Sunday July 21st, 2013

The exercise:

Write about something that: sticks.

It was a hot one here today, so things moved pretty slowly. My brain, apparently, is still moving slowly.

So I'll just get to that writing thing.

Mine:

A whisper that floated
Through the air,
Light as a feather,
Has chased him through the years,
Dogging his steps
No matter the weather.

There is no escaping
Words like those,
Even when spoken by liars.
When gossip's for sale
You'll always be
Surrounded by eager buyers.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's planning to be a hot one here today too; the Met Office is insisting that it's going to hit 33 this afternoon. I'm taking the long view; it's the only day this week that should be that high, and there's rain forecast for Tuesday or Wednesday, so I'll treat it as a little warm summer day and remember that other people have to put up with entire months at this temperature.
I love your poem, it's got that feel of needing to be performed again. I hope you practice these when you're weeding or otherwise tending to the plants!

Sticks
They called him 'Sticks' because he walked with two walking sticks. They saw him in the coffee-shop in the morning, sipping a double espresso while solving the crossword in his newspaper; when he was done he always left the newspaper behind for other people to read. And maybe see that the crossword was solved. They saw him in the library, reading books, or studying dense text on the computer screens.
Then one day, they saw him walking home through a darkened parking lot, and thought that maybe he had something worth stealing on him.
'Sticks' was his name for another reason though, as they learned as his walking sticks blurred into motion and beat them savagely about the shoulders and knees.
Strangely, it wasn't Sticks who limped away from that encounter.

Marc said...

Greg - 33? You poor thing. I hope the promised rain came through for you :)

I tend to not practice much creative work of any sort in the garden these days. Sadly, I've been too focused on getting things done out there.

I shall have to relax and allow my creative side to run loose again.

Ooh, I rather like this Sticks fellow. I hope he pays us another visit :)