Written for Crispina’s Crimson’s
Creative Challenge #069. I chose Pic #1.
Here’s where the image took me.
Tag: Nature
RDP Friday: mountain
Written for RDP, where Martha asks us
to get creative with the word ‘mountain’.
Thanks, Martha! Here’s my take.
RDP Friday: boreal
Today at RDP, Martha Kennedy asks us to get
creative with the word ‘boreal’. Thanks, Martha!
Here’s where the prompt word took me.
Rising Sea Levels: Friday Faithfuls
Written for the 11/7/25 edition of Friday Faithfuls:
“Rising Sea Levels”. Here’s my response.
RDP Friday: transcendent
Today at RDP, Martha Kennedy asks us
to get creative with the word ‘transcendent’.
Thanks, Martha! Here’s my take.
Spider Dance
Written for Crispina’s Crimson’s Creative
Challenge #056. I chose pic #3.
Here’s where the image took me.
Autumn’s Treasure
Written for Sue & Gerry’s Weekly Prompts
Colour Challenge, using the word ‘orange’.
Here’s were the prompt took me.
Save Me Now
Written for Song Lyric Sunday –
“Impacting Life On Earth”
Here’s how the theme inspired me.
The Rockies: An Acrostic
Punam at RDP SATURDAY asks us to share a
story, poem, photo, painting, essay, etc.,
centered on the word ‘mountain’. Here’s my take.
Greenwood, Mississippi
Written for Crispina’s Crimson’s Creative
Challenge #053. I chose pic #2.
Here’s where the image took me.
The Song My Paddle Sings
Written for dVerse Poetics: Dipping Our
Poetic Paddles. Truedessa invites us to travel
around the river’s bend listening for the songs
that our paddle sings. This is my contribution.
Did You Know?
Which bird has the largest wingspan in the world?
Continue reading “Did You Know?”Autumn Breeze
Written for Gerry & Sue’s Weekly Prompts
Weekend Challenge, using the word ‘shimmering’.
Here’s were the prompt word took me.
Night Music
Written for Cinquain Poetry Prompt #16
where our inspiration word is “believe”.
Also written for dVerse Poets MTB:
Cinquains Revisited. I have written a
Mirror Cinquain, a 10-line, single stanza poem
with a syllable pattern of 2–4–6–8–2–8–6–4–2.
Transformation
Written for Only Murders In My Mind
Weekly Writing Prompt #74 and the
photo prompt shown below.
Here’s where the image took me.
When The Storm Rolls In
Written for Esther’s Writing Prompts #80
incorporating the word “strike”, and for the
image from Mark @ Today’s Writing Practice.
Here’s where the prompts led me.
Nature’s Chain
Written for Crispina’s Crimson’s
Creative Challenge #049. I chose pic #4
Here’s where the image took me.
Rise Up!
Written for Cinquain Poetry Prompt #15.
Our inspiration word is “thrive”. I have
written a Mirror Cinquain, a 10-line,
single stanza poem with a syllable pattern
of 2-4-6-8-2-8-6-4-2.
Wildred
Written for W3 Prompt #172: Wea’ve Written
Weekly where we’re asked to choose a word
from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows and
make this word the title of our poem. My word
is ‘wildred’ and here’s where it took me.
New Day
Written for Cinquain Poetry Prompt #1.
Our inspiration word is “new”.
This in my Cinquain.
Branches: A Haiku
Written for Eugi’s Moonwashed
Weekly Prompt, incorporating
“appeal intertwined” and “nature’s
grasp of beauty”. This is my haiku.
First Morning
Written for Eugi’s Moonwashed
Weekly Prompt, incorporating
‘gentle dew’ and ‘nature’s beauty’.
This is my response, a haiku.
Pale Bloom
Written for Susi’s SenHai Saturday #1.
The photo below is our inspiration;
we are to respond with one senryu
and one haiku. This is my take.
Such A Winter’s Day
Written for Only Murders In My Mind
Weekly Writing Prompt #53. This week’s
inspiration is the photo seen below.
To Fly
Written for Eugi’s Moonwashed Weekly Prompt,
I have chosen her prompt ‘reach for infinity’.
Seasons
Shweta is our host for the Saturday Six Word Challenge – #117.
This week’s prompt word is “gift”. Here is my 6 word story.
Fever Pitch: A Haibun
Written for dVerse where we are asked to celebrate
the arrival of spring by writing a haibun
that alludes to the first [cherry] blossoms [hatsu hana]
It was five, maybe six years ago …. I’ve forgotten …. but it was April, that much I’m sure of because the legion of cherry trees dotting the shimmering green lawn surrounding the hospital was starting to bloom. That was the Spring I almost died from pneumonia. Funny, I can’t recall the year but I remember one particular bud on the cherry tree which I could see very clearly through my hospital room window. As I became sicker with each passing day, the bud thrived, almost as if I was giving it my life force. The day the pink and white blossom fully opened was the day my fever broke.
pink bud unfurling
branches reaching for the sun
life resurrected
NAR©2024
This is Perez Prado with “Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White”
All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NAR©2017-present.
I’M ONLY SLEEPING
Where am I? What’s happening? I thought I heard screams in the night. Could I have been dreaming?
I’m supposed to be sleeping, waiting for the Spring, but I’m not and it’s too soon to be feeling so warm. My lower extremities are aching as though someone as been tugging on them, but I’m not in pain. Some of my friends have suffered excruciating agony. One day we were together and the next day they were gone; I never saw them again.
My limbs feel a little heavy; am I carrying objects in my outstretched arms? There’s a slight pressure on my head – not terribly heavy but a feeling I am unaccustomed to, like a crown. I can hear faint voices now. It’s hard to make out full sentences but the words sound like “looks beautiful” and “brilliant idea”. What does it all mean? What is a brilliant idea?
I have no clue how much time has passed; I think only a week or so but I have lost all track of time and I’m very tired. I need to sleep.
What is going on now? It feels like I’m being lifted and carried away; I’m afraid. What’s happening to me? I feel like some pressure is being taken off me and I’m being lowered into a hole. I can sense something familiar, something soothing covering my base. I can smell the crisp outdoors and I detect the fragrance of the earth, of fresh soil.
I’m beginning to notice a chill surrounding me; it’s a refreshing and safe feeling and the strange uncomfortable warming sensation is passing. My lower limbs feel like they are bound but I am safe and comfortable – like being enveloped in a soothing blanket of snow. I feel protected, as though in a cocoon.
Thank you for giving me a chance to live by not taking an ax to me. Thank you for digging me out of the ground and keeping me alive. You have given me the chance to rest now and to grow strong under your protective care until winter arrives once again.
It was a joy spending Christmas with you!
I’m not dead; I’m only sleeping.
Next time you go looking for a Christmas tree, consider buying one with its root ball intact;
you can replant it in your yard
or place it in a pot.
It gave you so much joy
during the holidays;
why not give it a chance to live!
NAR © 2021
The Elephant's Trunk 