{"id":136095,"date":"2023-09-02T19:34:43","date_gmt":"2023-09-02T23:34:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/?p=136095"},"modified":"2023-09-02T19:34:43","modified_gmt":"2023-09-02T23:34:43","slug":"prompt-eleven-the-handkerchief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/2023\/09\/prompt-eleven-the-handkerchief\/","title":{"rendered":"Prompt Eleven &#8211; The Handkerchief"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Prompt eleven \u2013 Text Prompt<\/strong><br \/>\n\u201cExtraordinary in Ordinary\u201d- pick an ordinary object and make it extraordinary. You can do it by giving it some special attributes or a different background and story.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>The Handkerchief<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Almost redundant these days<\/p>\n<p>This humble square of cotton<\/p>\n<p>Had many uses and ways<\/p>\n<p>To give its user superpowers.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I remember my mother lay one out daily.<\/p>\n<p>Along with his watch and wallet,<\/p>\n<p>Washed, ironed, folded neatly<\/p>\n<p>It nestled in her husband\u2019s pocket all day.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Unlike its more modern cousin, the tissue<\/p>\n<p>It was never disposed of.<\/p>\n<p>Retired and repurposed as cheese cloths<\/p>\n<p>Then a third life as dusters for dressing tables.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It was brought out multiple times.<\/p>\n<p>To wipe our tears, to banish our fears<\/p>\n<p>To mop up blood from skinned knees<\/p>\n<p>To wave at school matches while the crowd cheers.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>My sister\u2019s dollies wore hanky sarees<\/p>\n<p>And were tucked in at night under hanky sheets<\/p>\n<p>Our fevers were frightened away by<\/p>\n<p>Hankies soaked in ice and Old Spice<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In temples he covered his own head with it,<\/p>\n<p>Wiped wet foreheads in the searing heat<\/p>\n<p>Shoes were polished with this trusted square<\/p>\n<p>Belts, caps, and his Vespa seat.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The park bench got dusted before Ma sat down<\/p>\n<p>Her lipstick and kajal stains on it<\/p>\n<p>They went to posh parties and<\/p>\n<p>Smuggled sandwiches back in them as treats<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Bring back this old hero I say,<\/p>\n<p>Let the modern man be King for a day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prompt eleven \u2013 Text Prompt \u201cExtraordinary in Ordinary\u201d- pick an ordinary object and make it extraordinary. You can do it by giving it some special attributes or a different background and story. &nbsp; The Handkerchief &nbsp; Almost redundant these days This humble square of cotton&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1430,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2114,1136,441,5],"tags":[5772,5765,680,3019,355,392],"class_list":["post-136095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marathon-poem","category-official-marathon-announcement","category-official-marathon-prompts","category-poetry-prompt-responses","category-poetry-prompts","tag-2023fullmarathon","tag-2023poetrymarathon","tag-poetrymarathon","tag-24-hour-poetry-marathon","tag-poetry-marathon","tag-writing-prompts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1430"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136095"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136118,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136095\/revisions\/136118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}