Carpe Diem Haiku: Strangers

I thought them all strang-

ers. Well, they surely seemed such.

Might I, too, be odd?

_____________________________________________________

You might find some “stranger” haiku at: Carpe Diem.

(Or…feel free to use the comments section to answer the question) 😉

Sunrise to Sunset

They honeymooned in South America, near the equator (though that’s probably not from where the heat arose). Never once did either complain about the humidity that caused their thoughts to slip, then fuse, as each explorer skimmed across other-worldly landmarks. They dreamt of trekking on continental adventures together – their experiences akin to the heights of the Andes, the mysteries of the Amazon, all unknown adventures of a great, diverse world.

Over time, they settled into their own comfortable culture until, one day, it too felt ancient, void of settlement, abundant with artifacts, confusing to interpret. No longer so equatorial.

Everything between them has gone south again – distantly so this time. Life together resides on the cold, desolate ice fields of Argentina. Both now seek to become their own Libertadores in this continental divide.

Gone the intense dawn

Once heated eyes turn humid

Sunsets cool to frost

(Oh, yes – I saw that glorious sunrise for myself – and was fortunate enough to capture a shot of it!)

This will be my third submission to the Līgo Editions community. I’ve only personally ever gotten to explore South America through the WWW, so at first, I didn’t think I truly had anything to contribute for this week’s prompt on that particular subject. But the thing about creative writing (and truly life, in general) is, regardless of location, you can always discover common experiential ground.

With that in mind, I submit to you my response to:

The Līgo Haībun Challenge ~ Prompt “South America”

Haībun is Prosimetric writing. The haībun format here for the Līgo Haībun Challenge is as follows ~

A paragraph (more than one paragraph is fine, or just a few sentences) in prose form of either

• a descriptive passage , or excerpt from a story/or previously published post
• an explanation 
• a tale
• a travelogue
• a news item
• a recipe

and

• the haiku to close

PLEASE REMEMBER THE LIGO HAIBUN NORMALLY SHOULD BE 220 WORDS OR LESS.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Related articles

• Bouquet of Regret (humantriumphant.wordpress.com)
• The Melt-Down (humantriumphant.wordpress.com)
• Wild Weekly Photo Challenge: Sunrise! (humantriumphant.wordpress.com)

Doctor Real-Good

Oh, quit fretting. Give me just a few more minutes here and…

Hey, you’re going to doctor me up real good, aren’t you?

Well, of course I am. That’s what friends are for. Oooh, he’s going to LOVE this version of you, sweetheart…I bet he’ll be showing your picture off to anybody who’s willing to take a look.

I really like the way you slimmed down the hips.

Uh-huh.

Wait. Go back…. You made those too big.

Honey, those can’t ever be too big for a man. Surely you know that.

No, really. Make them smaller. Otherwise, he won’t ever believe I’m real.

Well, of course you’re real, sweetie. You’ve been talking to him for over 4 months now.

Yeah, I know. But this is just going to make him want to see me in person. Then he’s going to be disappointed.

In person??! You can’t be serious??!!

No, I guess not.
Wait. What do you mean? You don’t think he could ever love the real me?

Sugar, it’s not about the real you; it’s about men not being real wild about getting lied to – I mean, you know that already too.

Yeah, but everything else I said to him has been the honest-to-goodness truth.

Uh-huh, except for the one most important thing…now you do need to get real!

Yeah, guess I’ve got to figure that one out too. Right now, let’s get back to business using this photo doctor, here…How about let’s make me look a little more exotic?

Image located at URL: http://spectacular-illusions.blogspot.com/2010/12/horse-tail-or-woman-backside-illusion.html

______________________________________________________________________

This week’s Trifecta writing challenge is community-judged, so if you like it, then you should go put a vote on it…  🙂

Here are the rules of the challenge:

• Your response must be between 33 and 333 words.

• You must use the 3rd definition of the given word in your post.

• The word itself needs to be included in your response.

• You may not use a variation of the word; it needs to be exactly as stated above.

• Only one entry per writer.
• Trifecta is open to everyone.  Please join us.

The word for this week is (third definition of):

DOCTOR (noun) – Watch it! This one’s tricky! It’s a noun (unlike when I used it first in the story, in its verb form; instead, more like it was used near the end):
3 a : material added (as to food) to produce a desired effect; or

b : a blade (as of metal) for spreading a coating or scraping a surface

______________________________________________________________________

Weekly Photo Challenge: FORWARD

Pardon me for being FORWARD, but…

Life often offers moments of resistance, even in times that might otherwise seem fluid.
To navigate the waters of life, we often have to practice persistence, dedication, balance, teamwork, community, creativity, and sometimes, even a little friendly competition.

As food (not of the fish-food sort) for thought, I present you with a few
Methods for Moving FORWARD (in life’s waters & beyond):

_____________________________Remember…Moving ahead is always better than being a behind – – – jody

THIS POST WAS CREATED IN RESPONSE TO THIS WEEK’S WORDPRESS WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE: FORWARD – share a picture that says FORWARD to you.

Yesterday’s Bridges

Life’s paths are trod with bridges
drawing us to view from another side.
While smoothly coursing on our way,
with these crossings we oft collide.

At times we fear what lies beneath,
capable of washing us far away;
or what lies beyond, to land unseen
or while on them, that we might sway;

Or once we march boldly ‘cross them,
there may be no returning back;
where once we knew not of their presence,
yet now, cannot deny we are on their track.

We forget to see these bridges
as supplying our passages safe
forward to new dimensions, true unknown…
though adventures drawing us to our fate.

Tentatively we begin a first step,
grasping tightly to the rails
but as time goes by we’re running
across to blaze our own brave trails.

© 2013 jody love

In response to Where’sMyBackpack Travel Theme: Bridges from Ailsa, I bring you my poem above to go with pictures I captured on bridges I truly did traverse on a walk I took yesterday. 🙂

I’ve also included a few of my favorite bridges for your viewing (below), as well. I hope you enjoy them all!  -jody

just a swingin’

Wild Weekly Photo Challenge: Sunrise!

The foggy anticipation…

whether from our own front yards…

Sunrise over Glorious Appalachian Foothills

or stretching to the other side of the world – 

Morning Heat Rise in South Sudan

sunrise greets us all with the promise of new possibilities.

Embrace your own sunrise potential today.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I’m participating in the onlineadventure travel and photography magazine LetsBeWild.com’s Wild Weekly Photo Challenge for bloggers. This week’s Challenge is: Sunrise, so get up early this week and take some shots of the sky!

Inner Violets

Inner cupboards of violets,
Traits of impatiens –

Urgent, wild panic
carried on squawking wings.

Touch the umbrage.
Abide.
Then take back the lie.

Head hung,
entrails pricked,
remnants wrapped with corporeality.

Discovered. Relief.

Linked to URL: http://pictures.deadlycomputer.com/d/32537-1/crying.jpg

______________________________________________________________________

Trifecta came up with an interesting new challenge for the Weekend Trifextra this go-round. A new twist on taking someone else’s writing without it being considered plagiarism! ha!

“This weekend we are playing another type of word game with you.  Below are photos from the 33rd page of one of our very favorite books, Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge.  What we want you to do is to scour the page (click to enlarge), choose 33 words, and reshape those words into a piece of your own.  Your piece does not have to tell an entire story.  We just want to see what you can do with this particular word bank.  Punctuation is up to you.  Use whatever you need, whether or not it appears in the photos.”

I certainly hope what I brought to you has meaning and does tell a story, as story-telling (the good kind, of course!) is one of my favorite things to do! 🙂            -jody

______________________________________________________________________

Friday Fictioneers – The Fall

A fabulous Friday to all! I’m beginning mine with…

THE FRIDAY FICTIONEERS CHALLENGE: Write a one hundred word story that has a beginning, middle and end. (No one will be ostracized for going over or under the word count.)

This is my first time participating in Friday Fictioneers, but if I’m interpreting the prompt correctly (beyond the challenge rules stated above), it should be 100 words and should also use the image (which I’ve included through its Web link) along with the worded challenge prompt.

(Note: I’ve kept my entry to 100 words exactly because being ostrich-sized isn’t something I’m willing to chance…)

Image Copyright: Janet Webb

Used to be I didn’t see her much once I left home – just the obligatory holidays; then droppin’ the kids off for a week or so every summer. Those years flew by. Now I’m comin’ every spring to paint that fence I put up, just to keep her from wanderin’ over that way – at least in body, as I can’t stop her mind from goin’ back to her childhood over there daily. Fall’s comin’. No gettin’ around havin’ to clear out those weeds that always threaten to choke the life outta’ what’s been erected and break our deal.

Driving with an Exhaust System

The short-statured teen had been pushing the weighted sled down the field for what seemed like hours, maybe days. Despite all exhaustive efforts, it had barely budged at all – much like the fiery midday sun that was cruelly beating down upon him, roasting his pink flesh in the middle of this heated summer workout. He grunted forcefully – twice for good measure, certain this would assist him in moving the stubborn metal runners that had gotten caught in the thick clumps of grass.

His teammates stood around the water hose, their cool refreshment obvious as they grabbed sips of spurting water, unhelmeted like gladiators returning from the battlefield. Their cheerful babbling of success amongst themselves was unnerving.

In utter frustration from the unfairness of others getting to watch his suffering without appreciation of the grueling effort, the pudgy boy finally threw up his hands to the heavens and gasped, “Could I, at the very least, get some encouragement from over there, guys?!”

A tall, lean, muscular, athletic sort stepped forward, swinging his helmet to his side. “We’ve decided that to cheer you on any more would be senseless, Dirfner. That’s an idea we don’t plan to exhaust any longer.” The captain of the football team turned and gave a nod towards the most intimidating members of the team.

Young Dirfner was so distraught with his task, he never noticed the entire offensive line approaching him from behind – at least not until he felt himself being pushed atop the sled and driven forward for the remaining 95 yards up the field.

He was further taken aback when his gratitude was answered with a gruff, “Just don’t forget this day a few years from now,” from the massive, otherwise unapproachable 300-pound center. But nothing could’ve been more shocking than when, after practice, Dirfner’s coach was waiting for him outside the locker room – with a picture of that same center in his freshman year…all 99 pounds or so of him.

Exhaust all manner of Encouragement

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Trifecta’s prompt for this week is:

EXHAUST (transitive verb)
1a : to consume entirely : use up <exhausted our funds in a week>
b : to tire extremely or completely <exhausted by overwork>
c : to deprive of a valuable quality or constituent <exhaust a photographic developer>
2a : to draw off or let out completely
b : to empty by drawing off the contents; specifically : to create a vacuum in
3a : to consider or discuss (a subject) thoroughly or completely  

  b : to try out the whole number of <exhausted all the possibilities>

Please remember:

• Your response must be between 33 and 333 words.

• You must use the 3rd definition of the given word in your post.

• The word itself needs to be included in your response.

• You may not use a variation of the word; it needs to be exactly as stated above.

• Only one entry per writer.
• Trifecta is open to everyone.  Please join us.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Red & White

This week your challenge is to show off a few photographs of Colors of Red, White or Red and White together.

Red-y to make her own White-water splash

Snapped this at the gas station because I thought the license plate was so cute.

A surprise addition to my desk on Valentine’s Day

Hangin’ out where the wild things are

Signing off…in red & white -j

Related articles

• Red and white dahlia : Cee’s Fun Photo Challenge (scrapydo.wordpress.com)
• Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Earth (humanTriumphant.wordpress.com)
• Cee’s photo that blew me away