~*~
Image credit to LynnMckPhotography. Poetry form is haiku. Written for Tourmaline’s Halloween Challenge.
©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.
©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.
She never craves the limelight—
Indeed, she is the shy type;
Her heart beats in triple time
Underneath her feathered breast
As dawn breaks once again.
Agitated and distressed,
She ponders her stage fright;
It must be genetic, she guesses,
A trait created in primordial soup—
The impulse to stay hidden
And unheard, whether beast or bird,
Would be the safest bet.
As she gazes at the vast array
Of creatures waiting,
She knows it won’t be long
Before her voice erupts in song,
Since the pull to praise the day
Will drive her fears away.
~*~
Image is from Happy Color. Poetry form is free verse.
©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.
We made sun-drenched
Memories of skin slick
With new desire,
Lips glazed with the sweet
Salt of excitement.
My mind overflowed;
Everything turned green
And bright with dreams.
I chased the promises
Shimmering in the air.
Staring into space,
I contemplate the angle
Of my gaze.
If it hits the moon
Just right,
Will it travel back down
Swimming in starlight,
To sparkle in your eyes?
Across the miles,
Perhaps you think of me and smile.
When you spoke, I heeded:
Waves of cadence,
Crests of rhythm…
A tsunami of words
Pulled me under,
And flipped me dizzy.
Then your tidal voice
Receded;
And a foamy silence
Bathed the barren beach.
~*~
Image from Lovethispic.
Poetry form: free verse (curated from tweets).
©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.
I shiver at the water’s edge,
Braced against the morning chill;
Squirrels chitter to their friends;
The lake is green and still.
An egret poses like a queen,
Haloed in the pale light;
She may not have all she needs,
But what is here will suffice.
~*~
Welcome to my Friday afternoon paint chip prompt. There are other paint chip prompts out there, but they’re very precise in what they ask for. Mine is open ~ write a poem, a story, a memory, whatever you like. Take your inspiration this week from Valspar’s “water’s edge” and/or “morning chill.” Tag your post Paint Chip Friday, or PCF, if you wish. Prompt will continue until December 31.
Image is mine. Poetry form is a double quatrain.
©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.
“I don’t think you sufficiently appreciate the beauty of nature,” Katrina said to her fiancé as they strolled through Golden Gate Park. “It’s our last day here and you aren’t even paying attention.”
Drake glanced up from his phone screen. “I totally am, honey. But I can’t ignore a message from my boss.”
Katrina shook her head. “That’s just paranoia, baby. He knows you’re on vacation and he doesn’t expect an immediate reply. That’s why I left my phone back at the B and B. Look at this gorgeous waterfall!”
The couple stood on the little wooden bridge surrounded by trees and watched the sparkling water cascade down the rocks into a shimmering green pool. “I’m going to make a wish!” Katrina announced.
“Go for it.” Drake smiled and handed her a penny.
Katrina flung the penny down into the pool. “I wish you would turn your phone off for the rest of the day!”
“Done.” Drake switched off his phone, watched the screen go black, and stuck it in his back pocket. They walked hand in hand through the park, admiring the foliage and enjoying the sunshine.
After an hour or so, Katrina said, “I have a craving for sushi. Are there any good places around here?”
“I don’t know.” Drake shrugged. “I guess we could just drive around until we find something.”
“That’s silly,” Katrina said. “Let’s check Yelp for a good sushi place.”
Drake laughed. “We can’t check Yelp because my phone is off. Guess we’ll just have to take our chances on a random restaurant we know nothing about.”
A few hours later, at the ER, Katrina asked Drake to please turn on his phone so she could tell her boss she would be taking an extra day of vacation to recover from food poisoning.
~*~
Image from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park is mine.
Written for both Fandango’s Story Starter and GoDogGo Cafés Tuesday Challenge.
©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.
The ocean whispers songs to me:
Secrets soft as swirling foam
Swept away on the summer breeze.
My tears fall in the salty sea;
Weeds wash around the stones;
The ocean whispers songs to me.
Memories obfuscate my dreams;
I’ve traveled much too far from home,
Swept away on the summer breeze.
How can I know what to believe?
With trust in tatters, love has flown.
The ocean whispers songs to me,
Soothing my astringent grief.
I sway to the rhythmic monotone,
Swept away on the summer breeze.
Music sets my spirit free–
Nature’s calling back her own.
The ocean whispers songs to me,
Swept away on the summer breeze.
~*~
Welcome to my Friday afternoon paint chip prompt. There are other paint chip prompts out there, but they’re very precise in what they ask for. Mine is open ~ write a poem, a story, a memory, whatever you like. Take your inspiration this week from Valspar’s “ocean whisper” and/or “summer breeze.” Tag your post Paint Chip Friday, or PCF, if you wish. Prompt will continue until December 31.
Image is mine. Poetry form is villanelle.
©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.
Today Fandango provocatively asks about our water usage, specifically showers and baths. He mentions that some celebs have stated they bathe less often than “normal” (for Americans anyway). The point of this question relates to the fact that California is in a drought (and has been as long as I’ve lived here), so what am I doing to help deal with our perpetually insufficient amount of H2O?
First, I take a shower (hot and long, ooh) pretty much every day. Very occasionally I will skip one, like on a Sunday when I have nothing to do and nowhere to go. I wake up in pain and the hot shower helps to alleviate that a bit. I guess I’m supposed to feel guilty about this, but I don’t. It’s basically my one indulgence.
Second, I do try to help in other small ways, such as being more careful about dishwashing and laundry. I “save up” for a larger wash rather than doing continual mini-loads, which I think use more water. I’m in an apartment-style condo, so there is no issue of watering my own grass, though we do have lots of nice landscaping that gets watered by the HOA. I have a few indoor plants I water once a week. The cats hardly drink any water, nor do they take baths, so we’re good there. Finally, I don’t always flush the toilet for #1 in my private bathroom at home. Flushing uses a lot of water!
Third, while it’s great to be conscious of how we contribute (or not) to ongoing problems, here are some facts. I know, this is normally a fact-free blog, but sometimes it’s good to shake things up a bit. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, about 50% of water usage in the state is for environmental, 40% is for agricultural, and 10% is urban. What is environmental usage? That would be water used to maintain habitats within rivers, streams, and preserves. As far as ag, we have over 9 million acres of farmland here, which takes 80% of all water for business and homes. (That’s 80% of the 40% apparently, meaning 32%.) We provide a lot of the food for the rest of the country, despite how they’re always bitching about us (I’m saying this, not the PPIC). Total statewide urban usage has decreased from the 1990s even though the population grew. Is that because we’ve been guilted into taking shorter showers? Somewhat, says the PPIC. The use of reduced-flow showerheads and low-flow toilets have helped. But according to the PPIC, the reduction is mostly from changes to landscape watering, which makes up about half of all urban use. By default, the other half (5%) is our personal use. So, yeah… five percent.
My point in stating some facts isn’t to say we shouldn’t care about the possible effects of our personal, daily decisions on the environment. It’s good to be aware of such things, imo, and maybe change some of our habits for altruistic reasons. But let’s remember that most water usage is out of our control, unless we want to quit growing food in California and stop preserving the environment altogether. As a side note, I dgaf what a bunch of wackadoo celebs think about bathing or any other issue. It’s my belief that they periodically say outrageous things to get their stupid faces back in the media.
~*~
Image from Pexels.
©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.
You were so proud that day,
As we walked hand in hand
Through fields of green and gold;
You said you’d found new dreams,
And were going away
To fulfill your soul.
You didn’t notice my face,
Damp with tears;
Your ship would sail soon–
I had already lost you.
Do I rue not speaking up,
As I walk these fields now,
Soon to turn green again
As spring melts the ice,
A small hand clasped in mine?
No, I have the best
Of what you left behind,
This golden child.
And from what I’ve heard,
You’re still searching for something
You’ll never find.
~*~
Written for Crimson’s Creative Challenge.
Image from Crispina Kemp.
©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.
Hot summer sand met cold ocean froth. Two little girls in sunglasses and hats with buckets and towels, digging and giggling. I would bring a book and never open it, preferring to watch my children’s fun and the turquoise waves tumble in, one by one. The hours moved slowly but the time went so fast. Grandma came too with lunch in a cooler. She’s gone now and soon my time will be up, the next decades sure to pass even faster than the ones before. Each year’s bubbles crash in, spread out with a susurrus, and disappear back into nothingness.
~*~
The Daily Prompt: Froth.
Image is mine.
©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon. Thank you.
