The Skimmer sifts through many books quickly, but can’t decide on which to read until they’ve slept on it.
The Marathoner tries to read all the books in the library, but eventually must concede to exhaustion.
The Ill-tempered peruses the books, and finding nothing of interest (i.e. food treats), sits and stares daggers at the librarian.
The Daily Post Discover Challenge: Animal
“What story do the things you wear tell about you?”
(The Daily Post Discover Challenge: Outer Layers)
The story I portray,
the story I live,
the story you tell yourself about me,
the story I tell myself about me…
Do the clothes I wear
tell about me,
or are they simply fodder for
lots of stories?
It’s so tempting to judge
a book by its cover.
I opened my mind once;
pulled that ring on the pop-top lid
and peeled it back.
It made a scritchy noise, that
aluminum on aluminum sound you hear
when you pull the tab on
your favorite cheap canned beer.
My mind hadn’t been opened
in a very long time, and I was curious as to
what might come pouring out.
Imagine my surprise when
I tipped it bottoms up and found
Not. One. Drop.
The thing about opening a parched mind
is that it suddenly realizes just how
thirsty it’s been.
It wants to sate itself with new experiences.
New thoughts, sights, sounds, aromas.
New textures, emotions, connections, insights.
And surprises. It craves the unexpected.
Have you ever tried to replace
a pop-top tab on a can of cheap beer
once the can’s been thoroughly shaken?
With froth shooting out and
liquid overflowing, it’s impossible.
You wouldn’t want to close it back up, anyway.
Once unsealed, if you don’t drink the beverage fresh,
it just goes flat and stale.
I couldn’t close my mind again,
couldn’t make that pop-top tab
fit back into place.
But that’s okay.
If I don’t imbibe these new
experiences while fresh,
they will just go stale and flat.
Let’s raise a toast
to open minds!
(But let’s forego
the cheap canned beer.)
The Daily Post Discover Challenge: Open-Minded
I wanted to get away from it all, even though
I didn’t know what “it all” was exactly.
I just knew it wasn’t where I was,
and it wasn’t
sitting within the same walls and
looking out the same windows and
thinking the same thoughts and
falling into the same rutted patterns
of my daily existence.
I searched for someplace remote
but near civilization,
rustic
but with amenities,
in the wilderness
but not too wild…
and I found it:
a cabin
in the woods
in a forest
that I had thought only existed
in my dreams,
and it was
sitting on a porch
with my closest family members
looking at wildlife and tall trees and mountains in the distance,
thinking more expansively in the vastness of the forest,
falling into new patterns of peaceful companionship,
and while getting away from it all
I discovered that “it all”
is actually a matter of perspective and
is always
exactly where I am.
The Daily Post Discover Challenge: Designed for You
The Daily Post daily prompt: Learning
Eight things I wouldn’t want to be:
I. A big fish in a small pond.
II. Just another brick in the wall.
III. The lone fire hydrant in a dog park.
IV. A sitting duck.
V. On a train to nowhere.
VI. A thorn in someone’s side.
VII. Moss on a rolling stone.
VIII. Caught with my back — or butt — against the wall.
The Daily Post Discover Challenge: The Poetry of List-Making
Ψ
1.8
your “therapist look”
what lies hidden behind that
nonjudgmental mask
2.3
what will she ask me
or will she ask nothing – yet
wait for my reply
2.4
I trust you and yet
I don’t trust myself to know
in whom I can trust
2.18
I wish you’d somehow
relieve me of this shadow
but that’s not your job
Ψ
3.4
misconstrued feelings
I end up defending thoughts
that never were mine
3.9
I want to be heard
or so you told me, but then
you didn’t listen
3.10
not satisfying
agreeing to disagree
when I know I’m right
Ψ
3.11
laid to rest for years
you pulled back musty covers
hurts to be laid bare
3.12
heavy question posed;
answers blowin’ in the wind?
or just flighty thoughts?
Ψ
3.16
you look down, she said.
yes I am; I don’t know why.
I will try harder.
Ψ
3.17
wallowing in mire
wish you could pull me out, but
I know that’s my job
4.12
when things go too well
I feel the need for poison
that’s what she told me
4.13
which poison to choose
self-loathing memory loop
usually works
4.16
walking a thin line
why do I find it so hard
to choose happiness
Ψ
5.13
introspection time
I get your words but do I
want to make them mine
5.20
does it matter why
I feel and think as I do?
why yes, yes it does
6.27
what would I have done
if granted a do-over
hard to imagine
Ψ
6.28
what will I do now
each day is a do-over
up to me to choose
6.30
So what now? I asked.
Indeed, what now? she echoed.
I’m hopeful. Kind of.
7.22
rearranged my life
or at least the living room
life is next in line
Ψ
The Daily Post Discover Challenge: Shared Journeys
hidden agendas are rendered conspicuous by shadows they cast
The Daily Post Discover Challenge: A Piece of Advice
Thank you for your recent reply.
Okay, so technically you didn’t respond.
But may I humbly submit that
your nonresponse was, indeed, your reply.
Actions speak louder than words.
Non-action can speak just as loudly.
And your non-message has come through
with absolute clarity.
Silence isn’t always golden.
Sometimes it’s a cheap substitute
for honesty.
So here I sit in silence,
forging ahead with my own inaction,
and wondering to myself
as to whether or not
you’ll get this message
which – of course –
I won’t be sending.
The Daily Post discover challenge: Apology
What Rhymes with Stanza? 