Braver Together

Oliver closed his eyes and wished for November. It didn't work. The spookiest time of the year was here. He ran over to his closet and pulled open the door.

A green monster cowered in the shadows.

"Aw, Sam, I'm so sorry," said Oliver. " I just was so worried about how scary Halloween is that I forgot to knock."

"Th..that's ok," said Sam. "I'm sc...scared, too."

"Maybe we can go trick or treating together," said Oliver. "No one will know you are really a monster. I'll wear my chicken costume."

"N...no candy corn," said Sam.

"Deal," said Oliver.

#######
The above children's short story is an entry in the Halloweensie Writing Contest.

Join the fun:

https://susannahill.com/2017/10/16/bic-folks-announcing-the-7th-annual-halloweensie-writing-contest-guidelines/

OctPoWriMo Day 27 - Closet Dreams

Today's prompt was something to do with flowers and memories:

Closet Dreams

Lavender scent unwinds from unfurled buds
to send me back to the day I slipped into
my grandma's closet to don skyscraper red
heels and the fox stole with accusing marble eyes.

OctPoWriMo Day 21

When I Miss Baltimore

I bite into blandness -
close my eyes to savor
the homecoming that is
elbow macaroni with
staid American cheese
crusted with panko from
the can because even
crumbled crackers are
too sophisticated for
mac and cheese made 
from childhood memories.

OctPoWriMo Day 18 - And Still, the Rain

There were several prompts for today that I thought I'd use, but somehow they triggered a completely different poem. How did everyone went on eating become and still, the rain?

Three house sparrows
umbrella leaves
one cricket rides
a maple bark raft
and still, the rain.

the unheard song of the moon
revolving around the earth
revolving around the sun
ripples across grass peering
up through puddles that
have turned the lawn to sea
and still, the rain.

yellow mums prostrate themselves
to whisper prayers to the stars
the last of the corn sways to the
rhythm of the drops tambourining
praises on the barn's tin roof.
wheat stalks can barely
stretch to the sky to give
their hallelujahs
and still, the rain.

I'm not in love with this one. Too many things going on in one poem, I think. But that's what a rough draft is.

OctPoWriMo Day 15 -

So, I can't even say today's prompt without feeling queasy. I am going to skip it and write about something else because an ode to stomach viruses is not something I want to add to the world...

Dear cat,

I have
tried to
domesticate you with
feather toys and jingle balls
but the heart of the wild lives in
your eyes and you slink the walls
in search of prey     slaughter anything
that walks on eight legs - plot
your escape from the safety of
your prison at every window
pray for the moment when
I forget to pull the door
behind me.

OctPoWriMo Day 13 - Sculpting a Poem

Sculpting a Poem

I pare off 
spare phrases that
run like seas of pearls
swirled in circles of
pure beauty

each cut slices
away extraneous gems
until the poem's heart
is exposed to beat
naked before the world

OctPoWriMo Day 11

Today, one of the suggestions was playing with magnetic poetry tiles. I found some and had a bit of fun moving them around. I almost gave up on making a poem, though, until I put loon found flight together. From there, I got this:

loon finds flight
as fish sing the sun
into the morning sky
with rainbow scales