April PAD Challenge + NaPoWriMo 2024 Day 12

Image by Fantasm from Pixabay

I was initially thinking that I wouldn't submit the poem I created today to Dragon Soul Press for their Soul Ink 2 anthology, but I changed my mind.

https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-poetry/2024-april-pad-challenge-day-12

Today's April PAD Challenge prompt asks for a funny poem.

https://www.napowrimo.net/day-twelve-12/

Today's NaPoWriMo prompt also leans toward the light-hearted, asking poets to write a poem that plays with the idea of a “tall tale.”

I wrote a story in limerick form detailing the origins of my friends Ghost Town Grover and Cactus Clem. While it may not make it into the Soul Ink 2 anthology, it will always have a place in my heart and on my blog.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Wolfgang Eckert from Pixabay

"So you wanna hear the story of Ghost Town Grover and Cactus Clem. Well, gather 'round, and I'll tell the tale of that dark and stormy night."

Ghost Town Grover

Free use image by Clker Free Vector Images

"Jest one small quibble, Ornery. The skies was clear that night, 'cept fer maybe a cloud or two, and it wasn't rainin', 'cept maybe fer a little drizzle. It was 114 years ago, so my memory's a little foggy."

Cactus Clem

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors

"Is this gonna be a scary story, Ornery? 'Cause if it's a scary story, I need my lantern and my teddy bear and a big ole jug of Cuzzin Hildy-Bob and Virgil-Joe's premium moonshine."

Hangry Wyrm

Free use image from Clker Free Vector Images

"I've only got one question. Are snacks included with this story? 'Cause I'd like some popcorn and a big lemonade and some M and M's. Speaking of M and M's, I think your story will be more interesting if you let that guy Eminem rap while you tell it."

Inside Out

 

outside is a tree in which the birds hide

hide from cats and other such things outside

inside is a room where I can hide

hide from the outside world here inside

room like a womb and sometimes a tomb

tomb for lost dreams in my head and my room

notes

I don't have my tree up and it isn't snowing right now. The image is from December 2020. It's kind of blurry so I don't know why you'd want to use it, but if you do, please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl.

Here's today's prompt:

https://experiencewriting.com/2023/10/25/oct-25-prompts-superstitions/

Describe what you see out the window. Now, go outside and describe what you see looking in through that window. Write a poem about the similarities and differences. 

The Mirror Sestet might work well with this prompt.

http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/mirrorsestet.html

The Mirror Sestet, created by Shelley A. Cephas, is a poem that can be written in one or more stanzas of 6 lines each. The specific guidelines for this form are as follows:

The first word of line 1 rhymes with the last word of line 1.

The first word of line 2 is the last word of line 1

and the last word of line 2 is the 1st word of line 1.

The first word of line 3 rhymes with the last word of line 3.

The first word of line 4 is the last word of line 3

and the last word of line 4 is the 1st word of line 3.

The first word of line 5 rhymes with the last word of line 5.

The first word of line 6 is the last word of line 5

and the last word of line 6 is the 1st word of line 5.

The Mirror Sestet can also be written in non-rhyme.

All rules must be followed except there is no 1st and last word rhyming.

I feel like I'm fighting off a cold. I'm betting my blood sugar will be a bit high when I do my morning fasting glucose reading. Nothing alarming, probably somewhere in the high 130s to 150s. It usually runs a little high when I'm fighting an infection. Also, I had snot dripping in my CPAP mask. Very lovely.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by koniciva2011 from Pixabay

Ornery Owl wishes she were better at sleeping.

Here's some soothing Halloween music. Don't say I never gave you nothing.

https://odysee.com/@Radioman:a/yt5s.com-Relaxing-Halloween-Music---Pumpkin-Jack-O%27-Lanterns-%F0%9F%8E%83-Dark%2C-Spooky-Sounds%2C-Halloween-Ambience:b?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

Safe Harbor

 

Base photo by the poet

home is safe harbor

though it's far from any shore

out on the prairie

notes

The photo was taken on September 26, 2020. Text art and effects were added in Pixlr on September 9, 2023. You are welcome to share either or both images, but please credit Cara Hartley/Ornery Owl, and a link back to this blog would be appreciated.

The big yellow building is the house where my son and I live. The small yellow building is the post office. 

The house was built in 1910. It was originally a hotel. It later became a house of ill repute, a hospital, a church, a boarding house for teachers, and a bed and breakfast. Before my son's father bought the place, it was owned by a maniac who was hoping to fix and flip it and did some terrible things to it. The structure itself is sound. It would have to be to survive the harsh conditions on the Northeastern Colorado plains.

Many people will look at these images and see them as grim and depressing. Our town has a spot on the ghost town registry and is in the top ten poorest towns in the state. The residents congregate at the food bank once a month. Rural areas tend to attract people who can't afford housing in the city or the suburbs. 

People who live in rural towns often fall through the cracks. Nobody comes to ask us how we're doing or if there's anything we need. People who live in rural areas tend to be viewed as outcasts by the rest of society.

Still, if I were offered the opportunity to move out of this place and live in an upscale suburban patio home or urban penthouse, I wouldn't take it. I would stick out like a sore thumb. This place suits me, even if the other residents don't really get me either.

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Jorge Reynal from Pixabay

"You're all doing a splendid job out there in the fields. Graze on!"

Sharing with

http://magicalmysticalteacher.wordpress.com

http://myjustsostory.blogspot.com

Helloween Day 23: Haunting My Unbelievable House

 

most find it unbelievable

that I am haunting a big house

filled with so much history

they always anticipated

that I would end up living on the street

 

I am still trying to create

order from the mess that is my life

it seems that each time I mend something

another thing breaks

 

I can trace this house's past

through the residents of the town

it was built in 1910

it is on the historical register

 

it started life as a hotel

it was once a house of ill repute

it has been a hospital and a church

a boarding house for teachers

and a bed and breakfast

 

the house was populated by idiots

at certain points in its existence

one selfish woman and her bratty children

destroyed beautiful artwork

created by the teachers who once lived here

 

there are similarities and differences

between the self-absorbed floozy

and the fix-and-flipper

she lived for her whims

he had tunnel vision

 

I find myself unsure

If I am making forward movement

I don’t have adequate money

To make more repairs

 

I find myself staring down the barrel

Of going back to work

I am still compromised

I could only work part-time

 

Disability doesn’t pay enough

And I’m tired of dealing with their guff

You can only amass $2000 in savings

You can only have one car

 

Never mind if you think it would be wise to have a backup vehicle

Or want to put aside some money

In case of emergencies

 

Or that $1380 per month

Only just pays the bills

And then they take back $140 of that

To pay the Medicare premiums

 

I would like to haunt my bruised old house on the prairie

Every day forever

I don’t want to return to my old job

Two hours away from home

 

Where I’ll have to get a hotel room

And be away from home three days a week

I just want to haunt my unbelievable home

I just want to be free at last

 

To be what I am

And not what everyone else

Thinks that I should be

But have failed to be

 

I want to be the real me

But I’m not entirely sure

What that is

 

369 words

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Free-use image from Open Clipart Vectors

los promptos

https://thesaxophoneplayerswife.com/

Prompt: Unbelievable

https://earthweal.com/2021/10/22/earthweal-open-link-weekend-89/

https://amanpan.com/2021/10/21/eugis-weekly-prompt-haunting-october-21-2021/

http://www.octpowrimo.com/2021/10/octpowrimo-day-22.html

http://www.octpowrimo.com/2021/10/octpowrimo-day-23.html

I used the word prompts for day 22 and didn't follow the prompt for day 23.

https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2021/10/23/opposing-forces-saturday-mix-23-october-2021/

https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/2021/10/weekly-scribblings-92-forward-movement.html

The Icky, Sticky, Nit-Picky Legalese If You Please (Or Don't Please)

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Flashing Back and Forth: Wisteria & A Birthday

Image copyright Vũ Đỗ

https://pixabay.com/photos/chinese-wisteria-bee-insect-flower-5112048/#_=_

In the moonlight,

The color and scent of the wisteria

Seems far away.

As far away I think as

My sense of belonging here

Buson & Cie

Join Friday Flashback at:

http://fivedotoh.com

Join Haiku My Heart at:
http://corazon.typepad.com

http://chevrefeuillescarpediem.blogspot.com/2019/05/carpe-diem-1660-tan-renga-challenge.html

New Notes:

This will be a long post, so if you only came for the poetry, this is your stop!

Today is my son's thirtieth birthday. It is also Friday Flashback day. So I am leaving the notes from last year when I wrote the post.

Last year at this time, my son, his dad, and I were in the process of trying to get things in order to purchase the property that my son says is his literal dream house. I often say that I'm a pretty useless excuse for a person and pretty much a waste of oxygen and skin cells, but I am the one who found the house, so I have done two good things in this life. I brought my son into the world, which he sometimes may not think is such a great thing as it has been a bit of an uphill fight for him given that he lives with anxiety, high-functioning autism, and major depression in a society that demands a very rigid degree of impossible perfection and an ability to play by certain rigid rules.

This is the house, and you can well believe that I nearly peed myself when I saw that this property was being sold for $90,000. We had just finished looking at a very "meh" three-bedroom townhome in southeast Denver that cost $240,000 and kicking the worst real estate agent ever to the curb. Thanks for sucking, Matt. You did us a huge favor.

If you're interested in seeing just what this clown did, you can read this post.

https://www.ciethehuntress.com/2019/04/crap-not-to-do-as-real-estate-agent.html

I'd like to thank Xenia, the real estate agent we had prior to Matt, for sucking too. Rather than being a professional and telling us that she wasn't the right real estate agent for us, she did the bad high school break-up thing, hung up on me, and refused to return my calls. It was very unprofessional. Note that we didn't do anything wrong to her, we were always polite. We were looking for land, and she only wanted to sell upscale properties in Denver. Also, note that she approached us first, touting her abilities as a real estate agent. 

We instead ended up with Jason Wadsworth, who is a fantastic real estate agent. If you are ever interested in buying a property in Northern Colorado, Jason is your go-to guy. He can be reached at jwadsworth@remax.net

I am glad that my son's dream house is now a reality. There has been a lot of work done on it, and more still needs to be done. We are also still tackling the nightmare that is my old mobile home and hope to have it on the market this summer. I will be extremely happy when it's gone.

I couldn't end this post without giving a shout-out to Ghost Town Grover and Cactus Clem. I hope to be giving more attention to their adventures once the whole trailer mess has been wrangled.

Ghost Town Grover

https://pixabay.com/vectors/man-hat-bearded-cowboy-male-311670/

Cactus Clem

https://pixabay.com/vectors/cactus-character-man-western-154386/

Ye Olde Notes:

The Hokku (Haiku) stanza of the poem was written by Yosa Buson (1716 - 1784). The Akegu (closing) stanza was written by me.

I have never felt that I belonged in this world. When I was younger, I always hoped I'd find people I belonged with. There have been a few where I feel like they put up with me to a degree or felt sympathy for me, but I have never had a sense of finding my "tribe." The only person I'm really at all close with is my son. I tend to form only very superficial relationships with other people.

Dinners with my mother are perilous and fraught with small talk. She has never approved of any of my choices, and she knows almost nothing about what is really transpiring in my life.

I am not at all close with the other members of my family. I would not recognize most of them if I passed them in the street.

At this point in my life, I do not wish to party and socialize. I have one friend whom I confide in via email, and that means a lot. This friend lives a few thousand miles away from me, so it isn't as if we could get together for coffee.

I have felt a degree of understanding and acceptance from the people participating in this little Tan Renga challenge, which I usually don't get a sense of during such challenges.

I usually feel as if I am an outsider who has crashed a party when participating in blog hops, and the general sense is "what is that freak doing here at our exclusive soiree?" Some of the blog hops I participate in are very focused on clothing and fashion although other sorts of posts are allowed, and if you don't think I'm an absolute outlier when it comes to fashion, you don't know me at all. I can't afford nice clothes or even new clothes, and I look like an unmade bed most of the time.

One would think that I would feel more at home with creative blog hops, but I usually don't. I've been surprised by the feeling of peace I've gained participating in this one. Maybe it's just that no-one has attacked me yet. Hopefully, we can do without that happening this time.

The Inevitable Legalese and Other Blah-Blah

Content copyright 2019 - 2020 by Cara Hartley

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Tan Renga Wednesday on Saturday: Cherry Trees in Full Bloom

Image source

springtime is coming

hope to put the longer days

to practical use

shadows become longer

cherry tree in full bloom grows

~Chèvrefeuille & cie~

notes

Once my son and I are done clearing out that blasted mobile home (the one where I lived for 18 years and he lived for close to ten) we will finally be able to concentrate on what we want to do with our new home. I would like to plant a few dwarf fruit trees. I've always loved cherries, both as a fruit and a plant. I try to keep looking to the future, to have aspirations but also keep in mind the need for practicality due to my health issues.

The Ageku of this Renga is © Chèvrefeuille. The Hokku was written by me.

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Wednesday: Winter Chrysanthemum

Image by Marjon Besteman-Horn from Pixabay

Winter chrysanthemum,

Wearing nothing

but its own light

I wear a sweatshirt for warmth

and think about my garden

~Mizuhara Shūōshi & cie~

notes

The Hokku is © Mizuhara Shūōshi (1892-1981). The Ageku was written by yours truly.

Carpe Diem New Beginnings: Ornery Senryu: First Sunray

Image Source

first rays of sunshine

after working the night shift

felt like a vampire

~The Ornery Old Night Owl~

Image Copyright Open Clipart Vectors

Ornery Literary Services

Ornery Notes:

I haven't had to work the night shift in close to three years now. But I'm still a night owl!

The night shift was always fine for me until about three or four in the morning. The last three or four hours were horrible.

Visit the Artist

Ghost Town Grover Sez:

"I gotta tell y'all, on Halloween night in Telluride in 1880, I was whoopin' it up with some of the other miners, and when I went out behind the saloon to drain the ole rattlesnake, this pale feller with slick black hair wearin' a fancy cape come floatin' up beside me. I asked him if he wanted to come into the saloon and join me and the fellers fer a swig of Amos Fine's Famous Shine. 

That high-fallutin' feller said in a hoity-toity way that he didn't never drink Shine. Now, maybe he was jest eccentric or somethin', but when Father O'Malley come outta the saloon wearin' his big ole silver cross on a chain, that feller hissed like an angry tomcat, hollered "BLUH!", pulled his cape over his face, and turned tail and run. 

Maybe he'd bin slippin' outta the church after Sunday meetin's without tithin' proper, but there shore was somethin' weird about that fancy-pants stranger, and he shore didn't take a shine to the good Father and his shiny cross.

Visit the Artist

Cactus Clem Sez:

"Well, Grover, I bet y'all didn't know it, but Ornery actually is a vamper. I done heard her tellin' someone all about how she got hammered on cactus juice on Saint Patrick's Day in 1992 an' ended up sleepin' on someone's bathroom floor! She ain't tried to drink the juice from my veins yet, but I'm gonna have to sleep with one eye open on St. Patrick's Day!"

Image Source

Further Ornery Notes:

Cactus Clem doesn't have anything to worry about. I really can't drink more than a few sips of beer or wine these days. But if you're feeling daring, you can click the link above and try the drink that the cute little buffalo is serving up!

Heeding Haiku: First Snowfall

Image Source

outside my new home

the first snow begins to fall

melancholy hope

~Cie~

We're back!

What Lunch Looked Like

How y'all am are? I was not expecting to be back so soon, but, as fate would have it, I'm here and so are you! So, let's do this!

After spending a freezing night without power in the old Grover Hotel, the Ornery Old Lady (that's me) and Sonny Boy headed to Greeley to gather up some supplies in case we were looking at another night to a week or more of this. We stopped at Taco John's, a place I haven't been to in some 35 years. In fact, that's where I made my last post from!

I was glad to find that Taco John's still tastes the same, but the price about knocked me out of the ballpark. Twenty bucks for a chicken quesadilla, a stuffed taco, Potato Ole's, drinks, and some guacamole, queso, and sour cream. Honestly, it's not that bad for today's prices, but I can remember when I was in high school and would go to Taco John's instead of eating the cafeteria swill. I'd have five bucks on me and get a whole meal and still get change back. Well, so it goes.

We went to Home Depot and bought a propane-powered space heater and looked into getting a backup generator. We picked up a snow shovel, which I thought was steel. It was aluminum and it bent easily. Not a winner there. We got a flashlight and a mini lantern. Then we headed to visit my son's second cousins on his father's side. They said that if the power was going to be out for a while, we could bring the cats and stay with them.

We hit the King Soopers to get some nonperishables like crackers and tinned kippers and then headed for home.

My son was reading the instructions for the space heater and I was getting the snow shovel out of the car when he came running out in an excited mood. The power was back on! I looked down the street to see the blinking red light just beyond the general store, and it never looked so beautiful!

It's still colder than a well-digger's ass in the old Hotel, but the furnace is back on and the temperature is rising. I've got salmon, potatoes, and corn in the oven. I also have (I hope) a fun opportunity.

I am going to need help deciding which poems to put in my manuscript for the November PAD Chapbook Challenge. So, for the next month, I will be having a Battle of the Poems. I will put up two poems, and I would like readers to decide which of the two they prefer. You can give me a reason, or just say "I like number (one or two) best." 

There will be a prize as an incentive for helping me. 

The person who comments on the most poems will receive a $5 Amazon gift card in their email. In the event that there is a tie, I will use a coin, dice, or Random Number Generator to help me choose.

I think this will be fun, and I hope I can get a few people to play along.

The first Battle of the Poems will appear tomorrow!

~Cie~

Carpe Diem #1773: Tanka: Bury Me on the Lone Prairie

Image Copyright Aubrey Danielle

when my time is done

I want my last breaths to be

on the lone prairie

not in a hospital room

I leave with the whistling wind

~Cie~

Notes:

You happier chappies are probably saying "ugh, there goes that gloomy old Cie with another gloomy poem." But I don't think this poem is gloomy. I think it's real.

I worked in long-term care for most of the 25 years that I was in the medical field. I think that people who work in this setting tend to become very adamant that we do not want to end up dying in a medicalized setting.

My father died in a hospice center. It was a peaceful place with a spacious, comfortable room. He was in constant pain and losing his capacity to think and remember things. It was much better than being in a hospital or nursing home. But for myself, I don't want my end to be even that medicalized. I want to look out the window and see my Lone Prairie before I rise up and walk away on the wind that constantly blows in these parts.

Visit the Artist

Ghost Town Grover Sez:

"Dagnabit, Ornery, ya morbid ole cuss! Ya done went and made Cactus Clem gloomy with all yer chatter about croakin'. Now, I know I'm a ghost, but I've been a ghost fer near to 110 years. We ghosts like to whoop it up on Halloween night, but I ain't gonna be doin' much whoopin' it up if I've gotta be tryin' to cheer Cactus Clem up. So, what the heck are you gonna do about it?"

Image by nancy sticke from Pixabay

Visit the Artist

Cactus Clem Sez:

"Aw, thanks Ornery! Them ghost puppies is jest the thing to cheer a feller!"

Happy Halloween from the Grover Hotel Gang

OctPoWriMo 2019: Day 20: Haibun My Way: From the Mountains to the Prairie

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

Image Source

You see a lot of these critters along the county roads leading to Grover. You have to be careful because sometimes they'll want to cross the road. Unfortunately, I see a fair number of them dead on the roadside. Hitting one would probably total my car, which is one reason I don't like to drive after dark on the Lone Prairie.

And now, on to our Haibun.

In the days of my youth, I loved to party. If anyone asked me to go out to a club, I’d immediately say “yes.” I loved to drink and dance.

I always dreamed of living in a glorious mansion, the sort of place that was the toast of the town.

I have always loved the mountains. For most of my life I lived near the mountains and could not imagine living anywhere else.

The prairie? “Well, how bland and boring is that?” I asked myself.

Except I never really found the prairie bland and boring. I was just repeating what I was supposed to think. Still, I could not imagine living in a place where I couldn’t see the mountains.

Then just this year, I discovered a place a hundred miles from where I’d lived for many years: a place way out on the prairie.

I no longer see the mountains every day, but I love what I see now just as much.

My dream home is in a place that I couldn’t have imagined, far from city nightlife, way out on the prairie. I wouldn’t want it to be anyplace else, and if you asked me to go clubbing these days, I’d look at you as if you had three heads because I can imagine few things I’d want to do less. I prefer to stay home and listen to the wind whistling through the prairie grass instead.

the whispering wind

billowing the prairie grass

sounds like home to me

~Cie~

Notes:

Visit the Artist

Ghost Town Grover Sez: 

"I liked this here High Bun. I ain't up to writin' no High Bun myself right now, but I got a poem fer y'all.

In the days of old when I mined fer gold

Life shore was excitin'

But these days I prefer an easier life

So the Lone Prairie is more invitin'

Visit the Artist

Cactus Clem sez:

"I like that Ornery writes poetry that's more rootin' tootin' than High Fallutin'. I ain't never fit in real well with them High Fallutin' folks myself. Which is okay, 'cause I think them high society parties is kinda boring anyways.

I don't like to go to parties

In the high society

'Cause it's a prickly problem

When them fancy folks stick to me

If you'd like to read Grover and Clem's Halloween adventure, Horrible Harvest, click here.