“The Death of the U.S. Postal Service”

Prompt: imagine the world without you

Stamps pile up
Unlicked, pen pals
Never penned,

Just Because
Cards not sent, Publisher’s
Clearing House envelopes never
Sealed with fingers

Crossed, college brochures,
Magazines, clothing
Catalogs never mailed, a

Jewish Mailman never got a
Christmas Present, or
Gave one in return.

Dear Mr. Woodpecker

Prompt: postcard poem


Dear Mr. Woodpecker,
It's 6 am.
My house is metal.
You are a moron.
Feel free to get eaten by my cats.
Thanks.
Love, Nikki

Babushkas

Prompt: postcard

Nestled in bed,
side by side,
family of dolls,
waiting to be restacked.

2011...

One more year edging us closer to the brink of destruction as Christmas melted into New Year’s Day and Janus did the whole look forward look backward thing and some people got the day off for MLK Monday. (I didn’t…)

January bled into self-important February, all puffed up with too much commotion for a measly 28 days. We played along and wondered what the groundhog would see, bought our chocolate and flowers and put out on 14th, hell, we even squeezed in Candlemas somewhere along the way…

Nothing special about March, the slacker, unless you count Johnny Appleeed Day (which no one above the age of 7 does.) Though St Patrick’s day brought out the Irish in in all of us with green things, pinching, and generally widespread alcoholism and poor decision making…

And so we’re up to April; a silly little month of fools, bunnies, eggs, and wanna-be poets brushing elbows with the truly talented (guilty…)

"Taken by the River"

PROMPT: HOW YOU GOT HERE



Skipping rocks and
Daydreaming from shore,
Miles upstream from
Where I should be;
Marooned by uncertainties,
Rapids and waterfalls.

A step into the shallows; the
Current pushes me back.

I let it.

Two steps.
I let it.

Three steps.

Will the water take me?

Announcements Ordered! :)

Spring Branch Girl Baby Announcements

Click here to browse Shutterfly birth announcement designs.

View the entire collection of cards.

Branching Out Baby Shower Invitation

Make your own custom shower invitations at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Stuck

I’m tired
of having
post-it note
thoughts.

I want
to write
words

that fill up
legal pads,
poster boards,
200 lb rolls of paper.

"After Happily Ever After"

Prompt: Include 3 things seen from computer: Romance novel, broken window & digital camera

The silvery cord snakes

from the camera,

pumping photos of a

happier time onto the screen.

A breeze from the broken

window squeezes through

the glass shards to ruffle the

last pages of a romance novel,

as if reading it’s happily ever

after over and over and over.

No amount of duct tape

can hold the pane together.

The outside world intrudes,

demanding a perfect ending.

"A Heart's Progress: Looking, Finding, Loving, Lost, & Fine"

Prompt Tool 4/8


“Mortar & Pestle”

Aerial acrobatics of winged spirits and
Wishful thinking swirl
Patchouli through the candlelight.

Scrape of stone on stone,
Round and round.

Rose petals for your heart,
Thyme is for commitment,
Clove, to open your eyes, and
Lilac for empowerment.
Willow, bluebell, and bay
Add power to my will.
Cherrystones for inner beauty and
Fertile currants to keep you.

Crushing.
Grinding.
Milling.
Pounding.

Round and round,
Until you love me.

*****************************
Prompt: Until ______ 4/7

“Until Friday”

On Monday you sat
Two rows back.
I felt your stare
Bounce off my shoulders
As we discussed the merits
Of Blake and the tragedy
Of Keats.

On Tuesday you’d moved
Up a chair and studied
My profile as if you were
Drawing a silhouette
As we deliberated Hawthorne’s
Treatment of sin, knowledge,
And the human condition.

On Wednesday, I found you
On my right, brushing
My hand as you pointed
Out a moving passage of
Melville.

On Thursday we were
Face to face, eyes
Locked and pulses
Racing in our impassioned
Debate of whether
Or not Thoreau was
Full of shit.

So, where do we go from here?



****************************************
Prompt: Love 4/13

“When You Hear I Love You, What I Really Mean to Say.”

I’d love to weave myself into your eyelashes and
each time you’d open your eyes you’d see only me.

I’d love to tangle myself like seaweed in your
thoughts until you thought only of me.

I’d love to bottle the taste of your lips and
hide it away so they tasted only of me.

I’d love to scrape a pen across a page and
spill my soul, but everything just comes out

“I love you.”


******************************************
Prompt: Death 4/16

“Death of Us”

I seemed to have lost your regard,
How careless of me.
Then again, you always said
I was the irresponsible type.
I blamed it on being a Gemini,
On feeling as if I were two people sometimes.
You laughed and said
You didn’t like either of them.



***********************************************
Prompt: not looking back 4/20

“Choose Your Own Adventure”

I can hear your exit echo in the stunned
silence. The click of your dressy shoes across the
tiled restaurant floor, the whoosh of the door
As it cuts into the angry night air, your retreat
down the sidewalk, unconsciously avoiding the cracks,
hands in your pockets, not knowing what to do with them.

I can feel the people trying not to watch,
silently betting on whether I’ll cry or run after you.
This cozy Italian place, the backdrop for our first
date, is now our birth announcement and obituary,
the alpha and omega of us. Our favorite place,
that turned out only to be mine, never meant a thing to you.

Like one of those books we read when we were kids, that let
you choose the hero’s path, you’ve run away from the
quest and I’ve decided that this princess doesn’t
need saving after all. As I ordered a tiramisu,
I imagine I can hear the people applauding in their
minds and see the women smiling behind their white napkins.