I would prefer a thick crust please
The ultimate comfort food dish
Mushrooms and olives will appease
I would prefer a thick crust please
Make mine with traditional cheese
Pepperoni extra delish
I would prefer a thick crust please
The ultimate comfort food dish
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Triolet quadrille written for dVerse Poetics (pepper).
Golden ratio
Natural geometry
Field of abundance
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Haiku written for the Naturalist Weekly (zooming technique).
My heart has sunk into the sea
This rainbow offers no delight
My lover won’t return to me
My heart has sunk into the sea
I waited here so helplessly
A vicious storm raged through the night
My heart has sunk into the sea
This rainbow offers no delight
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Triolet written for Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday (sunk).
My daughter informed me that it is Shavuot, a Jewish holiday. It began at sunset on May 25 and will end at sunset on May 27. It falls on various dates on “regular” calendars, since it is celebrated seven weeks after the second Passover seder, and Passover dates vary too. Supposedly, Shavuot is when we received the Torah on Mount Sinai. Since I am not observant, I won’t be staying up all night to study Jewish texts, but I am in favor of the traditional eating of dairy in the form of cheesecake. I will look for one at the grocery store early tomorrow morning for my game night. You didn’t think I was going to make one myself, did you? LOL!
Bing’s image creator took quite a while to generate a cheesecake picture that I liked. It’s definitely a process sometimes, and you have to be patient. The initial ones were very dark and boring, so I added flowers, as it is also traditional on Shavuot to decorate with a floral theme. The pics with entire cakes were often completely obscured with flowers, or the cake was oddly off-center. Many were at a weird angle as if we were seeing them from a ladder. I have no clue regarding the logic of AI, but I do know that you will eventually get a good result, if you are willing to keep trying different phrases. Even switching from “blueberry cheesecake” to “cheesecake with blueberries” helped a lot.
The reason I have been obsessed with using AI for images, besides it being so much fun, is because these images hardly take up any media storage space. A month ago, I had used up nine percent of my space; since then I’ve added about 45 AI photos, and I am still at nine percent! It’s a blast to create a new image for each post rather than make do with what I have to save space or monkey around with a smallifier (tech term).
Enjoy your weekend, everyone!
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Written for Friday Faithfuls at MLMM, hosted by Jim, where he asks us to write something about May 26.
[Originally posted on May 26, 2022, and reposted today for Fandango’s Flashback Friday.]
Every day I miss you more,
As if you’d left just hours before,
Your voice still green in my mind.
But silly movies make me cry,
And loss lingers close behind—
I touch it like a purpled bruise;
I just can’t shake these blues.
Every day I miss you more.
Pain hasn’t passed with time,
For as the years roll on I find
Your face comes in sharper focus,
And memories are turning golden.
Grey days blur into each other
Like a monochromic watercolor.
Every day I miss you more.
~*~
©️2022 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Written for the Skeptic’s Kaddish W3-4 and the Wednesday Challenge.
I found the letter on the floor
With a golden seal, raised and fine;
I told you that I wanted more,
So I took this as a good sign.
The paper felt cold in my hand
(I found the letter on the floor).
I tried so hard to understand
Why you kept walking out the door.
Impatient to my very core,
I broke that seal and read your words!
I found the letter on the floor;
I guess I got what I deserved.
This hadn’t been sealed with a kiss–
Evidence I could not ignore–
Your words were like a serpent’s hiss.
I dropped the letter on the floor.
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Quatern poem written for dVerse Poets and Reena’s Xploration Challenge 281.
Marla, from Marla’s World, has created a writing challenge. The challenge is for multiple authors to write a single story. She will choose a story that she has written, or that another author has submitted for this challenge, and she will nominate the next person to continue writing it. Once that person has added their section, they will nominate the next author. It will continue like this until the story is complete.
She sat across from him, taking him in.
He was somewhat physically attractive, but it was his personality, his humor that got her to accept a date with him. Over the course of the last three weeks, they had talked for hours, sometimes getting so caught up in the conversation, neither slept.
Work had been a nightmare.
The pictures he chose for his profile were of the man sitting in front of her, no filters, no hazy images, and certainly not a single image from when he was practically in second grade; no, he was honest. She truly appreciated his honesty.
He asked her out, and she couldn’t say no — she liked the person she got to know too much.
As she looked at him, she thought….
As she looked at him, she thought: How bad could it be? His eyes expressed joy, a little laughter, and his mouth was soft, without a hidden grimace.
Her experience with blind dates hadn’t been good, but her romantic inclination always implored her to give men the benefit of the doubt. It hadn’t worked out well so far but she thought: Truly, how bad could it be? Buy a meal. Drink something. Walk a ways. Maybe hold hands. Maybe even get in a kiss at the door of the taxi. She’s wasn’t taking him home, or going home with him, but she did so want to smell what he smelled like in a hug. She wanted to feel the texture of his skin, run her fingers up his hairy forearm. She wanted to check his teeth, to see if he was clean, and read the lines in his hands to see if he will live long.
While she was thinking all these things that he couldn’t read, he thought: I need to get you into my bed. Not a romantic but he wanted to hold her hand and look at it. He imagined putting a ring on her finger, not the ring. He also wanted a silver glittering bracelet on her thin wrist. He wanted to smell her skin and the top of her head and run his lips across her cheek. He really just wanted to feel whole.
There was something magical happening between them and they were both feeling it. After they finished their coffee and dessert, Peter grabbed her hand, gently squeezed it and said, “These last three weeks have been life changing for me, Liz. I feel as if we’ve known each other forever. I know this is our first actual face-to-face date, but I am hoping I can persuade you to come back to my place for an after dinner drink. I only live a few blocks from here and I promise to be a perfect gentleman.”
Not too perfect a gentleman, I hope, Liz thought to herself. She felt flush. A slight tingling ran through her whole body. She was trying to decide if it was a warning sign or if it was an erotic rush. Perhaps it was both. Like Peter, she, too, felt as if it had been months, not just three weeks, since they first started talking, and she knew that she wanted him as much as he seemed to want her.
She was about to say yes to his proposal to join him for an after dinner drink at his place when a man, obviously intoxicated, walked up to the table, put his hands on Peter’s shoulders, and said, “Petey! Of all the gin joints, dude.” The guy looked over at Liz, ran his tongue across his lips, and said, “And looky, looky, looky at this hot chick you bagged. I see your mojo’s still running hot and heavy.”
Peter stood up and …
Paula Light
… flung down a wad of bills to cover the check, grabbed Liz’s hand, and said “Let’s get out of here. I know a shortcut through the kitchen. Hurry up!”
Liz was not happy about this turn of events, nor Peter’s sudden nasty tone of voice, and her desire for him evaporated instantly like a snowflake on her tongue. God, another loser, with a bunch of loser friends. Why does this always happen to me?
She pulled her hand away and stated, “I’ll get an Uber. Thanks for dinner.”
As Liz strode in the opposite direction to the lobby of the restaurant, she took her phone from her purse and tapped the Uber app. She sensed a presence behind her and whirled around, expecting to see Peter, but instead his friend stood there.
“Hi,” he said. “I want to apologize for my behavior at the table. I, uh, reacted badly when I saw Peter, and I wanted to get revenge for something he did years ago. Unfortunately, I put you in the middle of it, and that was inexcusable.”
Liz scowled at him. “If it’s inexcusable, then quit making excuses. I don’t want to be part of whatever petty drama you two are caught up in. Now, I’m going to get a ride and try to forget this evening ever happened.”
“Petty drama?” he laughed bitterly. “Peter was responsible for the death of my fiancée, is all. But OK, you didn’t know. I’m Charlie, by the way.”
“Whatever,” she muttered, noting that he seemed perfectly sober now.
Charlie continued, “Look, I can’t let you get an Uber. Haven’t you read the news about the serial rapist? We think he’s posing as a driver.”
“‘We?’ We who? You and your imaginary friends?” Liz snarked as she continued the procedure for getting a ride.
Then Charlie flashed a badge…
I’m going to pass the baton to Jim at A Unique Title for Me to continue this story. Please note that the image wouldn’t load, so backtrack to one of the other baton-holders to grab it if you want to try to make it work.
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Release my dark thoughts
Swirl them into deep blue sky
Focus on the now
Anxious orange jealous green
Let my brush paint stress away
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Tanka written for the Skeptic’s Kaddish W3 56, hosted by Suzette this week who suggests a haiku or tanka on the theme of our favorite way to relax / unwind.
After what had seemed like endless delays, I was finally safe, here in a new place, hidden away from all those feckless paparazzi. My gracious hosts had provided me with this lovely room, full of precious heirlooms, and during the day I spent hours cataloging them for the insurance forms. It was the least I could do for these elderly relatives who had opened their hearts and home to me, giving me shelter from the relentless pressures of the outside world.
But now it was nighttime, very late, and I couldn’t sleep. My mind was foggy from all the stress I had been under before I came here. Though my therapist had advised me to stay away from the internet, I couldn’t resist a little peek. At first, it was a blessed relief not to see my name and face plastered everywhere, but then I wondered…
Where were my fans? Where were the peeps who supposedly revered me? Shouldn’t they have been concerned about where I was and why I had suddenly disappeared from view? Did they no longer care???
Maybe I should post a teeny video just to say hello. I hadn’t changed my outlook about needing a break, but I didn’t want people to completely forget about me either! Plus I felt super cute in this new designer tank top.
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Written for Emma’s Wednesday Writing Prompt (post title) and all the Wednesday prompts that fit together.
He was a little fish in a big pond and constantly felt anxious about his fate, so he swam over to Amazon and bought a shark suit. Now he felt safe from predators above, who would see the shark fin and be scared of approaching him. He could focus on the dangers from below without concern that a monster-clawed eagle would swoop down from the sky.
Thus, he traveled alone, afraid of everything, while presenting a threatening appearance himself so no one would ever suspect that insecurities and fears besieged him day and night. He traveled throughout the pond in this way, always keeping his shark disguise visible above the water line. After some time had passed, he was able to relax and search for the most delicious morsels in obscure places. One day, he was feasting on succulent bits of seaweed when a real shark came by and laughed at him.
“Why are you bothering to wear a costume?” asked the shark. “You’re too small for any predator to bother with.”
Relieved, the little fish slipped off the uncomfortable disguise.
And then the shark ate him.
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Written for Christine’s Simply Six Minutes (187 words).
 | Paula Light on TMP106: Overexplaining |
 | CC on TMP106: Overexplaining |
 | The Autistic Compost… on Stat Chat |
| CC on The Greatest Detective |
 | Fandango on TMP106: Overexplaining |
Light Motifs II 