These prompts are from Two Sylvias Newsletter: “How Does Your Garden Grow?”-flower prompts!—bleeding heart, devil’s backbone, cupid’s dart, angels’ trumpet, fairy bells, lamb’s ear, hen and chicks, sneezeweed, ghost pipe, earth star I didn’t know he was the devil until he pulled me close. We were dancing and I ran my hand down his back. … Continue reading I Didn’t Know He Was the Devil
Two Cookies This was written with my Thursday night group. There were many prompts as usual, but I only used two: the story of two cookies and dumbass pandemic During what was later dubbed the “Pandemic of Human Dumbassery” the denizens of the forest held a contest to see which of the animals might be … Continue reading The Story of Two Cookies
As a Valentine treat, I’m reviving a little romantic tale of an amorous, adventurous couple. Charlie was a regular guy living a regular life. Then he met Mabel and he slipped over the edge. Mabel was a force of nature, a combination Earth Mother/Ruth Bader Ginsberg no-nonsense intellectual feminine feminist who believed the world was a place … Continue reading Charlie and Mabel
(with thanks to Paul Simon on Brigid’s midwinter feast day) The prompt was to write a poem inspired by a song, and so I did. Midway between the winter solstice and the shush of an espresso machine I stand hypnotized by the sound of water dripping, my feet shifting on sticky linoleum. The tule fog … Continue reading The Roots of Rhythm
Written with my Thursday night group with the prompts: who grew up this way; in summer they are golden-colored; he didn’t say anything, he just took her shoes; I like my body when it is with your body; simply enjoy; now she is in love; fuzzy coffee; you ate my joy; it will never work … Continue reading Regret at Midday
Written with the prompts: springtime, accepting limits but pushing for more, wonder about the ivy, there is always a little girl standing in the corner just staring, Maddie in the grip Maddie is in the grip of a good story, her pale face illuminated by the blue light of her Kindle. It is winter inside … Continue reading In The Grip
It was a pretty simple prompt the other night: in the tradition of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, give your story an enticing three-item title. Sorry to sound like an ad for Canon, but I’d just bought a new printer so it was on my mind. The bigger reason I’m including the brand … Continue reading The Poet, The Coyote, and The Canon Wireless Printer
Written with my Thursday night group with the prompts: 34 states, a black silk frog, blue silk dress, bruised knees, the strange sensation of of wearing someone else’s clothes, close to midnight, awareness, love your work, friendly strangers, bee-friendly plant, yearning Melinda dreamed she was in an airport wearing a blue silk dress that fastened … Continue reading Yearning
Written with my Thursday night group with the prompts: he spotted me, stronger investment, dangerous, everybody knows your name, raining each day, water gets hot, warning-this bag is not a toy, dynamite, one muddy boot, luggage, tickle of dew on my toe, bright night air, out the door He spotted me at the department store pocketing … Continue reading Red
As I was walking the levee trail, I met a rabbit who offered me a cigarette. The rabbit wore a necktie and a suit jacket with shoulder pads. He had grayish white fur—in fact his entire body, his clothes, his cigarette case, even the sky behind him-were a matte gray like a black and white movie, … Continue reading In These Times
