Imperfect Haiku

Keeping up with my promise to continue writing in 2013, hopefully doing more than in 2012, I am trying to jump on any inspiring prompt I see. 

On January 1st, the Neighborhood Writing Alliance posted a challenge on their Facebook page: write and share a haiku or other short poem on a piece in today's news. 

Here is my imperfect haiku:

Violence Against Women
Is fine in America
Happy 113th Congress

In reference to:

House GOP Lets Violence Against Women ct Passed By Senate Die Without A Vote

Happy New Year - 2013

Happy 2013

It’s 7:20am, and I’m sitting in bed with Mello snoring at my feet, Lola purring beside my head, and Rocky pacing across my torso, mad that he hasn’t been fed yet. So far, this year feels a lot like last year. Doesn’t it always? Even if you are resolution list maker, nothing really changes this first day. Of course, 2013 is slightly different thanks to the U.S. Congressional world. Things did change dramatically for some at the stroke of midnight. For us everyday joe’s, we are waking to the same old same old, albeit some with a sluggish knock in the head.

Personally, I quit making resolutions a long time ago – the last time I signed that exorbitant gym contract that was lost in mid-January. Now, I like to think about what worked in the previous year and what didn’t, things I want to continue doing in the new year. Realistically, if you keep doing the things that work, the things that don’t will automatically drop by the way side. Focus on the positive and the negative has no room.

In 2013, I want to continue learning about myself because that has brought me the biggest rewards. I want to keep growing spiritually and continue this wonderful habit of feeling great in my own skin – whatever that skin happens to look like at any given moment. Getting health and finances in order seems to always top the list, and since I’d already started that in 2012, it’s a keeper.

I plan to keep writing, adding more daily, and since it’s the first thing I’m doing on January 1, 2013, looks like that’s working. A steaming cup of joe with a dribble of eggnog, pen and paper, and it’s all off to a good start.

There are things I’d like to do more of:

• More leash time for Mello (and me)
• But since it’s 8 degrees outside, that’s not gonna happen now – reality
• More smiles
• More contact with friends
• Again, since I’m not a phone person, that’ll have to wait as well
• More new places and people
• See above

So, you see how the first day of 2013 is no different at all from the last day of 2012. It never really is. It is however, significantly different from the first day of 2012, and that is what is important. The year as a whole, one moment at a time.

As I refill the coffee mug and dribble a bit more eggnog into it, I wish you all a very happy 2013 filled with 525, 949 glorious moments. 

Seasons Greetings

To all the world who didn't receive my Holiday card

Extended Life Span Zombies - Trifextra

Credit: Zora Neale Hurston

“Tell them. They need to know, Zora. Tell them. This is what Extended Life Spans look like. Stop with the bean sprouts and garbanzo bean soufflé’s already. Eat some red meat, dammit. ”

Weekend Trifextra: 

We want thirty three words that are somehow related to Hurston's zombie sighting.  How you structure your response is entirely up to you.

This weekend's challenge is community-judged.

• For the 12 hours following the close of the challenge, voting will be enabled on links.  
• In order to vote, return to this post where stars will appear next to each link.  To vote, simply click the star that corresponds with your favorite post.
• You can vote for your top three favorite posts.
• Voting is open to everyone. Encourage your friends to vote for you, if you wish, but please don't tell them to vote on a number.  The numbering of the posts changes regularly, as authors have the ability to delete their own links at any time.
• You have 12 hours to vote.  It's not much time, so be diligent! We'll send out reminders on Twitter and Facebook.

Nothing Was Always Something

It was nothing. “Nothing there,” they said, “nothing at all.” Nothing was something. Always was.

She stood in the sinister mountain mist while silence hung on the trees. The coffee in her cup had chilled and the dampness draped her cotton nightdress so that it clung to her iced body. The dog whimpered at her feet and the cats climbed the screen door desperately seeking shelter.

How long had she stood on the rickety porch? How long since the last crunch of leaves echoed? It could be a deer, a bear, a tiny squirrel but they'd not been seen in these parts for years. Not even crows dwelled in this wasted land. Bad energy, she’d said when she moved there in the spring. Yet, she’d stayed hoping to bring life back, somehow. Now, the corn hung black and the tomatoes withered on the vine. The skeletal limbs of the trees creaked and groaned with hopelessness under the vicious winds.

Finally, it was her teeth chattering that stirred her. She slowly turned and opened the door. The animals rushed, knocking her back, and disappeared under beds and in closets. The fire was mere embers now suggesting she’d been peering into the gray for hour’s maybe. Wrapping the Indian blanket around her shivering shoulders, she poured the freezing coffee down the drain and refreshed it with the steaming. She crouched before the hearth and scratched at the embers until they caught the new log and spit flames. Then, she heard it again. The crunch, the scrape, the deep sighs beyond the garden. She sat back on her haunches and listened, waiting.

It was nothing, nothing at all. Only, she knew, nothing was always something.    

This week's Trifecta Challenge:

This week's word is:

SINISTER

1 archaic : unfavorable, unlucky
2 archaic : fraudulent
3: singularly evil or productive of evil

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.

Wishing Stars - Trifecta

Wishing Stars

Hung tantalizingly from the wishing stars

Love, Happiness, Riches

Choose wisely, for all leave scars

One is rarely accompanied by the other

For certain rules apply

You are prohibited in trading for another  

The weekend challenge from Trifecta.  The Monkey's Paw, a short story by W.W. Jacobs, is about the strings that come with granted wishes.  We are asking you to write 33 words exactly about three wishes that come at a high price to the wisher.

Close The Book - Trifecta

This weeks Trifecta Challenge the third definition, which, in this case, is fairly specific.

BLACK

3: dressed in black

Close The Book

Satin and lace splinters the air

a toreador’s cape, a suicidal Paso Doble,

dancing with the unseen,

alone on the hilltop – fearless and free.

Dressed in black, she closed the book.