low gray clouds bellow,
weeping droplets that smell
of fish, dead leaves and clay
no sweet fragrance of spring
flowers, no sun kissed green,
only sticky, cold wetness
somewhere a lake grows shallow
~kat
(I took this photo from my desk at work…do you see that fishy cloud formation? It blew me away…so of course I had to get my phone out to snap a picture! I love clouds! 😊)
The elements of the Sevenling are:
1. a heptastich, a poem in 7 lines made up of 2 tercets followed by a single line.
2. metered at the discretion of the poet.
3. unrhymed.
4. composed with 3 complimentary images in the first tercet and 3 parallel images in the second tercet. The end line is a juxtaposed summary of the 2 parallels, a sort of “punchline”.
5. the poem should be titled “Sevenling: (first few words of poem).
About the challenge: Each Tuesday I will provide a photo prompt. Your mission, if you choose to accept the challenge, is to tell a story in 280 characters or less. When you write your tale, be sure to let me know in the comments with a link to your tale. This is important as I have noticed that some of the ping backs have not been working. If you would prefer to post your tale in the comments (some people have very specific blog themes but still want to participate), I am happy to post a link to your site when I post your tale in the Round Up.
A final note: if you need help tracking the number of characters in your story, there is a nifty online tool that will count for you at charactercountonline.com.
I will do a roundup each Tuesday, along with providing a new prompt. And if for some reason I missed your entry in the Roundup, as I have occasionally done, please let me know. I want to be sure to include your tale.
Diversification Strategy Essie had earned a respectable reputation as a specter. Then came reality TV. Spirits now had to compete with demons for attention. “Oh Basil, I hate this century!” “Don’t lose your head over it Essie. Demons bore easily. You’ll see.” “Brilliant idea!” “I didn’t mean…oh dear!” ~kat
276 Characters
By Sadje at Keeping It Alive: Only the raven saw her but no one else could. It did create quite the sensation in the village. But it was no fun being on her own all the time. That is until Casper fell in love with her. It was the end of isolation and loneliness. Character count: 233
By Lisa at Tao Talk: Be Gone Joe stood outside Witch Em’s hut with a bouquet of flowers each morn as Em let her cat out. He promised daily flowers until she agreed to marry him. On day 1, Em was irritated at the intrusion and told Joe to leave. On day 30, she flung her arm and said, “Be gone, bird brain!”
[280 characters]
By The Dark Netizen: By Her Side She has always been my friend.
I’ve always been there for her. I stuck by her through the good days and the bad ones. I stuck by her side when she lost her head over some guy. I was there even when he cut off her head.
Now, I am by her side as she delivers flowers to his grave….
Character Count: 280
By Neel at Neel Writes Blog: GREEN WITH ENVY
“Nothing to crow about, okey”.
Visibly stunned by the singeing utterance___the last ‘okey’ was a syllabic stretch that ripped through her ears___,Reema looked askance at Esther, her new roomie.
Pray! she wondered, ‘when would others stop getting jealous of her drop dead looks’?
(280 characters)
By Tessa at Tessa Can Do It: My Mannequin “Wait, there’s my mannequin, Ron. She’s wearing my favorite dress. Help me get her out of here.”
“Linda! She’s headless. We need to get out of here. Find the negatives or we’re leaving without them.”
“Ron, get the books. I’ll get the negatives and the dress and then we’ll go!”
276 characters
By Larry at East Elmhurst A Go Go: Hey Man, Whatever Works
It was mutual true love at first sight but Peter and Ellen were both too shy. To solve their dilemma, they agreed that for their assignations, he’d be a bird and she’d be invisible. That way there could be no risk of self consciousness. So far it’s been working out well.
(275 characters.)
By Reena at ReInventions: A New Face “How’ve you turned so dark?”
“I decided to get out of me, and stop obstructing myself. Whatever remains is just beauty and light, and a path strewn with flowers.”
“I can see a new face growing on you.”
By Fandango at This, That, and the Other: A Bit Too Far She loved sunflowers, birds, and wearing black cotton dresses. But she was allergic to sunflowers, birds, and black cotton dresses. They made her eyes water and her nose run.
You’ve heard the expression don’t cut off your nose to spite your face, right? She took it a bit too far.
(280 characters)
By Jannat at Trust Yourself:
An empty soul, vacant
Cognizant of the conflicted feelings rushing in a mind
Experiencing a state of contradiction, seeing longevity, wanting an end.
A hopeless soul it is!
(170 characters)
By Milly at Truly Milly: The Dulahan
the Dullahan has come for me
my death, I foresee
she rode her horse, crossed the farm
with her head under one arm
carrying sunflowers to place
on top of my coffin case
she called my name
for my soul to claim
my corpse lied on its back
and the raven, ready to snack
By Lorraine at Lorraine’s Frilly Freudian Slip:
Students learn best through games.
Today is guessing my literary leanings.
Ooohhh, mouths mimicking the sound.
Poe. “The Raven?”
Kipling. If?
Carroll. Alice?
Irving. “Legend of Sleepy Hollow?”
Mantel. Wolf’s Hall?
Naifeh and Smith. Van Gogh: the Life?
Lee. To Kill a Mockingbird? . . .
(275)
By Di at Pensitivity101:
For me?
You shouldn’t have. Sunflowers are my favourite.
What’s up? Cat got your tongue?
Oops, Guess it got more than that!
120 characters
By Kitty at Kitty’s Verses: Reunion A quarter of century since her beloved martyred at the enemy’s hands. It was her way of communicating to him through scented flowers.
Armed with sunflowers, that which never fails to look up at the Sun, and his pet crow, embodiment of sincerity, she laid herself to rest beside him. Character Count :- 280
By Kristian at Tales From the Mind of Kristian: A Murder of Crows “How’s the new Scarecrow working out, Jack?”
“Terrible. Trust me to build something that scares all the children to death, but the crows don’t seem to dislike at all!”
“Never mind. I’ll give you a hand burying the bodies if you like.”
“Thanks, Keith, I’d be lost without you.”
[273 Characters]
By Willow at WillowDot21:
‘Will you get off my shoulder and stop looking down my dress, it’s very rude. ‘
‘It’s no good you blowing your top Maizie.’
‘No point, l have lost my head.’
‘You were told not to weren’t you.’
‘Well yes but what’s a girl to do he’s such a handsome Devil.’
Satan smiled smuggly.
(273 Characters)
By Peter at Peter’s Pondering:
The Head of Catering promised it would be the best pie ever!
Forget four and twenty blackbirds. This was going to have a hundred Jackdaws.
The great pie day arrived. The public and press eagerly awaited the grand reveal.
The Jackdaws were there, but where was the Head of Catering?
(278 characters)
By John at The Magic Shop:
You may think you see me missing my head
Its actually still there despite your shocked dread
How would you know if I looked different than before?
You’ve ignored my presence as if an eyesore
Deal with this new guise as I chose to disappear
I’m done screaming for attention at your selfish, deaf ears
(298 characters)
By WildChild47 at BackPocket Poems: Grahame Wood
His biography read:
He had four profound loves in life.
Sunflowers.
Hannah Shirley.
Painting.
The Collected works of Edgar Allen Poe.
He painted his most unique masterpiece in 1910.
Title: Canadian Gothic.
Artist: Grahame Wood.
Simple Prairie Farmer.
Born: 1888
Died: 1922
Crushed by a tractor.
(46 words) 280 characters
By Enzo at Travel, Good Food, Arts and More: Losing my head “I do not know what is happening with my level of concentration, I do not seem to be able to keep tabs on the tasks I want to achieve. It is a constant struggle to focus my mind.”
“I’m concerned, I think you should be asking for advice. You risk to be losing your mind with this!” (279 characters)
By Ron at Read4Fun: Knock, Knock, Who’s There
“Edgar, come to the door, I’m on a schedule here! I’m a temp working for Rave N message service. I know you weren’t expecting a crow, but we’ve been busy. Ray said I should simply knock on your chamber door. Where is it? Could you give a bird a head’s up? I’m takin’ the flower.”
280 characters
By Deb at Twenty Four:
George sighed as he considered what stood before him, aware that at least one set of eyes was fixed upon him intensely and then he shrugged, no point in prolonging the agony.
“You really want my opinion? Ok then but don’t say i didn’t warn you. The colours match well enough.”
(277 characters)
By John at Broadsides:
I liked the sunflowers Vincent, I really did, always been a rather fanatical fan of yours, Even liked the bird you painted, was it a kingfisher? In sympathy with you cutting off your ear Vincent, well, I’ve had my head removed.
By JP at JP the Wide-Eyed Wanderer: Fading Away – a Twittering Tale
Can you see me? Am I ghost to your eyes? I gave so much but kept nothing for myself and now I’m lost like a grieving child, unloved, unspoken. My heart and soul tissue paper thin like tattered confetti fluttering in a breeze. Bit by bit, I feel myself fading away. Can you see me?
character count 280
By Hayley at The Story Files: No Head She was totally normal expect she had no head. No one knew why this was but she was able to live.
A raven, always on shoulder, spoke for her. He’s words poetic and full of riddles.
She sold flowers, the raven told fortunes. Together they were a spectacle to behold.
By Lanning at Lanning Lee…a nice 280 word story…too long for a tweet but still worth a look…Good Boy.
Excellent round of tales this week! Thanks to everyone who joined the challenge! Mind blown!!!! Heehee! 😉 For this week, I found this gem on Unsplash.com by Nathan Dumlao. I am hoping you have fun with this one! Remember 280 characters or less. And I’ll see you next week at the roundup!
Twittering Tales #141 – 18 June 2019
Photo by Nathan Dumlao at Unsplash.com
The Dare
“Oh my god Ned! When I dared you to stick your head between the railings, I didn’t think you were stupid enough to actually do it! This picture is soooo going on Instagram!”
“When you’re done humiliating me, a little help maybe? I’m really stuck. Joe…come on…JOE?!!!!
i’m tired
of the lies, of the hate
tired of unchecked lawlessness
once upon a time
truth mattered, people cared
criminals paid for their crimes
privilege reigns terror on the innocent
~kat
The elements of the Sevenling are:
1. a heptastich, a poem in 7 lines made up of 2 tercets followed by a single line.
2. metered at the discretion of the poet.
3. unrhymed.
4. composed with 3 complimentary images in the first tercet and 3 parallel images in the second tercet. The end line is a juxtaposed summary of the 2 parallels, a sort of “punchline”.
5. the poem should be titled “Sevenling: (first few words of poem).
I usually get to this weekly exercise bright and early, but this weekend has been a distraction. We decided to extract kittens from our crawl space. I was worried for them being out in the elements. Worried for the mama cat too, who we plan to humanely capture and get spayed so there will be no more kittens for her to deal with. Finally, we hoped to find homes for all this little refugee family. We prepared a small room we are not using to house them (so as not to mix them in with my resident brood of cats and dogs). Plans are set to take them for medical exams, worming, vaccinations and the like. Needless to say, none of this was planned, and dealing with a litter of kittens is certainly not how I would have chosen to spend this weekend. But that is where we found ourselves. Life throws us curveballs all the time.
When we got under the porch we realized we had quite a challenge. The previous owners of this house had dumped the former porch planks underneath the existing one and we discovered a series of tunnels, dug, we suspect, by a ground hog or some other sizable burrowing critter. Thanks to the help of our neighbors we were able to save three kittens from the dangerous maze under our house and get them safely inside. The mother cat of course darted straight away in all the commotion and one kitten eluded us. It is bittersweet. My heart breaks that we couldn’t save them all in one grand effort. We will continue to feed mama cat every morning and night. She wanders several houses down after filling her belly. We suspect she has the fourth kitty stowed away somewhere else. At least we hope so, and we hope also that she sees fit to bring it back with her at a future date. There is nothing we would like more than to reunite this little family, care for them and find them loving forever homes.
All this had me thinking about what is happening at our southern border…children being separated from their parents, kept in cages (though this is not the condition my visiting kittens find themselves in). It’s is an oddly similar situation, though there are some differences. We fully plan for this family to have wonderful lives, all of them…mama too. We hope that these little souls will find that we are good humans. It is sad to think that there needs to be a distinction made. Between good and bad humans, the latter having no compassion for life in all its beautiful forms. It breaks my heart to know that there are young children who have no hope for a normal future because those in power are unwilling to address the problem of immigration and how we deal with refugees. And it breaks my heart to know that there are people who think the families at the border deserve the cruel treatment they are enduring for having come here hoping for more.
I suppose we could have ignored the family of kittens who came to live under our porch. They certainly didn’t ask us if they could crash in our crawlspace. And we don’t really owe them anything. We could just let nature take its course. I’m sure there are some people who would tell me as much. They are not our responsibility after all. But this evening, as write this, I am taking a deep breath. We saved three…homes waiting for them when they are ready (health checked, and a wee bit older). I may not have the power to save every kitten, or every human who finds itself in need of rescuing. But I have this moment, this unexpected weekend, to do a tiny part in showing care and compassion. I don’t expect thanks or special recognition for this. Knowing that I made things better for three and hopefully five (mama and the stray kitten) will be enough. And having this opportunity to tap into the well of compassion is a blessing, unexpected as it may be. The most any of us can hope for is to leave this place a little better than we found it. I’m trying my best…I really am.
Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 16 June 2019
work life balance is having it all
if only she knew
just being was enough
don’t lose your head over it
burning the candle at both ends
a mourning dove coos from the cable line
commands a personal sense of right,
never to return, she waits by the phone
angry waves swirl and swell
~kat
A ReVerse poem is a summary poem with a single line lifted from each entry of a collection of work over a particular timeframe and re-penned in chronological order as a new poem. Unlike a collaborative poem, the ReVerse features the words of one writer, providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time. I use it as a review of the previous week.
sometimes it’s difficult
to do the right thing
to tell the truth, harder yet to hear it
but sleep comes easy,
to a clear conscience
honesty and a willingness to accept truth
what is a friend if not painfully honest
~kat
The elements of the Sevenling are:
1. a heptastich, a poem in 7 lines made up of 2 tercets followed by a single line.
2. metered at the discretion of the poet.
3. unrhymed.
4. composed with 3 complimentary images in the first tercet and 3 parallel images in the second tercet. The end line is a juxtaposed summary of the 2 parallels, a sort of “punchline”.
5. the poem should be titled “Sevenling: (first few words of poem).
So it is easier for you to find all the parts/chapters of my ongoing fiction series, I created a new page that lists all the links. You can check it out HERE!
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kat Myrman and Like Mercury Colliding with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
like mercury colliding... 