Tag Archives: Challenge

November 8, 2017

Beautiful Death

By Kat Myrman

‘…stars, grown old

In dancing silver-sandalled on the sea,

Sing in their high and lonely melody.’ -W.B.Yeats

cool nor-eastern zephyr whispers
evening vespers
autumn drifting
seasons shifting

leaves of yellow, orange and red
settle in beds
windswept and tossed
wilted by frost

learning the art of letting go
the ebb and flow
arrested breath
beautiful death

~kat

A Minute Poem (8,4,4,4; 8,4,4,4; 8,4,4,4 syllables. The rhyme scheme is as follows: aabb, ccdd, eeff) for Jane Dougherty’s A Month With Yeats – Day Seven. Today’s verse,shown above, are from ‘To the Rose Upon the Rood of Time’ by W.B. Yeats.

14 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Minute Poem, nature, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings

November 7, 2017

Dear Mr. Rogers

By Kat Myrman

For Sunday Writing Prompt #227 “Letters to Characters”: The challenge: write a letter to a character from a book or movie as if they were a real person. The character can be one that you love, hate, or love to hate. Offer them advice, question their life decisions, criticize or berate them, profess your love to them the choice is yours!

mr rogers

Fred McFeeley Rogers – March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003

Dear Mr. Rogers,

I’m sorry to interrupt your eternal bliss. I’m sure you are resting peacefully in your own beautiful corner of heaven enjoying the rewards of your stellar time on earth. Don’t get me wrong, you deserve it, but we need you!

Our neighborhoods are not beautiful right now. People are afraid to come out, locking their doors and shuttering their windows. They’re talking about building walls and they’re burning down bridges. I’ve witnessed that with my own eyes. And people are mean Mr. Rogers. So mean. It’s really scary.

Now, I know what you are probably thinking,”Look for the helpers.” I can even hear you saying it in your soft comforting voice. The thing is…the thing is…I have to tell you Mr. Rogers it’s getting harder and harder to find them. The helpers. But what’s even worse, horrible in fact, is that the monsters are now stalking us in the very places where the helpers hang out. Fun places, sacred spaces, the halls of our government! They are everywhere.

I’m not sure how it works, but I’m sure if anyone can figure it out, you can. I’m afraid if you come back the old fashioned way, as a baby, there might not be anything left by the time you are old enough to help. If it’s possible, maybe you can split yourself into several parts and possess a few of us. You won’t have to do anything except whisper in our ears and stir our souls. We’ll do the work.

And you can use me if you want. I don’t mind. But I don’t think I can do it alone. I have a few friends. I think they’d be willing to help too. Especially if I told them it is you.

Think about it Mr. Rogers. We need you more than ever. Some people say you were just a character on a kid’s show. But I have always believed you were the real deal. I would never impose upon your eternity if it were not really important. It is really important.

Sincerely,

Kat

15 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Essays, Flash Fiction, Random Thoughts and Musings, Social Issues, Spirituality

November 7, 2017

Twittering Tale #57– The Roundup

By Kat Myrman

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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 based on that prompt in 140 characters or less. Be sure to let me know in the comments with a link to your tale.

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.

Finally, have fun! I know it can be a challenge squashing an entire tale into 140 characters (spaces and punctuation included), but it feels so good when you are able to make it work…just ask some of these awesome writers below. They’re expert Tweeters!

Twittering Tale #56– The Roundup

Well, I offered you three cool photos and I can’t believe how many of you took the challenge and wrote a tale for ALL THREE! It was soooo awesome to see your creativity blossom with this week’s challenge. I’m going to post the thumbnails for each of your tales so everyone who stops by can experience your tale with the inspiration that helped you write it! Bravo Everyone!

Starting us out:

women-1749376_1280

By Smokefish at Pixabay.com

“Are you a witch?”
She never let on that her toothless grin and scary appearance was not a costume. On this one night, she could be herself.
(139 Characters)

From Leena at Soul Connection:
Prfct Halowen Decrtn Fr Hme n Gardn
Mom We R Hme
(Lgts Ot)
Who’s Thr Staring
Haha Mom Dnt Try 2Scare Us
(Phne Rngs)
Hello
Kids M Out.Wl B Lil Late.
(140 Characters)

From Di at Pensitivity101:
I’m going for captions!

pexels-photo-164158

By PaulBR75 at Pixabay.com

Do you come here often?

women-1749376_1280

By Smokefish at Pixabay.com

It was the dog, honest.

halloween-2809485_1280

By Noupload at Pixabay.com

OK children, gather round and I’ll tell you a bedtime story.

106 caption characters

From Reena at ReInventions:

The prince arrived in search of his love. The carriage had turned into a pumpkin, and the witch was back to her original self. Now what?
(136 characters)

From Willow at Willowdot21:
Red or Dead

women-1749376_1280

By Smokefish at Pixabay.com

Her eyes compelled him, he surrendered his soul. When he died his soul was trapped within her red shawl. Look closely you can see his face.
(139 characters)

Beware The pumpkin man

halloween-2809485_1280

By Noupload at Pixabay.com

Jake wanted them to take a closer look. Joe had heard bad things about this place.
Jake wasn’t listening he left Joe, never to be seen again.
(140 characters)

Pumpkin Dreams

pexels-photo-164158

By PaulBR75 at Pixabay.com

On top of the pile
Carve out your smile.
Have a candle burn your gut.
Be sliced scored and cut.
To make the children scream
Every pumpkin’s dream
(140 characters)

 

From Jan at Strange Goings in the Shed:

women-1749376_1280

By Smokefish at Pixabay.com

“Je Suis Mort” she says. “I am dead”
Crimson shroud veils all but intense gaze and whispered words
Do we flee?
Face our fate?
Destiny calls
(135 characters)

From Radhika at Radhika’s Reflection:
Lady in Red

women-1749376_1280

By Smokefish at Pixabay.com

After watching the horror movie at night, I went to the bedroom and froze with fear. Lying there with an evil smile, was the lady in red!
Letter count 138

From Kathryn at Another Foodie Blogger:

pexels-photo-164158

By PaulBR75 at Pixabay.com

“I took a pic at the pumpkin patch of these two adorable kids dressed as vampires, check this out!”
“Um, I only see hay bales and pumpkins?”

From Peter at Peter’s Ponderings:

Pumpkin Mom looked out over her brood, fondly remembering the romps in the hay bales!
Granny, wrapping her stole around, smiled knowingly.
(137 characters)

This week’s prompt, a great photo by PIRO4D at Pixabay. What does this one say to you? Is this the tale of a cyclist, a craftsman or a curiosity hunter? Maybe it’s about an inheritance. Or it could be about getting lost on a bike trail…you tell me! I’m sure you know! Have fun and see you next week!

Twittering Tale #57 – 7 November 2017

saddle-2613958_1280

Photo: “Saddle” by PIRO4D at Pixabay.com

“How was the bike ride?’
“Painful.”
“Didn’t you wear those padded biker shorts?”
“Yeah. Next time I’m gonna strap a pillow to my ass!”

131 Characters

~kat

35 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Flash Fiction, Random Thoughts and Musings, Twitter Tales

November 6, 2017

Into Oblivion

By Kat Myrman

‘Suddenly I saw the cold and rook-delighting heaven’.
from “The Cold Heaven”, by W.B. Yeats

never enough, no never
enough, I sense her
monstrous pie-face
leering, spy her bony
hands convulsing, tormented
by her minding-numbing
cackling, tock-tick-tick-tock-
tick…even her minions, those
maniacal demons, strobe
bloody, red in the dark
murky gloam, would that
the sun and moon were
enough, but no, I am in
race with this fiend, a
relentless taskmaster who
tolls every hour, with nary
a second to smell
a wild flower, another
day slips into oblivion

~kat

A daylight savings time fallback protest poem for Jane Dougherty’s A month with Yeats: Day Six Challenge. I woke up a hour too early and drove home from my 9 to 5 in the dark. I do not like this time change…no, I do not! 😨

7 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Digital Art & Photos, free verse, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings

November 5, 2017

Good Witch or…

By Kat Myrman

painting: The Martyr of Solway by John Millias, 1871.

“And like a sunset were her lips,
A stormy sunset on doomed ships;
A citron colour gloomed in her hair,”

From The Wanderings of Oisin: Book One by W. B. Yeats.

she lights up a room / she’s a sorceress
stunning, a vision / a hag, she’s a witch
who’ll take your breath away / a contentious crone,
intelligent, ebullient / never married, alone,
with eyes, deep pools of mystery / entertaining demons in her bed
fierce, strong, confident, fiery / crimson curls crown her head
the handiwork of deities / her strange affliction is plain to see
she listens to her intuition / practicing her alchemy
wise for her years, an inspiration / she sees things others cannot see
she is beautiful inside and out / poison runs through her veins

~kat

A Cleave Poem for Jane Dougherty’s Challenge: A month with Yeats: Day Five. Today’s verse is shown above.

I thought about how we think of women. How the very things we admire today in strong, independent women, might have gotten them hung or burned at the stake in previous times. Not that I’m overly optimistic. We still objectify beauty and youth. Methinks we have a little further to evolve before we get it right. Peace. 😊

A Cleave Poem is three poems in one. Read the left column, top to bottom, then the right column, top to bottom. And finally read each line across.

14 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Cleave Poem, Poetry