Tag Archives: The Sunday Whirl

“Capitol Hill” for The Sunday Whirl

 

Capitol Hill

He tolls the bell, this liar son
saying that the war he’s won.
He casts his spell, pretending that
the tricks he pulls out of his hat
are gospel truth as he finds fault
with saner men who try to halt
his lies and tricks and machinations
with news reports and protestations
that find him guilty of heinous acts
while he hits back with money’s power
as all around him succumb and cower
fearing their own loss of station,
fortune, job, or reputation.
“It’s fine,” they sigh, “and meant to be
so long as it advances me!”

For The Sunday Whirl #760 the prompt words are:
tolls spell inclined mind find sigh hit guilty fine fault liar 

“Guardians” For The Sunday Whirl

 

Guardians

I spin the stick to kindle fire to dispel the chill,
risking the displeasure of that ghost who’s silent ’til
It feels the differing temperature with the waning cold
and moves down from the window ledge, wanting to behold
this human who alone would risk the ire of a ghost
without protection of a cross or a holy host.
I  softly hum a tune that the spirit doesn’t know,
then dig my fingers in the ground in an attempt to sow
new life within that sterile earth–softly dropping seed
to see what vegetative wonders earthly hands can breed.
I feel the spirit hovering and sense his threatening stare
until warm currents lift him up into the cooler air
above the room, above the town, to where more spirits dwell
who have been patiently waiting to send him back to Hell.

For The Sunday Whirl. This week’s given words are – kindle risk dig until differing chill spin waning ghost softly alone know.

Nightmares and Dreams for The Sunday Whirl

Nightmares and Dreams

Sighs like sirens in the night come knocking on my dreams,
centered in those lost places that slip between my screams.
Curses from the gods, perhaps, that seep in beneath doors
to still true thoughts of peacefulness  and fill our dreams with roars
of lions and of cougars and other preying things
and all those fears of danger that each daily newscast brings.
Let our dreams instead be filled with thoughtful acts of friends,
that fill our lives with loving thoughts until this trial ends.
Our votes might end the terror, but what else is there to do
until true national sanity is restored anew. 

 

For the Sunday Whirl Wordle, the prompt words are: sighs siren knocking still centered lost slip doors true screams beneath curse

“You” for The Sunday Whirl

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You

We could share a lifetime in some connected place
and I would never lose my awe of your familiar face.
Years relaxing into it will seem a weekend trip:
mere hours to memorize your mouth––that classic upper lip.
Then when at last we’re in our home, I’ll have the whole of you
emblazoned in my memory with nothing left to do
but to enjoy the “all” of you, not  just your face and form––
that heart and soul and seed of you that creates your corm.

For The Sunday Whirl the prompt words are: lifetime share relax connect place last class awe home will years trip. (A corm is a short, thickened underground plant stem that stores starches and nutrients to fuel the plant’s growth.)

 

“Lost” for The Sunday Whirl Wordle 756

Lost

The whole wide world feels hollow.
We trudge as in a trance,
those tracks that our forefathers
followed without a chance
to eye their lives and twist their fate
and get themselves in line
to test rare truths in vintages
like a rare old wine.
The wines have all gone stodgy,
the casks powdered within,
so we know not where we’re headed,
nor know where we have been.
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The Sunday Whirl Wordle 756 prompt words are: wide line self hollow rare track twist eye trance trudge powder empty. Image created with AI

“The Stuff of Dreams” For The Sunday Whirl

“The Stuff of Dreams”

The crisp day turns to creamy night that cushions us in sleep
and seeds our dreams with fertile thoughts that later we will reap
as poems or scripts or lyrics that will shimmer in the light
that’s been kindled to crush out the dimness of the night.
Sleep dusts our petty cares away and whispers in our ear
brisk new tales and sonnets that the whole world needs to hear.

For The Sunday Whirl, the prompt words are:crush crisp creamy script brisk dreams dust  seeds dim night whisper shimmer  (Illustration created with AI.)

 

 

Wish List, For the Sunday Whirl Wordle 754

Wish List

Of course I have my limits, still I wish for something more,
and so I post a list on my refrigerator door.
But those key things I still want in life spill out upon the floor
from the future’s bill of lading where they don’t fit anymore.
Smoke rings from the fires of my dreams gone up in flame
fade into the distance of that future I won’t name.
Still silky thoughts caress my dreams of love and passion past,
and I give thanks for bygone lovers and memories that last.

For the Sunday Whirl Wordle 754  the prompt words are:
limits list still bill smoke ring distant wish silky spill fit key
Image created aided by AI.

Star-gazing for The Sunday Whirl Wordle 752

Star-Gazing

Eyes stalk the skies for lucky stars, hoping to harness their good fortune, and although those heavenly objects pepper the skies like jewels cast across a black velvet blanket, ribbons of clouds start to obscure their glow. Then, splashed  in layers like fresh paint over a graffiti-riddled fence, the faces of clouds completely obscure their light. We must set our minds to other hopes. The light has gone out on today’s.

For The Sunday Whirl Wordle,752, the prompt words are: stalk sky luck harness pepper jewel ribbon splash layers set light face

Last-Minute Menu Changes

Last-Minute Menu Changes

My ravenous cats lurk up on the roof
while my dogs all remind me in language of woof
that they’re hollow with hunger and rattled by need
of kibble and catfood to fulfill their greed
for something to fill up space found in their tummies:
chicken or beef or those jerky stick yummies.
Now the dogs rush the door in their need to be seen,
push open the glass door  and rattle the screen.
With a flicker of tail, they crash once and again
into the door screen ’til they have slipped in,
and both dogs and cats leap onto my bed,
shaming their mom, whose face has turned red
with embarrassment over the fact she forgot
to go shopping for food for the whole furry lot!
So I leap from my bed and run down the hall,
pursued by my dogs and my cats, one and all.
Run into the kitchen and throw open the door
of the fridge, then I spread out all over the floor
the food I’d intended to feed to a guest
whom I had invited with all of the rest
of his family to dine–the roast and the cheese
I had purchased because I knew it would please
all my guests–the potatoes and veggies and flan
and I watched all my animals lick every pan
until it was empty of every food scrap,
then they lay on the floor for an after-meal nap
while I wandered in and climbed into my bed
to try to decide what I’d feed instead
to those guests who’d arrive in just 4 hours more.
Then I dressed and departed to drive to the store
to buy frozen pizzas and ice cream and cake
out of which a quick meal I’d return home and make,
shooing out of the kitchen those pets now sedated
once their fierce hunger was finally  abated.
The floor now licked clean, it was one task the less
I’d have to complete. They’d cleaned up their own mess!
So I mixed up a salad and set a fine table
and completed the meal as best I was able.
Poured tequila, cooked pizza and uncorked the wine.
The guests were well-pleased and my pets lay supine
both on terrace and roof or snug in their beds
while visions of roast beef careened through their heads.
And lest you wonder, I’ll say one thing more.
I bought kibble and cat food while there at the store!

 

For the Sunday Whirl Wordle 751, the prompt words are: ravenous lurked shame space found glass hollow flicker rattled slip red crash

“The Full Story” for The Sunday Whirl

The Full Story

Thinking creatures don’t mind visiting those rumbles in their heads
that contain their darkest thoughts––both phobias and dreads––
that exist alongside their wishes, hopes and dreams.
For writers, criminals and gods seem to exist in teams,
walking through their consciousness, sometimes in equal measure,
as though they know that gold and dirt are equally a treasure
when it comes to spinning tales that reflect all the world they see.
So, at story time, we flock like children to their knee
to hear the truth of all the world––its laughter and its wails––
for life consists of tragedies as well as  pretty tales,

Prompts for The Sunday Whirl are: mind visit thinking creature exists criminal know dirt walk head writer rumbles (Image created with the aid of AI)