NaPoWriMo Day 6

Down the Road She sits on the pier, bare toes dangling just below the water’s surface, denim fringe like blue anemones circling her thighs where his gaze rests. She is a lonely fourteen. He is a handsome twenty-one. A sudden summer breeze blows her blonde hair into a halo around her head, thunderclouds gather on the horizon like a premonition. He captures a tendril between his fingers, soft and yielding. Smiles. In one graceful movement she rises, walks away trailing a scent of Love’s Baby Soft – all he’ll ever have of her. * Prompt via Napowrimo.net : “Go to … Continue reading NaPoWriMo Day 6

NaPoWriMo Day 5

The Years Behind Life felt like a stepping stone on a never-ending journey, a succession of roadside attractions visited then forgotten. Lush green days decorated with minnowed creeks and rhubarb pied chins felt like forever, until it wasn’t. Gravity pulled, heavy as chains dragged through red clay. Unending hours surrounded by a leafy denseness, the world orbiting around an isolated center. Still, a flicker of hope for that pathway to starlight at the end of blue. * Prompt via The Wombwell Rainbow Image courtesy of Kerfe Roig Continue reading NaPoWriMo Day 5

NaPoWriMo Day 2

Resisting a Steel Tsunami The cloud of her hair settling in a window, the cold blue of her eyes in the Mississippi heat, a guttural rumbling fading in the sleepy noise of small town life. She was a military brat and I was a transplant from parts all over in this town where almost everyone else had been born and raised. I didn’t even ask where her ticket would take her. For months after I thought of her every day, wondered if she was living the freedom she was seeking or trapped but too proud to call for help. I … Continue reading NaPoWriMo Day 2

Creative Nonfiction That Will Drop Your Mouth Open

As you may know, Twitter has a thriving writing community. It’s where I found many of the writers that I love to read. Today’s Creative Nonfiction selections have three writers I came to know through Twitter and two that are new to me, although I found their stories via Twitter links. For many years memoir and essay have been right up there as my favorite genres. I like the intimacy of memoir and the discovery of essay. All of the following touched me – in ways alike and different. Pat Foran and Cathy Ulrich share their stories of death and … Continue reading Creative Nonfiction That Will Drop Your Mouth Open

Twin Pies Lit + Fevers of the Mind

It’s been Lucky February for me! I am so grateful to Twin Pies Literary and Fevers of the Mind Poetry Blog for selecting my work for their fine publications. My Flash Fiction piece, “Four Levels of Infatuation“, is in Twin Pies new issue. Thank you, Jessica Evans and D.T. Robbins! My two poems, “Shelter in Place” and “Swaddling the Beast, are currently featured on Fevers of the Mind. Many thanks to David L O’Nan! * This weekend should have been the big parade weekend before Fat Tuesday but, alas, the pandemic has cancelled Mardi Gras, as we’ve always known it. … Continue reading Twin Pies Lit + Fevers of the Mind

Poetry That Will Drop Your Mouth Open

I often turn to poetry when I’m feeling restless. There’s something about the rhythm and flow that seems to calm me, even if the subject isn’t calming. In that way, it’s a lot like music. The images of a poem mimic the melody of a musical piece, bits flowing in our heads just when we need it most. The poems I highlight here all have memorable phrases and images. They each tell a powerful story in their own unique voice. Enjoy! * Ashley M. Jones in River Mouth Review – Love Letter: Heaven is a Black Woman’s Smile We all … Continue reading Poetry That Will Drop Your Mouth Open

A Day In the Life of a Sick Woman

A cat in heat has been caterwauling non-stop for at least a week & fire trucks are wailing & road rage-crazed drivers are honking & buses are vroom-vrooming & kids are playing basketball in the parking lot behind the house, the ball thump-thump-thumping on the pavement making the dogs bark & the drive-up kid at McD’s is talking into the mic so loud I can hear each & every Yat-infused syllable she speaks to each & every fast food starved patron who drives up & lord have mercy I’m sick & tired of being sick & tired & can someone … Continue reading A Day In the Life of a Sick Woman

Flash Fiction That Will Drop Your Mouth Open

Can I just say that the more Flash Fiction I read, the more I want to read. I love this genre so much and man are we lucky to have some really great FF writers in our world. Here are a few stories that just wowed me recently. Enjoy! * Jennifer Toddhunter in Twin Pies Literary – Us Girls at our Boys’ Graduation “Us girls get ready for our boys’ graduation, stick cigarettes in our push-up bras, cut the hems of our second-hand dresses just so. We talk about what it’ll be like to graduate ourselves one day, how we’ll … Continue reading Flash Fiction That Will Drop Your Mouth Open