tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57601705932087339992024-02-20T15:24:33.599-07:00Word FindingA family of student writers, learning to find the right words.Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.comBlogger120125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-39357934794232099382018-11-16T15:59:00.000-07:002018-11-16T15:59:30.350-07:00The HouseI wrote this in January 2015 for a 24-hour-short-story contest. I considered whether to go through and revise it before posting it here, but I doubt I would get around to it anytime soon. So here is the original version, finished in just under 24 hours.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The House</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">by Tamary Shoemaker</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Henley,</span></span></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-5f764a59-7fff-467e-50f0-f1eb72029eb3" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pete here, sending you a letter since you never listen to your voicemail. You know how you’re always wanting to swap stories from our house inspections? Well, this is my best story yet, but I don’t expect you to believe it. I wouldn’t have believed it either if I hadn’t been there.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I got a call last week from Josie Arnette. She’s the lady who hired us on that job two years ago right before you transferred, the one with the five rentals that all had water damage. Anyway, she said her sister was having some weird trouble with selling her house and could use an inspector who would listen to her.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I agreed to go and at least give my opinion. Work’s slow right now, so why not? I got the address, which was just on the other side of town, and after lunch I drove over there.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The house was halfway up a steep hill, and it took me a while to get to it. At the bottom of the hill the road curved and took me to another street. Then when I tried to turn back, there were “no left turn” signs for three blocks in a row. I got headed in the right direction, overshot the street I needed, and found myself circling around to the bottom of the hill again. I said a few rude things about the roads department and tried again. This time I got onto the right street from the other direction and came down the hill to the house.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was an old house, the kind they say has character, so covered with ivy that I could barely see the windows and door. I parked, climbed the steps which I noticed were crumbling at one side, looked for a doorbell in the ivy, then gave up and knocked. After a few minutes the door opened and there was Josie’s sister, Betty.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She was a short, gray, nervous-looking lady, maybe 70 years old, wrapped up in an old coat. When I said who I was, she stared at me for a minute and then let me in. I could see why she was wearing a coat -- it was cold in there. I took a seat on the flowered sofa, and she sat on the edge of an armchair. Nervous, like I said. I asked her to tell me about the house.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It took a little while to get the whole story. She’d lived in the house for fifty years, she said. She’d bought it when she came into a little bit of money as a young woman. She’d married, raised two children there, then stayed there after her husband died. Various family members had stayed with her from time to time, but never for long, because they said there was something creepy about the place. Over the years the house had fallen into disrepair, and Betty didn’t have the money to keep it fixed up.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Betty’s children had been pressuring her for years to sell the place and move to a nice apartment. Betty had resisted until six months ago, when her son had taken her around the whole house and shown her everything that he thought needed to be fixed. He had brought printouts showing how much everything would cost to repair, and he added it all up on a calculator and showed her the total, which of course was huge. Then he scared her by telling her stories about people getting evicted for living in houses that weren’t safe. So she reluctantly agreed to sell the house.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That was when the weird things started to happen. Betty’s son sent over a real estate agent. First she couldn’t find the house, and then after she arrived, the drains all backed up. Betty said that had never happened before. They had to call a plumber to clear them out.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next time the agent visited, some of the lights stopped working. The time after that it was the furnace. The agent started calling in inspectors and specialists, who all seemed to have trouble getting to the house. Once they got there, they found new things to be concerned about. The concrete front steps crumbled all down one side overnight. The roof started to leak. Termite trails appeared on all the basement walls. The most recent specialist had found large cracks in the foundation that Betty knew hadn’t been there earlier that day. Every time someone visited, they shook their head at the seriousness of the problems and said someone else would need to be called in before the sale of the house could move forward.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“I’m about ready to give up,” Betty said. “I love this house, but it’s becoming a nightmare. Without the money from selling it, though, I won’t be able to get an apartment. I’d have to move in with my son. And I just can’t face that.” She was quiet for a minute. “I hate to do it, but I think the only thing is to sell it to someone who will buy it for cheap and knock the whole thing down.”</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Just at that moment I felt everything shift sideways under me. The walls of the house creaked and groaned as they swayed and settled. Betty looked around, alarmed. “That happened before. It was right after I told my son I’d sell the house. I thought it was an earthquake, but the neighbors said they didn’t feel anything.”</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A crazy idea was starting to run around my mind. “Do you mind if I start the inspection now?” I said, grabbing my clipboard.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While we walked around the main floor, I pretended to be examining things, but really I was thinking hard. If I was right, I didn’t want to encourage any real damage, just in case. Then I remembered the termites Betty had mentioned and that gave me an idea.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As we reached the stairs going down to the basement, I said loudly, “I do hope there aren’t any spiderwebs in the basement. That can really delay the sale of a house, you know. Nobody would want to buy a house if the basement is full of spiderwebs.”</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Betty gave me the strangest look and let me go down the stairs first. I flipped the light on at the bottom and stood there. Behind me, Betty gasped.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The hallway in front of me was filled with spiderwebs. If I’d taken one more step I’d have put my face right into a big one. It was just like Halloween decorations, except -- I looked around carefully to make sure -- there were no spiders anywhere to be seen. Just the webs.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I turned around and asked Betty quietly, “When the real estate agent first came over, did she say anything about problems that might make the house hard to sell?”</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Yes, she had a whole list of things she asked me about. And I told her the truth when I said the house didn’t have any of those problems. But now --” The phone upstairs started ringing. “Excuse me,” Betty said, and went up to answer it.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was glad for the interruption, because I was about to do something really crazy and I didn’t want witnesses in case it didn’t work. I sat down on the bottom step and said out loud, “You really don’t want to be sold, do you?”</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Nothing happened that I could see. But I tell you, something in the air changed. I could feel the house listening.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I went on. “You’ve been making trouble so Betty won’t be able to sell you. But don’t you see, you’re making it so she doesn’t have any choice. She can’t live here with all these problems.”</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Some boards in the ceiling creaked in a long, sad moan.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“She doesn’t want to move. She loves living here. She loves </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">”</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A current of air moved through the hallway like a sigh, rustling the spiderwebs.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“And you love her too, don’t you? You don’t want her to leave. So why don’t you make it so she doesn’t have to?”</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now there was complete, expectant silence.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“If you can make spiderwebs at a moment’s notice and stop up your drains, and even make it hard for people to find you, can’t you do helpful things too? Maybe fix a few things so Betty’s son will get off her case and stop asking her to move?”</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This time the creaking boards sounded like a plaintive question.</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“All right, maybe you don’t know exactly what needs to be done. I’ll help you, okay? First, why don’t you get rid of those spiderwebs? I hear Betty coming.”</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And just like that, the spiderwebs were gone. Betty came down the stairs and stared in amazement at the clear hallway while I tried to explain that her house wanted her to stay. She took it pretty well, considering how insane it sounded.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then we spent the rest of the afternoon encouraging the house. First we went around and got it to fix all the things it had done to resist being sold. That was pretty easy. Then Betty found the pages her son had left with her that listed all the things he thought were wrong with the house. I looked through the list, and as I had suspected, most of it was pretty minor stuff. I picked out the most serious things and began to try to explain to the house what needed to be done.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It took a lot of patience and starting over when the house misunderstood, but we got some stuck windows and doors opening smoothly again, some fraying wires tidied up, and some loose bricks in the chimney repaired. Betty was better at explaining things to the house than I was, so I didn’t have any worries about her being able to take care of the minor things on the list later.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Before I left, I felt I had to mention one more thing. It was a little awkward to bring it up, but Betty and the house both needed to hear it. It was just a fact that the house was going to outlive Betty. (You never heard such a sad creaky noise as the house made when I said that.) So I told Betty she should probably start looking for someone else who would appreciate the house and treat it well -- and just as important, someone the house would like -- so she’d have the right person to pass it on to someday.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So that’s it. Don’t believe it if you don’t want to. But it makes me wonder if there are other houses out there that have opinions about being bought and sold. I’ve never seen any other houses that can actually do something about it, but maybe I’ve just missed the signs. It would sure be interesting to live in a house like that. Betty kept my card, so who knows?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">-- Pete</span></span></div>
Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-10344362885265141992016-04-30T23:36:00.002-06:002016-04-30T23:36:19.948-06:00Finish Line<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The challenge of writing a poem a day,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">searching for structures, topics, and rhymes,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">is nothing compared to the challenge (that may</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">be familiar to others whose hair's going gray)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">of remembering <i>anything</i> thirty times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~ Tamary Shoemaker</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(I came close to forgetting a few times, but happily managed to write a poem every day this month. They're not all great, but I'm happy with a few of them, and I had fun practicing.)</span>Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-39498768903096364602016-04-29T08:29:00.000-06:002016-04-29T08:34:38.429-06:00Haphazard Poems<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Today's prompt at <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/2016-april-pad-challenge-day-29">Poetic Asides</a> is "Write a haphazard poem. The poem itself could be haphazardly put together, I suppose. But it could also be about a haphazard situation. Or whatever haphazard thing you can bend the poem into."<br /><br />Since I had no other ideas, I decided to use random words. I got words from <a href="http://www.textfixer.com/tools/random-words.php">Random Word Generator</a> in sets of 6, and made a rule that the poem must have 6 lines and must include all 6 words from one randomly generated set. It turned out to be quite a fun writing exercise that I will probably use again. Here are my three attempts for today.<br /><br /><br /> Haphazard 1: dial fallout dusk fermentation host colony</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At dusk the fallout was bad enough<br />to reach an eight on the dial.<br />The human host was beginning to panic but<br />the fermentation was still not complete<br />so the colony in the shoulder sent toward the brain<br />soothing messages of delay: All is well.<br /><br /><br />Haphazard 2: details defector moonbeam behavior uptown hollow<br /><br />On an uptown street he paused for breath.<br />A moonbeam lit the pavement and suddenly<br />his behavior seemed to him inexplicable,<br />his reasoning hollow, the details drowned<br />by the knowledge of what he’d become.<br />Informer. Defector. Betrayer. Enemy.<br /><br /><br />Haphazard 3: clock group ambivalent fashionable aboveground belongings<br /><br />The fashionable ones live aboveground,<br />their belongings around them like pets,<br />their beliefs ambivalent, their lives tied<br />to the progress of a clock. I did not choose<br />not to be part of that group, but even so<br />if I had a choice I would stay below.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">~ Tamary Shoemaker</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></div>
Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-10081845116649393242016-04-28T23:38:00.000-06:002016-04-28T23:38:19.869-06:00Important Details<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wonder how we can know other people at all.<br />For example, I would not be the same me<br />without the sound of echoes under the street<br />crossing to school, or the horse chestnut tree<br />that lost my tooth, or the gooey sweet<br />cookies at Grandma’s recitals. You have too<br />a million million moments that are you<br />and who’s to say any one of them is small?</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~ Tamary Shoemaker</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(From a prompt at <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/2016-april-pad-challenge-day-28">Poetic Asides</a> to write a poem titled "Important ____.")</span></div>
Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-76046175401038169732016-04-27T22:40:00.001-06:002016-04-27T22:40:12.632-06:00Brain<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I dreamed I held my brain in my hands,<br />in two parts, heavy, slippery, awkward.<br />I had to ask a passing stranger for help.<br />As we carefully fit the halves together,<br />I wondered how to get it back in my head.<br />Would it hurt to take off the top of my skull?<br />Could I do it myself with a mirror to help?<br />Then I remembered this had happened before<br />and I had managed fine. But I wondered,<br />How was I thinking without my brain?<br />How flexible and clever the mind must be<br />to function this well with my brain in my hands.<br /><br /><br />~ Tamary Shoemaker</span><div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(From a prompt at <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/2016-april-pad-challenge-day-27">Poetic Asides</a> to write a "take off" poem. I really dreamed this last night. I'm not sure what that says about me.)<br /><br /></span></div>
Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-55627027793267009622016-04-26T22:31:00.001-06:002016-04-26T22:31:21.407-06:00Turn Around Again<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So much declared without knowing<br />
—Turn away, turn around again.<br />
So many petty thoughts showing<br />
—Turn away, turn around again.<br />
So many lofty plans failing<br />
—Turn away, turn around again.<br />
So much lost time unavailing<br />
—Turn away, turn around again.<br />
So now for inward appraising<br />
—Turn away, turn around again.<br />
So to a welcome rephrasing<br />
—Turn away, turn around again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">~ Tamary Shoemaker</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(From a prompt at <a href="http://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-six-2/">NaPoWriMo</a> to write a call-and-response poem.)</span></div>
Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-3929292945228926892016-04-25T23:06:00.001-06:002016-04-25T23:06:36.499-06:00Physical Therapy<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My shoulder thinks I'm trying to kill it</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with exercises like disco moves</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">that reach where it doesn't want to go.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The bright side is, when it improves,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll be ready to go on that dancing show.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~ Tamary Shoemaker</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(From a prompt at <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/2016-april-pad-challenge-day-25">Poetic Asides</a> to write an exercise poem.)</span>Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-4360292091844731532016-04-24T22:50:00.000-06:002016-04-24T22:50:26.509-06:00Lost and Found<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once again I realized I'd drifted off the path;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once again I needed help but felt ashamed to ask.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once again I put my pride aside and turned to You;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once again You set me right and whispered what to do.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once again I hope I won't forget the path You've shown,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But when I do, I trust </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Your patient love will guide me home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~ Tamary Shoemaker</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(From a prompt at <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/2016-april-pad-challenge-day-24">Poetic Asides</a> to write a poem about something lost and regained.)</span><br />
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<br />Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-29020861302461178242016-04-23T23:50:00.000-06:002016-04-23T23:50:14.195-06:00Dandelion<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a bright yellow flower that shares</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a cheer made to lighten our cares,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but the neighbors will say</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">they don't like the way</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the cheer spreads from our yard into theirs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~ Tamary Shoemaker</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Limericks are made for last-minute poem writing.)</span>Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-91359355473837460442016-04-22T22:19:00.000-06:002016-04-22T22:19:01.340-06:00Star Field<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A blanket on the grass, the two of us<br />gazing into midnight.<br />You watched for meteors, satellites,<br />anything that moved.<br />I watched for them too. But all too soon<br />you’d seen enough and we headed back,<br />you folding the blanket and I the unused map<br />of the steady constellations.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~ Tamary Shoemaker</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(From a prompt at <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/2016-april-pad-challenge-day-22">Poetic Asides</a> to write a poem with the title "Star ____.")</span></div>
Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-89238434528381852272016-04-21T12:29:00.001-06:002016-04-21T12:48:04.424-06:00Pygmalion's Sweeper<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I wonder about Pygmalion's wife.<br />Not that I should even care,<br />I just sweep his shop for an honest price,<br />ivory dust in my clothes and hair.<br />But first he sighs for almost a year<br />over this beautiful statue he made,<br />and then a look-alike bride appears<br />and the statue is gone, so, quite a trade.<br />He says they're happy. She says little,<br />but every day she follows him in<br />and watches him work with gauge and chisel<br />and touches her face like she’s feeling her skin.<br />And a fine white dust drifts down like snow</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And I sweep it up for her after they go.<br /><br /> <br /> ~ Tamary Shoemaker<br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />(From a prompt at <a href="http://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-one/">NaPoWriMo</a> to write a poem in the voice of a minor character from a fairy tale or myth.)</span></div>
Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-7916756946435465502016-04-20T21:38:00.000-06:002016-04-20T21:38:06.988-06:00Reed-singer<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Air-shaper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chord-maker</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finger-twirler</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bellows-worker</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ear-shouter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Room-crowder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grandma-pleaser</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cheer-bringer</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~ Tamary Shoemaker</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(From a prompt at <a href="http://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-3/">NaPoWriMo</a> to write a <a href="http://vincegotera.blogspot.com/2016/04/day-14-napowrimo-poem-day-2016.html">"kenning"</a> poem, a kind of Norse-inspired riddle.)</span><br />
<br />Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-71713944483861359662016-04-19T22:49:00.001-06:002016-04-19T22:50:14.365-06:00Cool<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some days my hair wants to flip to the side</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Or part in a novel place,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And my kids will say, “Cool hair, Mom,”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With half a smirk on their face.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps they don’t mean to compliment me.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps they are not sincere.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perhaps they don’t know it’s a proven fact</span></div>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moms are cooler than they appear.</span><span id="docs-internal-guid-de9c4ef6-31fe-928d-cd19-1537ff2696dc"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">~Tamary Shoemaker</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial";"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial";"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">(From a prompt at <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/2016-april-pad-challenge-day-19">Poetic Asides</a> to write a cool poem.)</span></span></div>
Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-41675431843599904152016-04-18T23:37:00.004-06:002016-04-18T23:37:33.668-06:00Home<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sound of home then was music.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Old records on the turntable,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">jarring notes from instrument practicers,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the piano played by whoever passed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The taste of home was potato salad</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">made from Mom's special recipe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sight of home was books, books, everywhere.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Home now is filled with music.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Home now is filled with books.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Home now is made from recipes,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">some inherited and some our own:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">potato salad, reading, music, love.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~ Tamary Shoemaker</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(From a prompt at <a href="http://www.napowrimo.net/day-eighteen-2/">NaPoWriMo</a> to write a "sound of home" poem.)</span>Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-28673446958793194242016-04-17T23:48:00.002-06:002016-04-17T23:55:13.933-06:00Hymn<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Person by person the chapel fills<br />with greetings and handshakes, the noise<br />of getting settled, but then <br />a hush spreads through the room<br />and music appears<br />that was always<br />there but we<br />did not<br />hear.<br /><br /><br />~ Tamary Shoemaker<br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />(An attempt at a <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/nonet-poems-poetic-form">nonet.</a>)</span>Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-17538575059198879402016-04-16T20:59:00.000-06:002016-04-16T20:59:12.493-06:00College Burger Shop<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t remember the name of the place</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">but twenty-five years ago they had the best fries,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">seasoned, thick, and just-right greasy.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A Friday night back then: crowds swirling</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">up to the counter and past the tables,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">laughing, squeezing in four to a bench,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the noise astounding, the smell encompassing.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There I am, at a table for two,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">except someone asked to borrow the other chair</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">so now it’s me and my book and my fries.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I’m okay with that. Or rather, in this memory</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m okay with that; but as my mind turns back</span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-de9c4ef6-2225-5016-deeb-0b55258233a2"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wonder, a little, how okay I was then.</span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ Tamary Shoemaker</span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(From a prompt at <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/2016-april-pad-challenge-day-16">Poetic Asides</a> to write a poem about a food establishment.)</span></span>Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-37174760364259213432016-04-15T23:18:00.001-06:002016-04-15T23:18:30.732-06:00Two<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some things are made to be in pairs. Cleaning out a basement,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">I found flattened under a box of books one ancient shoe,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">the leather cracked, the laces gone. Without thinking</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">I looked around for the other one before I caught myself.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Silly brain, trying to match up useless junk,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">trying to make sense of uneasy aloneness.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ Tamary Shoemaker</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">(From a prompt at <a href="http://www.napowrimo.net/day-fifteen-2/">NaPoWriMo</a> to write a poem with the idea of doubles.)</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-74700459042521909892016-04-14T23:52:00.004-06:002016-04-14T23:52:56.617-06:00An empty mind can offer little aid<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An empty mind can offer little aid</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To craft a poem close to midnight’s stroke.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The blinking cursor on the screen displayed</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Derides me typing words I then revoke.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">A frantic grasp for some elusive thought</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yields nothing worth expressing in this verse,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A stream of consciousness with nothing caught,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A vague ambition I cannot coerce.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">But now a starting line appears and stays;</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The rhyme and meter motivate the rest;</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Though not profound or likely to amaze,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seems that something real has coalesced.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">This finished work thus illustrates a crime:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Attempted sonneting while pressed for time.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ Tamary Shoemaker</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">(I was tempted to call this poem "Blank Verse," referring to a mind going blank, but as a former English major, I just couldn't bring myself to label it inaccurately.)</span></span><br />
<br />Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-52763496608627452312016-04-13T23:58:00.002-06:002016-04-13T23:58:48.913-06:00Fortune Cookie Fortunes That Might Have Been Helpful <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You will meet a tall, dark stranger and inflict injuries unless you watch where you’re biking.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Your hard work will pay off soon, except for that project the client isn’t going to pay you for.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Consider turning off switches before removing broken light bulbs.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Try something new, but not that hairstyle you’ve been thinking about.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">You are talented in many ways, but it still may take a while to find a job.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of your lifelong dreams will come true, and you’re not going to like it once you get it.</span><span id="docs-internal-guid-de9c4ef6-1356-edb5-3683-be600e593e56"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Try something new, but say no to the calamari. Seriously, you’ll regret it.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ Tamary Shoemaker</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(From a prompt at <a href="http://www.napowrimo.net/day-thirteen-2/">NaPoWriMo</a> to write a fortune cookie poem.)</span></div>
Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-45507660520972607322016-04-12T22:41:00.001-06:002016-04-12T22:42:41.195-06:00Caught Up<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After much effort I’m glad to announce</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The dishes are washed, the laundry’s done,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The house is tidied, the floor is swept,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the budget is all caught up for once.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">So here are the updated family rules.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No using dishes. Eat out of your hands; </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Do it outside so the floor will stay clean.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One change of clothes will be issued per week.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And don’t spend money ever again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I might have a chance to stay caught up then.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; white-space: pre-wrap;">~Tamary Shoemaker</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(From a prompt at <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/2016-april-pad-challenge-day-12">Poetic Asides</a> to write a serious or silly poem. When I say things like this to my family, they laugh, but I kind of mean it.)</span>Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-68574307360147651832016-04-11T13:50:00.001-06:002016-04-11T13:50:34.744-06:00Book spine poemsA <a href="http://www.napowrimo.net/day-ten-4/">NaPoWriMo</a> prompt suggested this fun idea. Here are the ones I came up with.<br />
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<br />Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-50465002860111166522016-04-10T21:39:00.002-06:002016-04-10T21:40:25.038-06:00Compassionate<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Sundays we go to church and listen to the service.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Not just the preaching and teaching,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">but what we’re asked to do for others—</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a meal, a ride, childcare, prayers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Keep listening and we hear what’s been done—</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a yard cleaned up, canned food gathered.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">But listen carefully for quiet words in passing</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and we overhear the constant living under-rush of service,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">not assigned or organized, just given—</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a tire changed, a cup of flour lent,</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">a day brightened, a grief shared.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ Tamary Shoemaker</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">(From a prompt at <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/2016-april-pad-challenge-day-10">Poetic Asides</a> to use an emotion as a title.)</span><br />
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></div>
Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-31698390875153019772016-04-09T21:45:00.002-06:002016-04-09T21:48:36.254-06:00Hiding Out<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caution and curiosity—</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The need to hide, the need to see.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gerbil instincts compromise—</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">Amid the shavings, lively eyes!</span><span id="docs-internal-guid-a127df74-fe3f-da81-b248-15c03c0b0254"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ Tamary Shoemaker</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;">(From a prompt at <a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/2016-april-pad-challenge-day-9">Poetic Asides</a> to write a hide out poem. The prompt instantly brought to mind how our gerbils will hide in their nests of wood shavings, yet can't resist poking their heads out to see what's going on.)</span>Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-65398268626497738762016-04-08T23:45:00.002-06:002016-04-08T23:45:21.226-06:00Time and All<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My fantasy is a room</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where I could take all my work</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And step aside out of time</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-a127df74-f98b-2a39-9165-0c0f427712bc" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And do one thing at a time</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And finish it all and have room</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the play that should come after work.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The thing is, it wouldn’t work.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Without the pressure of time</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’d just play in the timeless room.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There’s room. I’ll have to work on time.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~ Tamary Shoemaker</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(From a prompt at <a href="http://www.napowrimo.net/day-seven-3/">NaPoWriMo</a> to write a tritina.)</span></div>
Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5760170593208733999.post-91872232250376333632016-04-07T21:28:00.000-06:002016-04-07T21:28:46.756-06:00Really Spring<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spring came to our yard a while ago,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Proposed by daffodils, seconded by hyacinths,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But today I opened the door to sudden tulips,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Boisterous, red, and callously cheerful,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Saying, “Spring is here. Deal with it.”</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~Tamary Shoemaker</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 20.24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; line-height: 20.24px; white-space: pre-wrap;">(No prompt today, just those tulips!)</span></span></div>
Tamaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00574992049802494158noreply@blogger.com1