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21 February: RDP “Spellbound”
I. Spellbound We three dragonssqueezing warmthout of stones drunk on sunspellbound to heat asour skin drags along our bones.We three dragons,a trick of the light. II. Spellbound Eyes flit. Tails flick.Toe of lizard and tongueof dog. Owl wings and violet palms. Spell-bound double double,we be toil and trouble. written for RDP “spellbound” and Twiglets “Trick of…
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21 February: RDP – Twilight
The It of It All She wants to be Mary Oliver, or Count Tolstoy, but that creates all sorts of pronoun issues she can’t understand. So she sits on the balcony, and takes in views of town, its white-limed houses with low roofs, and rose gardens. She thinks of having a smoke, forgetting she quit…
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20 February: FOWC Height
When Chimps Flew the Sky We used to play a game,back when there were 9 planets,and Pluto wasn’t just a dog, when chimpanzees flew in space, back when nobody knewhow many galaxies were up there,but we believed in Martians. And as kids, we said things like name ten kinds of clouds,or name the parts of…
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20 February: SOCS Prefix
Trumpeting A neighbour’s howlingbeagle’sspitting at the sky. It’s a proboscis sound,as if one’s skullis harmonic. But even a howling doghas to waitfor a tree to come by. Written for Linda Hill’s Stream of Consciousness using a word prefix “Pro”. I’m not sure if this is Stream of Consciousness, but this is what came out of my head.…
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19 February: An Old Horse Named Nana
An Old Horse Named Nana There was this big old horsethat lived out its final yearsin the pasture next to our house. When my boys were small they’dfeed the horse windfall applesfrom the orchard. Bucket loads. We couldn’t eat them all. Don’t know anyone who can eat a whole orchard full of apples. Anyway, we…
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18 February: Sunset the Colour of Soup
A Sunset the Colour of Soup A leafless wood, and clawing roots on the path Wind drives a slant of snow at us,whips around like sharp words,and our legs feel mortal and fitfulin this soulless winter of centuries, and he says, Look at those cows.They look half petrified. And I agree, it’s late, it’s dusk…
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17 February: RDP “Quest”
A Quest to M&S That sharp fuzzled jab in the cup,which was no chalice by any stretch,’twas likened unto a stag’s horn,or to be sprung upon by a spreading oak.I am wounded by an underwire.I am the Fisher King with a dagger in my breast. Tell me, Sir Perceval, seekerof the holey wonders, and wonderwear,let…
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17 February: Those Telltale Signs
Those Telltale Signs I glance over at him, a man of increasing years and greyness,his hair, his shirt, his trousers, his skin,folds like ditches on his earlobes. He bends over, one hand steadied on a shopping trolley,reading the Sell-By dates, and blocking my wayto the strawberries. I wait.I have more time than he does. AI…
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16 February: RDP “Pinnacle”
The Lightkeeper He can’t complain. He has a wife.She cooks for him.Laundry, and cleans,she keeps him warm. He thinks she’s unthinking,like a sunflower or a dogwood.She’s ever present, like weather,like the lighthouse he keeps. Children call him Keeper of Light.He likes that. And he doesn’t complainwhen his wife sits by the windowand stares out to…
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16 February: A Thursday Door
Bushboy (Brian Dodd) shares photos of doors, but not just any doors. Spectacular doors from his journeys. Dan’s Thursday Doors opened the door on this. I love doors of all sorts. I’ve trawled through my holiday snaps and found a few to share. This photo: the entrance door to the pharmacy. Photo is from a road trip…
It's Still Life 