Prompt Ten

A lone harlequin rasbora swims under
the red tinted Indian ocean, its
metallic orange body shimmering
with the sun’s rays. It flits through
the warm waters, watching angelfish
and humphead wrasse and thinking
about the members of its family,
turning at the same time, rising
up as one, never doing anything
of their own volition. How dull to
shuffle left and right, bumping into
one another, the proximity so tight.
To see the same sights day after day
after day after day because that is
all there is when you move in the
same circles. He ventures to other
spots, learns from manta rays, tastes
delicacies from the cool regions
and dreams in rhyme.

 

HOUR 11 ( Poem about laughter”)

How do you know
You must love it to do it
It feels great when happen

It feels awesome
It shows love
and at times cannot be controlled

It loves people
Always bring a sense of comfort
making all feel light

It averts dangers
it has a seductive feel
and enjoyed by all

It has the ability
to takeover a gathering

copyright(c)2022 Roxann Lawrence

10th hr text prompt: an angry cow

Oh no no!

The angry cow

Doesn’t let us

To take anything

From it’s own heart.

Oh angry cow

It’s not right

We will not love

You are a disheartened one

You can’t get back

Our sweet love.

Not much left to Crow About

The crow hasn’t much to crow about
His spirit bleached to a dull white
All of Earth as he knew has changed
Not much left of his fight

His raucous songs were his pride
His friends and he ruled in a mob
He adapted well to city life
And went about his job

He often thinks of days gone by
When he was his blackest black
But even at his darkest
He was no match for man’s attack

His numbers slowly dwindled then
As man gained more foothold
He’s finding it hard to adjust
and craves for those days old

The air, the trees, and his old allies
Have changed and gone for good
Work now to reverse this if you care
Or you’ll lose another species in the neighbourhood.

Rice (9th hour prompt)

When I was younger,
Mom always had a pot of rice
ready in the rice cooker.
It was a staple at our house,
born from her Asian background.
Whenever I was hungry,
I could always count
on a hot bowl of rice,
put in a little fish sauce,
or soy sauce,
the savory salty flavor making
the perfect snack.
It was also the basis of many meals,
but there were no complaints –
it was a comfort to have the rice waiting,
always warm and ready –
just like home.

The Conqueror’s Chronicle (Hour 10)

He finally said let’s have a baby girl.
I was unsure but willing.
As my belly grew, I placed my hands there to feel your kicks.
Our unspoken bond.
I knew you were a girl before the ultrasound.
I prayed often for God the creator of All to cover you.
Your original due date would have made you a Virgo so I selfishly asked if you could be a Libra like me.
The day of your arrival was unlike any other.
It was October 1,2006 and the pain was excruciating. I knew it was time for you to make your grand entrance.
Later that evening, our birthing story became a nightmare.
I dare not share the details because I don’t remember holding you.
My eyes were drowned in tears.

Reunions

I don’t go to school reunions.

I prefer one on one encounters
to large gathering of classmates

mirroring the society of high school
which I could do without.

After the latest school shooting,
I have been thinking of classmates

I haven’t seen in over 50 years
and realizing how little

I knew about their lives
during the long years

of our shared desks
lined up in rows

front to back and
side to side

with some extraordinary
teachers that unknowingly

pointed the way for me
during that time of my coming of age.

This need to reach out to
strangers who appear familiar

and who I remember
few stories of that time

is perplexing and
will pass with time.

How do I piece together
how I got to where I am now?

I don’t go to school reunions

(Hour 10) 07.30-08.30am. VISUAL PROMPT: looking up at a couple touching foreheads from below

chins +

it’s a long time : since i’ve thought about : being 7 : if i ever did : when i was 7 : i think i just was : no thinking required : but today i gained insight : into how the boy : ( we really do : need to work out : a name for him : sooner ) must feel about : his spooky upside down : new world

while kneeling : to retie : one of his laces : again : despite my best : double knots : they’re repeatedly coming undone : Stella & Rueben had one of their : allegedly harmless : disagreements : on which is the better film : Frozen : or : Tangled : my opinion : neither sought : nor given : following my (again “allegedly”) unhelpful remarks : in earlier iterations : of this oft-repeated argument : despite : the answer : obviously being : The Lion King : (original version) : i saw what the boy sees : a forest of strangers’ chins : & up-inside-nostrils : & long-way-off-faces : looking alarmed : alert : & apprehensive : all at once

so while we are : essentially : all looking skywards : anxious of AI pods : & drones : & god knows what : other death-dealing : monstrosities : he’s doing that too : plus with chins : & pimples : & boofheads : & meaningless arguments : about Disney : blocking much of the view