An Invitation

I gaze at my reflection in the park pond. Tiny ripples distort my face. A backdrop of pink cherry blossoms creates a serene scene, though my internal reflection is anything but. I had hoped that a morning walk in the park would lift my mood. The first warm day after a long and brutal winter. But drifting among the soft spring breeze, there’s a lullaby for suffering. It touches my skin and seeps into my core, taunting me. A troublesome, yet sensible mantra: “A simple spring day cannot erase the pain.”

I attempt to refocus my attention on the tranquil water. Is the pond extending an invitation? Perhaps it is there that I shall finally find peace.

dVerse Prosery, hosted by Björn. Björn challenges us to write a piece of “prosery” incorporating Leonard Cohen’s song lyric: “There’s a lullaby for suffering.”

Sadje’s What do you see # 280

Featured image by Redd Francisco @ Unsplash

Not a Leprechaun

I failed to find a Leprechaun on this St. Patrick’s Day. Perhaps a giant baby hulk will suffice.

Photo taken at Wynwood Walls in Miami. More information about Wynwood Walls and the featured artist, Ron English, may be found here.

Terri’s Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge. Can you guess the color?

Sandee’s Awww Mondays

A Long Wait

Just a little snooze
Nowhere to go anyway
The bus a no-show

Xingfumama’s Pull Up a Seat Photo Challenge, Week 11

Oblivious

Little burrowing owls 
Adjacent to parking lots
Seemingly oblivious to the obvious
Human traffic
I gawk in amazement  
Giggle at their cuteness
Other humans go about their morning walk
Seemingly oblivious to the obvious
Little burrowing owls

Eugi’s Moonwashed Weekly Prompt – March 11, 2025

I. J.’s Birds of the Week Invitation CVII

My Pets

I went to the pet store
and bought a cool fish.
He came in a fishbowl
that sat on a dish.

Then I found a stray cat
and I brought her inside.
My fish didn’t like her
and spit in her eye.

So, I put my cool fish
high up on a shelf,
so my disgruntled cat
would keep to herself.

But an error I made,
a slip of the brain,
as the bowl with my fish
sat over a drain.

And up jumped my cat,
as cats often will;
she bumped the fish bowl
and caused it to spill.

And down came my fish,
falling into the sink;
he slid down the drain
before I could blink.

I stared at my cat
who stared back at me;
then she ran to the sink
and scratched frantically.

As under the sink,
in a pipe we did hear
an unusual sound,
a “squish squish” that was clear.

So I rushed for my tools,
disassembled the plumbing
and out came my fish,
sliding and tumbling.

Onto the floor 
he fell with a “splat”
and when he looked up
what he saw was my cat.

Lucky for him
my cat was forgiving,
for that is the reason 
my fish is still living.

As in my cat’s mouth
a cool fish did ride,
back to his bowl,
gently dropped inside.

Now in my room
there swims a cool fish,
with a cat curled beside
his fishbowl on a dish.

W3 Prompt #150: Wea’ve Written Weekly poet of the week, Sally, prompts us to “[w]rite a story in any poetic form, using no more than 500 words.”

I am submitting the narrative from my children‘s audiobook, My Pets. The book with illustrations and audio can be accessed here. Additional interactive children’s books are freely available from my home page.

Koi Dream

Buzzing dragonflies  
Gracefully skim the surface
Spring feast for a hungry fish

Melissa, this week’s host for Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge No. 3, prompts us to write a Mondo, composing two stanzas of our own or writing a stanza in response to one of three questions she has posed.

I have written in response to:

while the koi fish sleep
in their underwater worlds
what are they dreaming of?

Patience

Here I wait patiently
For the perfect opportunity
To snatch a fish caught from the sea
By an unsuspecting angler

Ronovan’s Ovi Poetry 90: OPPORTUNITY

Sandee’s Awww Mondays at Comedy Plus

Agnostic

I don’t know the who, what, where, why
If any who created all
Whether that who remains involved
The relevance of the who in you and who am I 

I don’t know the who, what, where, why
What meaning life holds
Whether there is an ultimate goal  
If we just are

I don’t know the who, what, where, why
Where from came God or the Big Bang 
If there is a where after death
Where this world is heading (though I can guess)

I don’t know the who, what, where, why
Why we ponder these questions so
Are drawn to religions that claim to have answers
Why it matters

W3 Prompt #149: Wea’ve Written Weekly poet of the week, Val, prompts us to write a three to six stanza poem on the theme of “[y]our personal creed or your spirituality.” The poem must include a refrain.

Featured image created with Microsoft AI, edited by author.

Cormorant and Anhinga

I soak in the sun
Drying out sodden feathers
Digesting breakfast

Double Crested Cormorant

Anhinga

The similarities and differences between these two birds are described in detail at I. J.’s Birds of the Week Invitation CVI.

Waterlilies

waterlilies greet
swampland visitors brighten
in vivid color