Before Blue Eyes

A life before blue eyes
Saw darkness
even in daytime skies
Urgency in every sip
Slip of the tongue
on many lips
Chasing the trip
Down hazy paths
It didn’t add up
But, who’s got time for math?

A life before blue eyes
Saw self-deluding
Illusions painted with booze
And rouge
And loathing
I broke my own heart
Time and again
Exposing weakness
on every sleeve

A life before blue eyes
Was no life
At first hard to believe
Blue eyes saw a reprieve
No lies, no trying to deceive
Blue eyes saw me

A life before blue eyes
Was a different life indeed

The prompt was “a life before blue eyes” from Maria Giesbrecht @theguelphpoet & @campfirepoets on Instagram on November 1. November prompts: Confessions.

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The Walk

The farther I walk, the clearer the future becomes.

– Written for Day 26 of Awake August 2016, 31 Days of Mindful Writing in the form of Small Stones (concise daily observations) from Writing Our Way Home.

Abandoned

For a moment, the still lake looks deceptively beautiful. I focus in on my reflection; it’s very rare I see myself. A two-headed fish breaks the surface suddenly distorting my observation. I sigh and wonder if I could eat that. My stomach grumbles. I see my frown and hollow eyes in the rippling water.

I hear the bird-like call of the hunting party leader signaling us to reassemble. I wish I had more to show for my day’s efforts.

We gather our kills into the wagon and return to camp. We are still low on food. There are so few things we can safely eat.

I wash myself in the collected rainwater reserve. The natural water sources are sick and may cause death, though I am not sure that what falls from the sky is any better. I boil some to drink and think of my departed family.

Before he went on to the great sky kingdom, my father told me stories passed on to him of fantastic structures, safe water, and food, and transportation machines to reach vast distances in short times. It is all fantasy to me.

Reality is here in front of me. The bleak sky reflects my mood, defeated.

I don’t think much of a future. I stopped wondering about the past. I mostly feel betrayed by my ancestors for destroying the world they left to me. I see the lost potential in what surrounds me but find it hard to imagine making much of it in the short span of life this wasteland now affords us. My present is the future, so few before me cared to consider. They abandoned me long before I was born.

I think this planet will heal itself in time but only after the human parasite has long been gone.

– Written for the May contest at ZeroFlash. Concept prompt was ‘Abandoned Futures,’ along with photo prompt.  WC 300

May Entries

The first entry for the ZeroFlash May competition is none other than yours truly. The concept is “Abandoned Futures.” My story is called “Abandoned,” weighing in at 300 words. Enjoy!

Zeroflash

Abandoned

by Leara Morris-Clark

@learavoice

For a moment, the still lake looks deceptively beautiful. I focus in on my reflection; it’s very rare I see myself. A two-headed fish breaks the surface suddenly distorting my observation. I sigh and wonder if I could eat that. My stomach grumbles. I see my frown and hollow eyes in the rippling water.

I hear the bird-like call of the hunting party leader signaling us to reassemble. I wish I had more to show for my day’s efforts.

We gather our kills into the wagon and return to camp. We are still low on food. There are so few things we can safely eat.

I wash myself in the collected rainwater reserve. The natural water sources are sick and may cause death, though I am not sure that what falls from the sky is any better. I boil some to drink and think of…

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