A Rancorous Opponent
Though he excelled in decibels, his logic was found lacking
and in the end came off as a futile sort of quacking.
So when their tiff was over, all his ravings and his rantage
didn’t seem to grant him a discernible advantage.
The Daily Addictions prompt today is “advantage.”
Troglodyte
She remained safely part of the herd.
Anything “different” she labeled absurd.
Stellar works of writing or music or art
raised her concern as they stirred up her heart.
Since she did not approve of rattling the senses,
she kept herself safely concealed behind fences.
Bright jarring colors too much of a risk,
she surrounded herself with calm shades of bisque.
When the masses went clubbing, she simply stayed home
sipping tea on her terrace with her garden gnome.
No witty rejoinders with which to contend.
No strangers to challenge beliefs or offend.
All of her life deliberately planned
to ward off adventure and preserve the bland,
as the world interacted and frolicked and rapped,
she petted her cat and frequently napped.
* A Troglodyte is a person characterized by reclusive habits or outmoded or reactionary attitudes
The prompt words for today are herd, fence stellar and concern. Here are the links:
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/10/11/rdp-thursday-herd/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/10/11/fowc-with-fandango-fence/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/10/11/stellar/
https://dailyaddictions542855004.wordpress.com/2018/10/06/daily-addictions-2018-week-40/concern
Trouble Crossing
Fjords, ravines and crevasses are hard enough to cross,
but when it comes to intersections, I am at a loss.
I excel at parallel parking and my merging is just fine,
but when negotiating stop lights, I simply do not shine.
Perhaps it is the colors that I find distracting.
There’s something about yellow that I find too exacting.
Red is most definitive. I know I shouldn’t go.
And green is also clearly meant as a sign to go.
But yellow’s indecisive. Should I go or should I stay?
Should I linger or should I be upon my way?
This solitary factor is what makes me balk.
As a means of transportation, it is true I’d rather walk!!!!
The prompt words are color, parking, fjord and solitary. Here are the links:
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/10/10/rdp-wednesday-color/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/10/10/fowc-with-fandango-parking/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/10/10/fjord/
https://dailyaddictions542855004.wordpress.com/2018/10/06/daily-addictions-2018-week-40/solitary
jdbphoto, painting by Jesus Lopez Vega
The Prophet
All the solitary seas that he chose to sail
only took him farther, out beyond the pale.
All truths he discovered, he shared to no avail.
When he tried to hit the mark, why did he always fail?
Call him an outsider. Throw him into jail.
Form the boards into a cross. Hammer in each nail.
Set him adrift to flounder with no scoop or pail.
Let him use his own hands if he needs to bail.
Put him on the pillory. Bring out whip and flail.
Bind him up and gag him lest he tells his tale.
Instead of seeing different truths, it’s best you wear a veil.
No telling if you listened, your own truths might just pale.
Fresh new winds are often perceived as a gale.
Manna sent from heaven to others is just hail.
When you confront that other—messiah or white whale,
get your harpoons ready. You must insure they fail.
Truth-tellers speak so softly that when the bigots rail
it may be that you only hear their shout and wail,
but if you set out to find them over that next dale,
the whole world falls silent when you find their trail.
In the night wind’s keening or rattle of the quail
or in the ridges of the road, written there in Braille,
you may find the answer the outcast tried to tell.
Grasp those truths you find yourself and live by them as well.
The Daily Addiction prompt today is solitary. Here is the link:
https://dailyaddictions542855004.wordpress.com/2018/10/06/daily-addictions-2018-week-40/solitary
Mother
Her frame is gigantic. Her hands are immense.
The moment the day dawns, her labors commence.
No manifesto determines her actions.
She doesn’t subscribe to man’s rules or factions.
Silent and rugged or noisy and splendid,
everything everywhere in her is blended.
She cleans up our messes and creates our splendors:
our challenges, races, environments, genders.
We think we’re in charge, but this brands us naive.
For each thing we mess up, there’s a trick up her sleeve.
As we seek to improve her, we tell ourselves lies.
She bats us away—as annoying as flies.
Our air churns in fury, our polar caps moan.
She tries to instruct us to leave them alone.
Like recalcitrant children, we refuse to mind—
as we play at our game of destroying mankind.
The prompt words today are rugged, silent, manifesto and immense. Here are the links:
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/10/09/rdp-tuesday-rugged/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/10/09/fowc-with-fandango-silent/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/10/09/manifesto/
https://dailyaddictions542855004.wordpress.com/immense
Meters and Rhyme
I really cannot fathom a routine that involves running.
The meters that I deal with are in rhyming and in punning.
My decision to work out in feet that do not meet the track
stems from going with my talents, not pursuing what I lack.
For me, excessive exercise is simply not the norm.
I don’t have the deportment nor the interest nor the form.
To blog and not to jog is a decision that’s well-founded.
Apparent by my figure, which is plump and amply rounded.
Putting one foot before the other can be done with fingers, too,
for when I’m forced to run, I find I’m likely to turn blue!
When it comes to exercises that we’re called to face,
every finish line need not be got to by a race.
The prompt words today are plump, routine, fathom and apparent. Here are the links:
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/10/08/rdp-monday-plump/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/10/08/fowc-with-fandango-routine/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/10/08/fathom/
https://dailyaddictions542855004.wordpress.com/2018/10/06/daily-addictions-2018-week-40/apparent
Lovesick
Memories of her
stretch out like a voluptuous lover
over the couch of his mind.
He takes refuge in them in his loneliness,
gathering a sequelae
of the aftereffects of her loss
around him
like a scratchy woolen blanket
drawn by habit,
offering little comfort.
The prompts today are sequelae, stretch, voluptuous and refuge. Here are the links:
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/10/07/rdp-sundaysequelae/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/10/07/fowc-with-fandango-stretch/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/10/07/voluptuous/
https://dailyaddictions542855004.wordpress.com/2018/10/06/daily-addictions-2018-week-40/refuge
A Sedative Soliloquy
He was a jovial companion, but his constant burbling ways
inevitably put folks in a protective daze.
So although I’m sure his ego assured him they were rapt,
in fact it was illusion. All too frequently, they napped.
Prompt words today (actually, yesterday’s as I’m running late) are burble, illusion, jovial and inevitable. Here are the links:
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/10/06/rdp-saturday-burble/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/10/06/fowc-with-fandango-illusion/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/10/06/jovial/
https://dailyaddictions542855004.wordpress.com/inevitable
Futile Advice
Truck trials are enigmatic. I just can’t see their appeal.
Big boys ruining their toys? I want to say, “Get real!”
If one of your life pleasures is to buy things and deplete them,
just buy some triple-decker cones and take them out and eat them!
It’s bound to be much cheaper and it makes a lot less noise,
but I know that you won’t listen. After all, boys will be boys.
The prompt words today are truck, trial, enigmatic and deplete. Here are the links:
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/10/05/rdp-friday-truck/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/10/05/fowc-with-fandango-trial/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/10/05/enigmatic/
https://dailyaddictions542855004.wordpress.com/2018/06/06/welcome-to-daily-addictions/deplete
If Only
When I am in traffic and I’m cut off by some jerk
who makes me miss that long light that makes me late for work,
I imagine cutting him off at some future light;
and when he catches up to me, spoiling for a fight,
mouthing a nasty tirade that puts me in my place,
I’ll have a scintillating comeback to spew into his face.
The prompt words today are comeback, traffic, scintillating, tirade. Here are the links to their prompt sites:
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/10/03/wednesday-rdp-comeback/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/10/03/fowc-with-fandango-traffic/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/10/03/scintillating/
https://dailyaddictions542855004.wordpress.com/tirade
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 