I took this photo of a hibiscus held captive outside a local paint store. I let my hibiscus go free!!!
For Cee’s FOTD
Held Captive
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A-roving
Image by Fusion Medical on Unsplash, used with permission.
A-roving
Just because we can doesn’t always mean we should.
Nature says to stay in place. It wants us to be good.
In searching for experience, we’ve spread ourselves too thin
and left a little bit of us in everyplace we’ve been.
As good as some parts might have been, others cut a path
that proves to be a cruel one, tragic in its wrath.
Smallpox infected blankets, Ebola, Plague and SARS
are gifts we brought along with us in ships and planes and cars.
So now we hunker down alone to choose “I” over “we.”
It’s hard to fight an enemy that we cannot see.
As it reaches out to hold us in each tiny arm,
this minuscule lovely one has such potential harm.
We’ve seen its regal portrait, heard its misleading name,
but the victory crown it offers proves to be a lethal game.
So if you yearn to go roving to relieve the daily grind,
Please, friend, for the present, just go traveling in your mind.
Five Little Words
Today’s post is dedicated to all of you who labor every day to post your prompts and to read our responses. You and your predecessors have been my motivation for seven years now, every day, and I have probably rarely thanked you, so for Ragtag Daily Prompt, Fandango, Your Daily Word, Word of the day and The Daily Spur, this one is for you. And Ragtag, your prompt today wasn’t meant to be taken personally, right?
Prompt words today are windbag, (Hope this one isn’t personal,) begrudge, futile, inspire and ease.
Five Little Words
Lest you think I’m a windbag and lest you begrudge
my words meant for chuckles, to inspire or nudge
for social reform and for giving the boot
to public servants who pillage and loot
our public coffers and fill up their pockets
with money or spend it on guns, walls and rockets.
Better the money be spent on our own
in stead of a POTUS who sits on his throne
dreaming of golf games and bragging of pussies,
berating mask-wearers as alarmists and wussies.
OK see how I’m off on a whim or a breeze,
raving again with remarkable ease?
I can’t seem to stop, even though I’m retired.
I simply can’t shut off the words when inspired.
So long as the world is so stupid and brutal,
efforts to stifle my words would be futile.
Just five daily words will inspire the rest.
I write all the others at their behest.
On My Way Home
It isn’t very far from my studio in the garden to my bedroom door—just about 6 feet of sidewalk, then a twelve foot steep ramp that used to be just the wall beside the stairs down to the basement kiosk that I had added a hand railing to and maybe 8 feet across the patio, but laden with a lamp I’d just repaired, my computer, phone, two tubes of glue, an empty cup and my hank of keys, it was a bit of a balancing act. It was nearly 1 a.m. and pitch black outside and I had the studio to lock up and then the house to unlock. But when I saw the loaded hibiscus bush in full bloom at night, probably due to the motion-detector light that the dogs had been setting off all night-, I knew I had to take a photo. So, everything in my arms went down on the sidewalk while I searched for my phone, with no success! So, about face, open the door and the search for the phone began. I finally had a flash of memory of putting the phone on the grinder when I had used the bathroom earlier. On my way out of the studio for the second time, however, I noticed Diego tracking something along the ground and noticed a beautiful small beetle. Then, two more on the screen. So, if I hadn’t decided to photograph the hibiscus and if I hadn’t left my phone in the studio, I never would have noticed these two varieties of beetle that I’ve never seen before. Finding the treasures in adversity. One of the great learnings of life. Here is what I saw on my short way home from the studio tonight:
(Click on photos to enlarge.
Pool Surprise!!! As Told by Morrie
When Jesus and Eduardo brought Berta and Rosario (Jesus’s wife and daughter, Eduardo’s mother and sister) over for a pool party on their day off from making Judy’s house beautiful, although they are some of Judy’s favorite people, she kept her distance and kept her mask on, but I (Morrie) surprised them by joining right in the fun. Click on the photos in order to enlarge them and read the story of our mutual surprises, as told by me, Morrie!!
Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them and see the full captions.
It was quite a surprise when you all showed up in my pool today!
All work and no play made Eduardo and Jesus dull boys,
but you two seemed to be having a lot of fun.
I added a new dimension to the game
and you were good playmates to the end.
Vined Fortune. FOTD, June 28, 2020
This vine has been growing on the outside of my wall for nineteen years and I still don’t know what it is. On a whim, I snapped this photo not noticing what a wonderful background the color of the car parked across the street made for the little surreal still life the flowering vine formed. It’s the first good shot I’ve had of this flower in all those years.
ForCee’s FOTD.
Bougainvillea: FOTD June 27, 2020
Rescinded Offer
Rescinded Offer
Her succinct requirements rush outward like a river.
What she expects from marriage. What she expects he’ll give her.
She tries to soften her demands with voice both soft and sweet—
habits he must abolish. Standards he should meet.
They stand before cerulean bay the color of her eyes.
Waves breaking gently on the shore first soothe, then hypnotize.
Then a clap of thunder disturbs the scenic spell.
He hears the content of her words and knows her very well.
There won’t be any marriage. She never will be his.
He’s decided to just find a girl who’ll take him as he is!
Word prompts for the day are cerulean bay, abolish, river, succinct and breaking.
Which Way? To the Volcano!!!
Mrs. Blumenschein Matriculates at Sixty
Mrs. Blumenschein Matriculates at Sixty
Enough with the babies. It’s time now for you.
Cease with the usual. Do something new.
For once be the player instead of the coach.
Let this school year start out with a brand new approach.
Before you’re a grandma, face your heart’s desire.
Matriculate college as others retire.
Sixty’s not too late to make use of your mind.
Create the life for which you have pined.
As your youngest departs to expand his knowledge,
pack up your own bags. It’s your own turn for college.
When I entered college in 1965, one of my fellow freshmen was Mrs. Blumenschein, age 60, mother of nine, who, when her youngest packed up for college, packed up and enrolled herself. She had long red tangled hair, the nicotine-stained fingers and cracked voice of a chain-smoker and a sharp mind. Graduating in four years with an A average, she became a graduate assistant in the English Department as she went on to get her masters. One form of discrimination rarely mentioned in this age of protest against racial, sexual and gender discrimination is ageism. Mrs. Blumeschein conquered that prejudice long before it ever became an issue elsewhere. So, here’s my tribute to Mrs. Blumenschein.
Prompts for the day are enough, baby, usual, matriculate and coach. Image thanks to Alonso Villa Ulloa on Unsplash, used with permission
