Monday February 24th, 2014

The exercise:

The list prompt is making a return visit, so use each of the following words in your poetry or prose today: strike, bare, slope, broken.

We've had quite a dumping of snow the last couple of days. That's enough for this year, I think. Let's get to the whole spring arriving thing, thanks.

Mine:

Sky touches earth with a lightning finger,
A sudden strike that does not linger;
Staying only to light a wooded slope
As wild creatures flee in search of hope.

The raging fire marches to the lake,
Leaving bare, blackened earth in its wake.
Here, where wonder was already meager,
A broken land made somehow bleaker.

2 comments:

Greg said...

Spring feels like it's in full force here, and I'm still waiting for it to be cold enough to get some frost on the ground. It definitely seems that Winter has snubbed us this year. I may be the only one sulking about it, but I'm sulking enough for a nation!
Your poem feels one verse too short today, I would have enjoyed a little more! The scene is well presented and the list words are nicely employed so that it's not at all apparent that they were a requirement. Excellent work!

Strike-breakers
The strike had been broken by the time the members of the Council of Nastiness arrived, and the Kalahari Kalamari (aka "ugh! yukky tentacles!") was posing for the tv cameras. In one collection of acid-green barbed tentacles was the disembodied head of the workers' union, and in another was the union charter.
"Well," said Sylvestra with heat in her voice. "This was a complete waste of time! I told you that letting Green drive would be a mistake. I'm surprised that old yukky tentacles is even still here."
"He's a whore," said Dr. Septopus absently, and then realised what he'd said. "I mean, he's a publicity-whore! A bare-faced, brazen-cheeked publicity whore with shoulders that slope so much no blame or responsibility ever seems to stick to him."
"I ate someone's finger," said Green. "I think I'm going to be sick."
"Where did you get a finger from?" Dr. Septopus looked around. Sylvestra stirred the ashy, bloody mess on the ground with a foot and looked appalled.
"This used to be people," she said. "I think Green's eating things he's found on the floor again."
"People?" Now Dr. Septopus looked appalled. "But I could have used people, I have experiments...!"
"See, I told you you shouldn't have let Green drive," said Sylvestra. Her phone beeped. "Oh, there's another strike needs breaking, over by Queen's Park."
"I'll drive!" said Dr. Septopus promptly. "Green, you go and hug the Kalahari Kalamari so that he doesn't spot us leaving!"

Marc said...

Greg - I'm sure you're doing a fine job of sulking for everybody :)

Yeah, I really wanted to do more with mine but it was getting late and it just wasn't happening. I'll try to get back to it at some point.

I can't even imagine being driven anywhere by Green...