Incoherence – dVerse Poetics

Here’s my submission to the dVerse Poetics prompt – this week, we are asked to write something inspired by ‘peace’, since yesterday was the International Day of Peace.

As ever, my creativity strikes at the most inconvenient of times – last night it was just when I was about to go to bed!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my piece below – please do visit the linky link thing to read many more!

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– Incoherence –

There is no silence inside my head
It’s filled with the voices of the dead
the lost, the unloved, the slipped through the cracks
There is no silence inside my head

The voices linger inside my head
They keen and whisper of long-held dread
that tears, that corrodes, that rips them apart
There is no silence inside my head

The people crowd inside my head
They shriek whilst they are ripped into shreds
for power, for might, for strength over all
There is no silence in my head

There is no silence inside my head
Illusion’s immunity, them in our stead
for now at least, but time plays tricks well
No peace, no silence, no rest ’til your dead.

Exoskeleton – Līgo Haibun Challenge

I have really enjoyed the past two weeks of writing a haibun – a piece of prose followed by a haiku poem. The Līgo Haibun Challenge is hosted by Penny, Ye Pirate and Nightlake – why not take a trip to their blogs to find out more and check the InLinkz linky to read other offerings?

This week’s two alternative prompts are the quotes below:

“Not only the thirsty seek the water,

the water as well seeks the thirsty.”

Rumi

 

“If your heart is a volcano,

how shall you expect flowers to bloom?”

Khalil Gilbran

I have chosen Khalil Gilbran as my inspiration this week. Let me know what you think!

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– Exoskeleton –

My heart is a desert. I have dragged and hauled my body through the past days and months, every cell and sinew focused on survival, on existence, on staying alive.

My first thoughts on waking turn to food; where to find it, is it safe, how will I cook it, will it keep the hunger pangs at bay?

Next; staying away from dark alleys, empty buildings, yawning mouths of doorways, shattered windows. Shadows threaten. Instincts rule where logic has abandoned us.

Finally; a roof for the night. Crowds hide the worst of all predators, sheltering under tents of sweat-stained blankets tide-marked with mud. I have learned to be solitary. I need nothing except my wits.

Muscles atrophy through lack of use. Our jaws have slackened as chatter recedes. Talking is superfluous. Walking is necessary.

My heart is deserted, shrunken by turbulence, assailed by violence, scarred with misuse. Have I lost you?

carapace keeps safe

but hides my starving heart from

love, for which it yearns

ligo-challenge_logo

The Small Things – Friday Fictioneers

Here is this week’s entry into the weekly challenge brought to us by the lovely Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. Here are the rules: Use the photo as inspiration, write a hundred(ish) words – and share! Here goes my offering for this week – and I welcome your comments again!

– The Small Things –

“They are important to you?”

He was very young, barely a man.

I surmised that he had no recollection of what had gone before; few of us remained these days.

I scratched my neck, meditatively at first, then realised that I was worrying at another flea-bite. The damned things had returned.

“Well, yes. They remind me of a special person in my life.”

Fear ghosted his face, a fleeting spectre marring his innocence.

“One item reminds you of one person? You have lost that many?”

I nodded, silent.

His mask of youth slipped.

He knew. Somehow, he knew.

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Click on the blue froggy below to read others’ offerings!