Hipster's Darling

I made grown men quake,

far from home and at the mercy

of the deep blue unknown.

Today their descendants sip lattes,

waxing their mustaches

as they tenderize my tentacles.

Megafauna made micro

to blend into a background.

The background is moving to the fore

and my domain sips away at theirs -

another thing they tried to sanitize, then forget,

until it was part of the wallpaper.

“Release the kraken,” they say.

Release me –

and then I’ll remind you

what happens when things you try to forget

remember themselves.

Song Choice: Children of the Sea by Black Sabbath

This poem was inspired by a prompt given at Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads, Fashion Me Your Words - To A Megafauna 

Callus

I remember its birthday.

OK, not the day it was born,

but the year.

It was the Why Are You Fat,

Why Are You Strange,

Why Aren’t You Pretty,

You Can’t Sit With Us Year.

It got bigger every year,

until I could paint a face on it

with a big, red rubber nose

and a wide grin.

It was magic, you see.

It had power to bend laughter.

It grew even bigger after that,

and thicker, like redwood rings,

but,

if you know the right words,

maybe arrive in an enchanted whirlwind,

or conjure up the perfect enlightening glow,

you might find a small knot in the bark.

I might be so startled you found it

that I'd invite you in,

where you'll sit down,

and have a cup of tea with me,

maybe.

Song Choice: Little Tiny by Brandi Ediss

This poem was created from a prompt given over at Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads Little Tiny, write a poem inspired by the song Little Tiny. 

Bee Adventurous

Follow the patterns. Follow the flight.

Follow to where the others went,

where the flowers are known,

and no surprises lie.

But I – I fly on daydream wings,

to fields my fellows did not try,

to sip exotic nectars under bright blue skies.

And should misfortune meet their flight,

should their flowers fail to thrive,

I’ll share my fortune with them too,

and again seek delight

in the revelations I have yet to find.

Song Choice: Flight of the Bumblebee, A capella stlye

Photo by Magaly Guerrero,

 graciously offered to the Toads participating in this week's challenge.

This poem was inspired by the prompt given over Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads, Which Bee?

The Tower

After –

shrieks gave way to whimpers,

and those who could

stumbled among the splinters

of the lives they thought

could never be shaken.

Before –

the sun shone down,

on the fairest city,

on the most immaculate hill,

except on the shadowed spot

rotting at the foundation,

which would be lightning struck

one moment later.

Song Choice: Mad World by Gary Jules

This poem was a response to two prompts. The 55 Word Challenge at Imaginary Garden for Real Toads and A Dash of Sunny's Prompt Nights: Let's Take A Look at the Cards, Shall We? Sanaa asked us to take inspiration from the tarot. I'm a tarot enthusiast and love collecting decks as well as doing readings with them, so I pulled a card from one of my favorite decks, The Shadowscapes Tarot and worked with that. I pulled the Tower, which was much darker than my current mood (I'm enjoying a lazy day after a month filled with travels - more on that in a later post), but I made it work. I might revisit a tarot inspired prompt again, since it was fun to play with.