Privileged to Have Known You

I weep for you –
A long lost friend,
Like a faded memory,
Of when we would play pretend –

A familiar street
Where I used to roam,
When my youth shielded me from your bitter truth
And the street lights led me home –

But with time my eyes were opened
And you did not look the same –
An empty ache still plagues me,
Something I cannot quite name –

It makes me weep –
The past that I was privileged to know,
An illusion that did not see the pain,
Just shades of perception, my ego –

Oh, America of my childhood, you shifty fellow,
You shady lady; I see you now in the shadows
Mocking me for my naiveté — and awareness —
Promising that I shall know no repose.

USA Abstract
– USA Abstract by AK Rockefeller .

Still Small Voice

A murmur from the crowd —
Raging awful sound

Cold and bold, growing louder
Stoked by fear uncontrolled —

Shouts of doubters who were sold
False narratives
Foretold —
Impending doom

Imperative truth among raucous
A still small voice still speaking veracity
To those who will listen

– Written for dVerse Quadrille #85, prompt was “voice.” WC 44.

We’re All Mad Here

those mushrooms…

There came a fork in the yellow brick road, so I took the rainbow path less traveled and left Kansas far behind.

A quaint and eerily welcoming chapel materialized at the end of the line and beckoned me to its door.

The tiny Irish preacher invited me in, then he offered me a pint of emerald green lager along with some advice: “Always be a first-rate version of yourself and not a second-rate version of someone else, oh and you probably shouldn’t have eaten those mushrooms.”

tltweek184
– Written for Sonya’s (Only 100 Words) Three Line Tales: Week 184. Photo prompt by Dave Herring. WC 90.

The Gift

She wrapped her scarf and sighed visibly in the morning air.

On the recurring drive, she replayed the first visit. Tubes, wires, alerts of all kinds overwhelmed them.

The season closed with a new beginning; baby is finally coming home.

– Written for YeahWrite Microprose Challenge #434. Prompt was to tell a story in exactly 40 words that evokes a specific season without using the names for that season.