Good-natured sun waits
Lets June gloom take center stage
Summer will shine soon
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Written for Moonwashed Musings Weekly Prompt 144 (good-natured).
Magical conjurer springs from my dreams
Astonishes me with all he perceives
Love is a unicorn on wing-ed feet
Enslaved within a thralling fantasy
Vicious accusations jolt from the blue
Oracle’s message too hazy to read
Light all the gas lamps to keep me confused
Easier to blame imagination
Never unleash the specter of reproof
Charm me until I forget what he’s done
Ever I stay mired in malevolence
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Acrostic written for Word Craft Poetry’s Weekly Challenge 321 using all 9 words (malevolence, magical, harm, specter, fantasy, conjure, unicorn, imagination, oracle) and 10 syllables per line.
When the driver suddenly turned left instead of right, I realized that… we were headed to The Twilight Zone. Not this again, I groaned to myself, but I would do my duty.
A break from reality held no attraction for me, not that my life was so fabulous, but even so I preferred truth to fiction. I mean, sure I’ve fantasized about what it would be like to be a wolf or whatever, but ultimately it was just too much work, not to mention the expense.
My annoyance subsided as I jumped into my tasks and searched the premises for code violations. I was indefatigable in my quest to find any deviation from the laws of magic set forth by the Wise Ones. I knew the WO would prefer to shut down the Zone, but as long as management complied with every arbitrary rule, the WO reluctantly let them continue to operate.
If I did find a transgression, I’d receive a huge bonus, so you can bet I left no crystal unturned, however distasteful this place was with all its creepy, cryptic vibes. But in an obscure storage room, it appeared that my persistence had paid off. As I inspected an almost empty bottle of mind-reading elixir, I noticed its expiration date had passed.
“Surprise!” growled a voice behind me.
I turned to find that a gorgeously terrifying wolf had silently entered the room and shut the door.
“But, but…” I sputtered. “How did you…? I didn’t drink this!“
He padded closer, his wild eyes aglow. “Oh, I know you didn’t. But I did.”
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Written for Fandango’s Story Starter 98 (265 words).
With branches full of magic, the weeping willow became our fantasy home, a fairy castle, a pirate ship, the possibilities were as endless as our imaginations. The soft grass sloped down to a winding creek, or maybe it was a moat, full of mossy stones, quick green frogs, and tiny silver darting fish, sparkling in the sun. Perhaps a roaring dragon might soar by in the dazzling azure sky.
Sometimes we were spies, looking for clues in the willow’s twisted trunk, or dealing cards on the scarred wooden picnic table, making up rules on the spot. Fueled with tuna salad and popsicles, watermelon and cheesy puffs, we’d stay out until the fireflies flickered in the purple twilight. It felt like a mystical oasis away from the real world, but it was just summer in New Jersey.
Treasured memories
Glimmer through the veil of time
Root us to the past
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Haibun written for dVerse Memories, hosted by Frank.
“Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.” ~ Cyril Connolly.
Dr. Tanya continues her Blogging Insights series by offering the above quote for our consideration.
Does Stephen King have no self because he wants to sell books? I take issue with this “all or nothing” approach to writing. You can write the fiction you enjoy while still keeping an eye on what might attract an audience. And what about nonfiction writers? They’re writing for the public because it’s their job. If a journalist reports a story of a fireman rescuing a kitty from a tree, does his self disappear? Does a biographer have no self because she’s been paid to profile a famous person? Do textbook authors have no self? That’s ridiculous.
Again, there’s this notion of one type of writing being “better” than another simply by virtue of its authenticity as opposed to the quality of writing. Pour out your heart in a diary full of ungrammatical gibberish that no one will read and receive a gold star from Cyril for “writing for yourself.” I disagree that this output is superior to keeping an audience in mind when we write. Most of us proofread and edit our work because we would like our potential readers to be able to easily understand our ideas. This is a good thing!
All my public writing is for myself because no one is paying me to write; however, I want to be read, so I am simultaneously writing for the public. I try to express myself clearly because I have an audience in mind, and I include images to generate interest. If I were writing solely for myself, I wouldn’t bother with images, nor would I care about other people’s privacy and feelings. What we don’t say is often more important that what we do say. Self-censorship is part of being an adult, whether we’re writing or doing any other thing.
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Unending heat surrounded the past,
A flaming red upset that left me aghast.
Parched and submissive, I ran down the hill,
Yearning only for misty oblivion’s chill.
Memory’s fire burned my mind clear
Of everything vile and everything dear.
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Written for the Sunday Whirl Wordle 606 (surrounded only parched misty chill yearning submissive heat unending past red upset).
One last lonely pony spins round and round as the magical notes flutter down to the ground.
One final dream keeps me locked to the spot as I watch the fireworks shatter like buckshot.
When night’s curtain descends, the carousel ends, and the unwon stuffed animals settle back in their dens.
Pockets are empty, but hearts overflow with kisses and promises and matching tats just for show.
Lovers and friends drift away to their cars, and the park has gone dark except for the stars.
I wander back in for a bitter goodbye, but that sad little pony looks me straight in the eye, and I sigh…
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Prose poem written for Denise’s Six Sentence Story (carousel).
Sadje continues her Sunday Poser series by asking: Do you prefer old ways or new technology in your day to day life?
I vastly prefer the new ways, up to a point, though as I mentioned yesterday, I still use “sticky notes” to jot down some reminders, mostly at work. My work is almost entirely via “the cloud” now, and very rarely do I mail an actual letter or get piles of filing like we had in the old days. It’s much more efficient and less wasteful, plus peeps can often work at home if they wish, saving on gas and commute time.
I have a gorgeous gold (not real gold) wristwatch, from 1947, engraved with other people’s initials. I wear it sometimes, but only as jewelry, for I would need to spend a couple hundred bucks to get it working again, and that hasn’t been a priority. I used to think it might bring me good luck in the romance department, as it appears to be a Christmas gift from a husband to a wife, but that didn’t happen, and now I simply appreciate it as a lovely piece of jewelry. My mom found it at an estate sale ages ago.
All my personal appointments and reminders are kept on my iPhone, which is super efficient. I have a calendar in the kitchen, but that’s just for decoration, as my insurance agent sends one every year with great nature photos. I think it’s important for children to learn to tell time on a real clock, or else they aren’t going to get a mental picture of how it all actually ticks along. I just realized something though: at some point “time” quit appearing in my mind as a clock, and now when I read it digitally it stays in my mind as numbers sans a picture. Interesting! Maybe clocks don’t matter after all.
Despite not being that technically adept, I am a fan of tech. My usual way of “fixing” any glitch is to curse at it profusely. This seems to have worked for my Roku, as it stopped being weird, and last night I watched half the Leonard Cohen special I’m Your Man on Prime. My iPhone and iPad generally behave properly, so no cursing necessary. Laptops, well, you know. Glitchy buggers. I love writing in Word, and if it weren’t for a laptop, I’d have no books for sale because I edit my stuff a ton and it would be too annoying to keep restarting a story on a typewriter (BTDT), not to mention a horrendous waste of paper. I’m a huge fan of the Roomba my daughters bought me for my last birthday as well as the microwave, heating, A/C, indoor plumbing, showers, clean running water, and all manner of newfangled stuffs. I still keep a list of groceries on a piece of paper though.
As far as communication, I’ll be forever grateful for texting because it keeps me in daily contact with my daughters. I would be sad if I only heard from them during the traditional once a week phone call (we do this too). Plus we can send instant photos and funnies to each other. My friends and I keep in touch and make plans through Messenger chat and Facebook events, which is more convenient than telephone calls. I prefer a text/message or email to a phone call in almost all cases because then I can respond in my own time, which is almost always quickly, but it doesn’t have to be. Telephone calls, except from my children, are intrusive and generally irritating.
Where I draw the tech line is at the ubiquitous audio/video. I’m a written-word person. I want to READ the news, not listen to a talking head. I want to READ books with my eyeballs, not have them jabbered into my ear. I want to READ blogs, not play a podcast. To me, audio is for music and video is for cute animal antics. Sure, I like photos, but I don’t need to see a million pics of people’s hikes and lunches, so I am not on Instagram. I don’t need to see underage girls (or anyone) twerking at the camera, so I am not on TikTok. Give me a page of words, long beautiful words, shining, gleaming, streaming, etc.
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Enigmatic kisses
Promises on the beach
Hearts so quickly turn fickle
Evasive whispers twist in the breeze
Miss me only for a minute
Each wish becomes a starlit dream
Raveling on the foamy sea
A moment floats out of reach
Lost forever endlessly
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Acrostic poem written for Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt 312 (43 words on ephemeral).
Her mind was primed for disorder
And each rejection cracked her soul
A little more; prey to narcissists
And manipulators both,
She drifted to places dark and cold.
She developed a shell
Of elaborate self-protection,
But it was fragile
And easily shattered
When she tried to trust again.
She counted the broken pieces,
Attempting to make sense
Of the chaos and pain,
And numbers became her friends.
Necessity forced her
To walk the farcical stage
Of ordinary days,
Though sometimes she crawled.
Eventually the shawl of normalcy
Transformed anguish into grace
And jagged edges fit back together
In a strangely beautiful display,
At first a delicate shape,
Then stronger through the years.
Less frequent came the tears
And she learned to appreciate
This interesting puzzle of self,
Sparkling and uniquely whole,
Her flaws now flattering
As they aged into gold.
~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.
Written a few years ago for a friend.
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| jaquintinwriter on Pizza Preference |
Light Motifs II 