flew a kite in the middle of the night and ended up sunburnt. Pig’s skin darkened into a thick dark clay while Donkey’s browned, like grass under the autumn sun. Pig swore he was fine though he moved like molasses through the field.
“I’m just a little crunchy but it’ll peel.”
“Come on Pig, I’ll carry you.”
Donkey’s legs, wilting like leaves, crumbled under the weight.
I’ve been writing from a random word everyday for several weeks. Today I switched it up to a random sentence. The randomness did not disappoint.
Tomatoes make good weapons when water balloons aren’t available.
And this is where I went with it:
Tomatoes make good weapons when water balloons aren’t available. They’re just heavy enough to slow a thing down and appropriately messy. I don’t know for a fact that tomato guts to the eye will be as effective as holy water but it can’t be far off.
My nerves settle into my belly releasing a wave of nausea. Perhaps the heaved chunks of a morning breakfast will work too.
Just outside the metal cafeteria doors I can hear a raging river of small voices murmuring in sync.
What is it they’re saying?
It sounds like a low squalling but a distinctive rhythm makes me pause. The murmur starts low, rising then declining again. A distinctive hum begins to form, one that has echoed through the cafeteria many times before.
Are they chanting “hash browns”?
Today’s randomized word was storm (from randomwordgenerator.com)
In an alternate timeline, I(you) turn back every single time. I(you) refuse to leave, I(you) stand by instinct instead of running with fear. In every single timeline, but not here. Here I(we) reach into the murky future, a creek flooded by dreams and darkened by reality. I imagine, if I could see my reflection, she would be desperately searching, anything to help you(her) see. How can we be one if you(we) float away to the sea?
This past week has been a little crazy.
Monday through Wednesday were beautiful weather then Thursday we had an ice storm, which seems to be becoming the weather of choice for Feb. Because of that we lost power for almost 24 hours.
I had a blog idea in the midst of that but … there was just a lot of other stuff going on.
I think it may have been about resilience and fatigue and how much staying strong (or even just staying upright) during these last few years has had a toll.
I come from a traumatic background and know how hard it can be to exist in survival mode for any length of time. Even if we may not realize it, most of us have probably been in survival mode for a while. It looks different for everyone but we all definitely feel the fatigue, or maybe the languishing, of it.
My question of the day for you is do you feel this too? What are some ways you’ve cared yourself in the midst of all this?
(Photo from last years Feb ice storm)
One of my goals for this year is to put together another book. I’ve had a thought for a while that it would be cool to write a book with several micro fiction or vignette type pieces around a central theme or character or event.
Starting in Feb/end of Jan I’m going to try and write 1 piece a week, which after writing practically nothing last year will be a challenge.
I’ve read books like this and plan to revisit those too. What books have you read that were comprised of smaller stories centered around one event, character, etc?
I’m also excited to actually put together a book again. When I released my poetry book in 2020 it was very much an experiment for me. I picked the pieces, composed them in a way that felt good (but may not have actually flowed well), designed the cover … It was fun. I want to continue learning about that part of the process this year.
I hope you’re all doing well in this unending insanity we call life.
I’m not just tired
My bones are melting away
Reclaimed by the universe
Ground into stardust and debris
My skin shrinks away in fear
Small fissures collapsing in on one another
Growing caverns in the spaces I used to love
Life pooling among the rocks
A sweet elixir burning through my soul
I wanted to become
Without realizing what it meant
So no, I’m not just tired
I’m coming apart at every thread
Well, hi there.
It’s been a while, I understand if you don’t recognize me.
How to fully explain where I’ve been … (if you care I suppose).
I’ve posted 22 times this year. Slightly under last years 25. I guess there has been a pandemic right?
Lately, I’ve thought a lot about my lack of writing and my creative slump. I crave creativity, it makes me feel good and I want to chase that feeling … but I’m also working 3 (2 1/2 really) jobs.
I’ve also been on a kick for the last few years to really work on me. I felt like I’d been living from a place of survival, like I was still clawing my way back from some of the not-as-good places I’d been in my life.
Not only does it leave me feeling behind but when I finally get to a point where I no longer think I need to “just survive” I don’t know what to do with that. Pulling myself upwards no longer really worked because I was on a different type of path.
In short, it’s been a couple of reflective years and between that and everything else I had nothing creative coming to me. I thought I should have, there was definitely some content there, but maybe I was too close to it.
Anyway, one of my goals now is to create a new writing schedule and stick to it. Hopefully we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other.
Though memories of childhood
Often elude my grasp
I remember moments
And words muttered
Which were never kind
Or instilling those things needed
To exist beyond their grasp
It occurs to me
Every now and then
This is why I thought life
Beyond
Was worthy of nothing
Maybe death
But then what?
Said like a snake slithering
Escaping the stomping feet of the world
Then what?
A place in what lies beyond
Floating in darkness that swallows all
Then what?
Nothingness is crushing
Exhausting
To swim forever
Wishing you’d come upon a shore
But then
I chose to exist
Outside those words
Seemed the better alternative
RDP – Apparition
I fell asleep
In the arms of an apparition
A breath of cold air
Brushing my hair
It’s a perfectly unscary Halloween tale of what happens when the silence grows
Kelley Farrell 