Tag Archives: RDP

Bad Sport

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This photo of my hometown team was taken a few years after I graduated. It was taken in the school auditorium.  I’d recognize that floor anywhere.  I’d come in close contact with it the one year I played girls’ basketball and another time when the school principal threatened to make me scrub it with a toothbrush when I walked across it with street shoes after a school pep rally. The auditorium was named for this longtime teacher and coach, Harold Thune, but the auditorium floor was named for  Jerald Applebee, who was coach from the time I was a Freshman in high school in 1960 until a few years ago. I swear, this is true.

Bad Sport

I don’t do sports, nor watch them, either.
A one block jog? I’d need a breather.
At volleyball, I don’t excel.
Touch football is a sort of hell.
For passing time, by hook or crook,
Jog on alone. I’ll read a book!!!

 

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/10/17/rdp-wednesday-sport/

Serendipity

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Serendipity

Seated at the movies in the last row of the balcony,
I couldn’t hear the dialogue and the man in front of me
was so tall that captions, too, were impossible to see.
But all of this, indeed, was just a part of serendipity
that played out as I exited the door they’d marked “Emergency”
that led out to the lobby where I’d decided that I had to flee.
There I found a bench and with a paperback upon my knee,
I passed five minutes during which I read with such intensity,
I didn’t even notice a man exiting to go to pee,
until he left the Men’s room, and I looked up as he passed by me.
He was a very handsome man—the very one who  formerly
had blocked my view but who now sat beside me and delightfully
soon engaged my interest with his wit and his sincerity.
And that is how our “he” and “me” quickly turned into a “we,”
and also how, ultimately,  you two children came to be!

The prompts  today are serendipity, balcony, emergency and caption. Here are the links:
/https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/10/16/rdp-tuesday-serendipity/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/10/16/fowc-with-fandango-balcony/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/10/16/emergency/
https://dailyaddictions542855004.wordpress.com/2018/10/13/daily-addictions-2018-week-41/caption

Shooting Hoops at the Class Reunion

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Click on photos to enlarge.

Shooting Hoops at the Class Reunion


Lest I be less than discreet
and be accused of gross conceit,
I’ll go where it can be repeated
that our team was undefeated
way back then in sixty-four.
The swish of hoop, our fans’ loud roar—
nothing can erase the blast
of this fine victory of the past.

The crowds we drew. The way we toiled?
Nothing since has ever spoiled
the memory of that group endeavor.
Back when we were fresh and clever,
young, athletic, fit and tall,
we all excelled at basketball.

Fifty years later, though it’s true
we may be a decrepit crew,
our memories are still intact.
We well remember every fact
as one by one, we each relate
our memories of winning State.

If I were at home, I could publish a photo of one of our glorious small town basketball teams, but since I am not in the proximity of my old annuals, I’ll make do with photos of one of the school reunions, fifty years later.

The prompts today were blast, draw, conceit and spoil. Here are the links:

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/10/15/rdp-monday-blast/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/10/15/fowc-with-fandango-draw/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/10/15/conceit/
https://dailyaddictions542855004.wordpress.com/2018/10/13/daily-addictions-2018-week-41/spoil

The Rules of Fidelity

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The Rules of Fidelity

A wedding ring’s a shelter that protects you from the fray,
but that safety is a bullet that can ricochet some day.
The grace that’s found in your retreat from the single’s race
can vanish in a moment. Disappear without a trace.
For the oath that’s made in marriage is a double one, it’s true,
dependent on another person and not only you.
Only one need slip the knot to loosen it, enabling
“his” or “hers” to suddenly be passé in its labeling.
Loyalty and fidelity are two-way deals, it seems—
and they only work when couples work on them in teams.

 

The prompt words today are ring, shelter, ricochet and grace.  Here are the links:

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/10/14/rdp-sunday-ring/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/10/14/fowc-with-fandango-shelter/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/10/14/ricochet/
https://dailyaddictions542855004.wordpress.com/2018/10/13/daily-addictions-2018-week-41/grace

Lashing Out

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If you’ve never before heard of the phrase “on fleek,” get in line behind me.  It was, however, the prompt word for the Ragtag Daily Prompt site today. In essence, it means perfectly done, exactly right; extremely good, attractive or stylish; sleek and perfectly groomed or styled. Examples: “Eyebrows on fleek.” , “Makeup on fleek”.


Lashing Out

When her lash she chose to tweak,
intent on its being on fleek,
alas she tugged a bit too much
and found that it escaped her clutch.
In vain did she survey and stoop.
The lash had landed in her soup.
And shortly after she sought to seat it,
she had the misfortune to eat it!

 

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For the RDP prompt, “fleek.”

Secure Advantage

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Secure Advantage

To pacify that sense of damp
when you’re called upon to camp,
and after hours of climbing toil
you’re forced to sleep on soggy soil,
heartier souls won’t think to mock
if you perch upon a rock
and declare yourself the sentinel.
You’ll sense the danger and ring a bell.
And if by chance a rain just fell
a side advantage you might get
is you’ll be dry while they’re all wet!!!

The prompt words are mock, pacify and damp. Here are the links:
For the Ragtag prompt of “damp.”
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/10/12/pacify/
https://dailyaddictions542855004.wordpress.com/2018/10/06/daily-addictions-2018-week-40/mock

Troglodyte*

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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

Mother

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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

Lovesick

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                       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

Driving Lesson

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Driving Lesson

Brace yourself for lamp posts. Do not vacillate changing lanes.
That panic you feel turning corners very quickly wanes.
For each 10 miles of your speed, stay a car length back
to make it much less likely a bumper you will crack
when the car in front of you makes a sudden stop.
Anticipate fast braking, and avoid the traffic cop!

These rules aren’t too difficult, in fact they’re common sense.
When you see your instructor growing rather tense,
decrease your speed and check that you are driving center lane.
Checking your makeup in the rear vision mirror is inane!
Indicate your turning and brake for traffic lights.
Minding all the rules just makes for fewer fights.

I’m sure that if you follow them you’ll soon be driving regally.
It’s so much easier to drive when you’re driving legally!

The word prompts today are brace, lamppost, vacillate and anticipate.  Here are the links:

https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2018/10/04/rdp-thursday-brace/
https://fivedotoh.com/2018/10/04/fowc-with-fandango-lamppost/
https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/10/04/vacillate/
https://dailyaddictions542855004.wordpress.com/2018/09/29/daily-addictions-2018-week-39/anticipate