Five Line Fetchy Fragment: Hunger

Image copyright Skeeze

I'm so hungry for something I haven't a recipe for

I want to believe in magic

I want to believe in dreams

I want gentle ghosts to haunt my graveyard

And my house and my carousel

Cie for Gem

Ondina for Serab

Pepper for Gerry

Prompt Used:

You can stop right there and just read the poem, or you can continue on and read the long and rambling notes.

Notes:

This story poem was created for Team Netherworld's longest-running WIP, Fetch, which is a Lovecraftian paranormal romance.

Fetch's protagonist is Gerry Clifford, a Scottish musician raised in London's seedy Crouch End borough from the time he was twelve years old. (As inspired by Stephen King's Lovecraftian short story, Crouch End, which can be found in the 1980 anthology, New Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos.) As Gerry's cognitive and physical abilities deteriorate, he is placed in London's Candlelight Ridge Care Home. Gerry's spirit begins to go AWOL from a body which no longer works properly, and he discovers that the unfortunate residents at Candlelight Ridge are not simply succumbing to the ravages of age and infirmity, their souls are being harvested by Yadira Root, an ancient high priestess of the notorious Cthulhu Cult and the daughter of Nyarlathotep himself. Pursued by a hostile hive entity, Gerry turns to troubled American medium Pepper Baiij for help.
Many millennia previously in another star system and possibly another dimension, Gerry was a thief named Serab. Serab was a member of a race persecuted by West Zecor's tyrannical King Qweh, who captured the hapless thief one day and presented him to his sister Princess Ondina, an empath whose primary function was attempting to ameliorate the destruction and chaos caused by Qweh.
Qweh hoped for Ondina to be irritated when he gave her the tiny, elfin Serab as a replacement for her slain bodyguard, but Ondina did not react as Qweh hoped. She treated Serab respectfully. There was an immediate attraction between Ondina and Serab, although Ondina was statuesque, stately, and a member of the ruling class while Serab was small, rough, and a member of an oppressed race.
When Serab was brutally murdered by Qweh at the end of the doomed planet Zecor's existence, Ondina sent his soul to "the realm of the yellow sun" with the admonition that the pair must never meet again. Ondina hoped to protect her beloved from Qweh's threat that he would destroy Serab in any lifetime where he and Ondina reunited.
Serab eventually reincarnated as Gerry Clifford while Ondina reincarnated as Pepper Baiij. The star-crossed lovers were finally reunited when Gerry's spirit or Fetch began leaving his body in search of help.
It's doubtful that Fetch will ever be published in any kind of cohesive form. It remains Team Netherworld's favorite WIP.

Disclosure: If you purchase the book through this link, I earn a small commission.

Carpe Diem Summer Challenge 2019: The End of Summer

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the end of summer

can't come soon enough for me

I'm sick of the heat

~Cie~

Carpe Diem Summer Challenge 2019 + Tuesday Platform: Coming Full Circle: Not Your Summer Tryst Under the Big Moon

Big Moon copyright Alicia Dunn

no summer love here

hope for a rainstorm to come

far from any beach

on a faraway seashore

as the children gather shells

couple making love

I want a garden

perhaps a small waterfall

spilling over stones

don't want a French kiss

I take tea with sunflower

won't lurk in shadow

~Cie~

Note:

I've never been keen for flings and I don't like being anyone's dirty little secret. Finding a summer love never appealed to me, and I've only been to the beach once in my life. I'd much rather spend my time on mundane activities such as gardening than engaging in an ill-advised mating dance which will only end in heartbreak for me. 

Frankly, in many ways, I'm quite content not to be young anymore. I only wish I had the strength and endurance of my youth. The impulsiveness, stupidity, and desperate lovesick puppy behavior is more than welcome to remain in the past.

Carpe Diem Summer Challenge 2019: Twilight

Image by DarkWorkX from Pixabay

Looking forward to

Finally seeing twilight

From the window of

My new home on the prairie

Will the day finally come?

~Cie~

Notes:

When you invest in a historic property in a way-off-the-beaten-path town, there can be holdups. This place is not move-in ready, and getting it to that state is proving to be a challenge. It's been like pulling teeth for the electrician to get the necessary permits. He's trying his best, but the people who are supposed to be helping him aren't being very helpful. He said that usually permit people are more than happy to take your money.

It's also been like pulling teeth to get the proposal from the plumbing company. Why don't these people want our money? If they don't get the proposal to my email tomorrow, I'm going to tell them that we'll come to the office and sign it. 

With my health issues, these 250-mile round trips are knocking me on my ass. I'm an old night shift worker who has never slept well at night and these contractors like to get cracking at the ass-crack of dawn. 

I may suggest to my son that we consider packing everything from the townhouse into a pod and staying in one of those by-the-week motels in Greeley so we don't have to keep making this drive. It's really taking a toll on me. Of course, we'd have to find one that would allow cats...hell, it's always something.

Anyway, this bit is going to start coming down today, so that's a start.

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation: Goat and Sunflowers

Image Source

I drive past a house

Little goat stretches through fence

Munches sunflower

~Cie~

Come as you Are: J.O.B. to Poor but Free

Image by Grae Dickason from Pixabay

This poem describes very well how I felt about being in the Employee Mindset for nearly 40 years. The line "grey upon greyness" is particularly evocative.

That's exactly how I feel about the Life of an Employee working a J.O.B., which I did from the time I was 16 years old until this year when my disabilities knocked me out of the working life for good. (I'm 54 now and am working from home.)

There were some things about the jobs I did that I liked, but, overall, it was an extremely soul-destroying situation. I absolutely felt like I had to give up bits of myself all the time.

I certainly don't like living in poverty, which I am at this point. However, one thing is true which it never was when I was working a J.O.B. (stands for Just Over Broke). I am really and truly myself, not someone else's servant. On a soul level, that is tremendously freeing.

~Cie~

Insecure Writers Support Group Book Club Question: During Which Season Are You Most Inspired to Read and Write?

Image by Henning Sørby from Pixabay

The Insecure Writers Support Group Book Club posted this question:

During which season of the year are you most inspired to read and write?

My response:

Autumn and winter. I have horrific spring depression, and I tend to have a lot of extracurricular activities which take me away from my normal schedule in the summer. 

I'm always a bit amused by the responses I get when I reveal that I have spring depression and gloomy winter days don't bother me much.

"But how can you be deepressed in the spring when everything is so preeety, and young people's fancies turn to Lurve????"

The part of my brain responsible for the physical aspect of my bipolar disorder doesn't see pretty. I theorize that it becomes aware of changes in light which it doesn't like and which make me feel like a lonely ghost haunting a mausoleum. The pretty flowers make this part of my brain think of flowers on a grave. I often dream of cemeteries at this time of year.

As for young folks' fancies turning to Twoo Wuv, have you read my poetry? Does it seem like that shit has worked out for me, like, at all, other than to be a complete and utter thermonuclear holocaust? It's kind of like saying "but why don't you like having a railroad spike driven into your chest? What's wrong with you?" 

Twoo Wuv doesn't work out for everyone. End of.

Carpe Diem Summer Challenge 2019: Flowers and Bees

Summer Flowers

depth of a flower

flying away with the bee

some mystery

depth of a flower

more than human eyes can see

beneath its petals

flying away with the bee

nectar gathered for the hive

pollen on their legs

some mystery

why foolish humans can't see

how necessary

~Jane & Cie~

Notes:

The "sleigh" of this Troiku was created by Jane Reichhold (1937 - 2016). The trio of bees pulling the sleigh was wrangled by me.

Learn about ways to help pollinators through the Butterfly Pavilion's PACE Program.

Carpe Diem Summer Challenge 2019: Beach Party for Every Body

Image by David Shaw from Pixabay

What I have been wondering for a long time is this.

Why is it that when you have a bunch of stupid guys on a beach and a person with the “wrong” kind of body walks by, and they yell terrible and mean-spirited things at this person who is minding their own business,

Why is everyone’s response to ignore and even justify their behavior rather than shouting them down?

Why shouldn’t everyone be allowed to relax and have fun at the beach or the pool?

Why is it only fun for those whose bodies have been deemed attractive enough?

Why shouldn’t fat people and skinny people and people with scars and stretch marks and ladies with saggy boobs and men with round pot bellies and hairy folks and scrawny scarecrow guys and gals with arms and legs like Betty Spaghetti have a nice time too?

I think it’s rather boring when the only people who can go for a swim without feeling self-conscious and like they must keep covered up are young people with the “right” kind of body.

Shouldn’t we have gotten past the idea that the only people whose bodies should be seen are sleek, unblemished, photoshopped visions of pornographic “perfection?”

Shouldn’t the beach be a place where everyone can cool off, not yet another spot where only the hottest hotties are allowed?

Beach parties are fun

For those with the right body

Not so much for those

Whose bodies have been deemed wrong

Ignoring not an option

~Cie~

Heeding Haiku: Shadows on the Wall

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shadows on the wall

hope to see you hiding there

haunter of my heart

A story-poem for Fetch

By Cie for Gem and Pepper for Gerry

Fetch is Team Netherworld's longest-running WIP

Carpe Diem Summer Challenge 2019: Shadow

Photographer unknown

I

blue autumn skies

folded into mountains

purple shadow

blue autumn skies

stretching endless before me

skies blue like your eyes

folded into mountains

a felled giant lies sleeping

dreaming of the past

purple shadow

falls over eyes which can't cry

I have seen too much

Jane & Cie

II

such a hot day

my shadow needs to cool down

under the willow

such a hot day

sun beats down unrelenting

upon troubled earth

my shadow needs to cool down

it steals away and leaves me

muscles wracked with pain

under the willow

I find trouble waiting there

in the form of thought

Kyoshi & Cie

Note:

The "sleigh" of the first Troiku was created by Jane Reichhold (1937 - 2016). The "sleigh" of the second Troiku was created by Kyoshi Takahama (1874 - 1958). I wrangled all the horses.

I have chronic, widespread, low-grade pain from fibromyalgia and am constantly hot and easily fatigued due to my various endocrine problems. The summer is not my friend.

Grover and Clem aren't bothered by this weather, seeing as Grover is a ghost and Clem is a mutant Cactus Man, or maybe a Man Cactus.

Visit the Artist

Visit the Artist

Visit Grover and Clem and follow the Grover Hotel renovations at the Good Stuff from Grover blog!

Carpe Diem Summer Challenge + The Tuesday Platform: Midsummer Rain

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

A prairie rainstorm

In the middle of summer

Slow and lumbering

Meanders across the land

Shrouded in dark cloud cover

~Cie~

This poem is part of the Grover series, honoring the first place I've ever felt like I could call home since childhood. I don't feel like a temporary tenant when I'm there, I feel like this is where I live.

Please visit me, Ghost Town Grover, and Cactus Clem at the Good Stuff From Grover website!

Visit the Artist

Visit the Artist

This poem has earned the Cactus Clem Seal of Approval!

Cactus Clem sez: "I shore do like when it rains! As a Cactus Man or may be a Man Cactus, I am always thirsty!"

Carpe Diem Summer Challenge 2019: On the Porch

The back porch area at the Grover Hotel

Much work to be done

Before we have a good porch

For relaxation

~Cie~

Note:

This was not a classical Haiku--sorry! But it is where my mind is. Mike from Construction Guru starts his work tomorrow. Then the electrical work begins, then the plumbing. At that point, there's still a lot to be done, but we can start moving in. I will be happy about that. 

These 250-mile round trips to go to the site and then come back to Lakewood are very stressful. I'm seeing myself coming and going and feel like I'm neglecting other areas of my life. This starts to make me feel very critical of myself, and not very good at all about my creative work. More about that later.

Visit the Artist

Even though this poem failed as a classic Haiku, it has earned the Cactus Clem seal of approval. In fairness, Cactus Clem doesn't know the first thing about classic Haiku. As Clem says: "I ain't know much about poem writin', but I know what I like, and this here is a poem I like!"

Visit the Artist

Ghost Town Grover says: "Can't say as I know nothin' about writin' poems neither, but I reckon this here poem is purty good."

Visit Grover, Clem, and the rest of the gang at the Good Stuff From Grover site!

Carpe Diem Weekend Meditation #94: Crow

Photographer Unknown

as evening comes on

a crow pauses on a branch

contemplating night

~Cie~

Inspired by Matsuo Basho 

Carpe Diem Summer Challenge 2019: Ice Cold Beer (With Grover and Cactus Clem)

Image Source

When the contractors
Make the old place livable
We are moving in
My son will brew his own beer
We will enjoy with new friends

~Cie~

Notes:

The stars are finally right and the contractors are going to be able to start working to make the Grover Hotel ready for our move! 

My son is going to help the excavator pull down this rickety extension which a previous occupant erected on the property. It has no real support, and the excavator needs it out of the way to be able to expose the foundation for the structural engineer.

Once we are able to get settled in, among other projects such as growing both outdoor plants and indoor salad greens using hydroponics, my son wants to start brewing his own beer. Fortunately, we already have a couple of volunteer taste testers!

Visit the Artist

Ghost Town Grover was a miner during the Colorado Gold Rush. He was born in a covered wagon on the Oregon Trail on the fourth of July, 1840. He settled in the Grover Hotel in 1910. One night while he was out exploring the prairie grasslands with his shovel, inspired by a bolt of White Lightnin' to start a new gold rush, Grover was sadly mowed down by a train as he stood on the tracks gawping in awe at...

Visit the Artist

Nobody knows exactly where Cactus Clem came from or just what he is aside from, in Clem's own words "a cactus man, or maybe a man cactus," but the words "mad scientist" have been tossed about regarding his origins.

Image by ErikaWittlieb from Pixabay

A mural featuring Dr. Schitz graces the Research Laboratory at Hell's Pass Hospital and Research Center on the outskirts of Nightmare Heights

Although he was three sheets to the wind on the night in question, Grover distinctly recalls hearing "what I thought was a train with engine trouble," and then seeing "a blue box-lookin' thing set down next to the track, and three fellas got out. One of 'em had on a white coat, one of 'em had on the craziest-lookin' getup I ever seen, and I couldn't quite see the other one in the shadows."

The Story of Cactus Clem

by

Ghost Town Grover

So there I was, standin' there starin' at the weirdest sight I ever did see and swearin' off the White Lightnin' for good. The feller in the crazy clothes was English or somethin', and he said: 'are you sure it's all right to leave your experiment here, Dr. Schitz?'"

The feller in the white coat said: "ja, ja, it is desert and he is cactus. Not to vorry." This feller sounded a lot like my old friend Slim Svensson from back in the gold rush days, but it wasn't him. Slim wasn't no scientist, though he sure did like to blow things up!

So then them two fellers went back in the blue box and I heard that weird noise again and the box disappeared. The third feller was standin' there across the track, and he said: "Howdy, Partner! My name's Clem, and I'm real thirsty. Do y'all have anything fer a feller to drink?"

Well, I said: "c'mon back to the ole hotel with me an' I'll git you somethin'. I don't trust this here white lightnin'. It makes ya see weird things."

I started to cross the track, but then I got a load of Clem, and I stood there gawpin'. That was all the time it took fer a train to run right over me. When I come to, I was standin' on one side of the track and my body was layin' on the other. Clem was swiggin' down the last of the White Lightnin'. He looked at me and grinned.

"This stuff is purty good!" he said. "It really hit the spot!"

Well, I didn't have much to do fer a long time, 'cept haunt the ole hotel and hang around on the lone prairie with Cactus Clem. I learned that he was some kind of scientific experiment made by that nutty Dr. Schitz feller. Clem don't eat nothin', but he has to drink a lot. So I know he's gonna look forward to tastin' the homemade beer when the Ornery Old Lady and her son git moved into the Grover Hotel! Iffen y'all stop by sometime, you might be able to have yerself a beer too, and maybe play some cards an' recite some poetry!

Yer ole pal,

Ghost Town Grover

Carpe Diem Summer Challenge 2019: Outdoor Shower

Image by Ambady Sasi from Pixabay

I
outdoor shower
bathed in sun colors
of hot water

outdoor shower
a little bird looks out from
the branches of home

bathed in sun colors
its black and yellow feathers
so like clouds and light

of hot water
heat of summer relentless
even for a bird

II
slipping into the pool
naked divides the night
sun-warmed waters
.
slipping into the pool
comes a nighttime visitor
a stealthy raccoon

naked divides the night
those that hide in the daytime
appear bold at dusk

sun-warmed waters
a pleasure as it paddles
silent in shadow

Jane & Cie

Notes:

I was honestly stuck with this one. Then it came to me, like flash--like a vision! I just wrote it down.

The "sleighs" of these two Troiku were written by Jane Reichhold (1937 - 2016). The unruly "horses" were led to water by me.

Tanka Splendor: White Flowers

Lily of the Valley

Pretty white flowers

Remind me of promises

Broken over time

Flowers crushed in fits of rage

When one expects betrayal

~Cie~

Carpe Diem Summer Challenge 2019 + The Tuesday Platform: Beachcomber

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missing the malls

on the ocean beach

she gathers shells

what is there to miss in malls?

beaches are so much better

high tide

the beach leaves a mark

in her book

she will always remember

this new home away from home

afternoon wind

all the beachcomber's words

blown out to sea

words written on the shoreline

she hopes that he could see them

cold beach walk

on sun-warmed car seats

two sweatshirts

one for her, one for her son

the one who means everything

a special beach

I put a pebble in my mouth

before leaving

wishing to taste the ocean

one last time before going

smelling the light

on her tanned shoulder

home from the beach

this home away from her home

in her memory always

~Jane & Cie~

Notes:

The Hokku of these Renga were written by Jane Reichhold (1937 - 2016). The Ageku were created by me.

The sum total is a story poem about Pepper Baiij, the protagonist in Team Netherworld's long-running WIP, Fetch. These story poems help keep the WIPs we aren't able to work on as much alive.

Carpe Diem Summer Challenge: Moonlight Swim with Jim and Ray

Let's swim to the moon

Dear minstrels of dream vision

Come and set me free

From a world hard and cruel

Bring me melodic beauty

~Cie~

Note:

Me and skinny dipping? Not in this lifetime, Cupcake. But I'm always happy to talk about those who influenced me. Many years ago, the Doors gave me an invitation to swim to the moon. I'm waiting for them to come and take me.