M Christine Delea's Blog, page 12

Every Body Lies by A.E. Hines

Every Body Lies

by A.E. Hines

(published in his 2021 book, Any Dumb Animal, from Main Street Rag Press)

That’s what it says on her black tee-shirt,

the neighborhood girl’s, in long white letters,

stretched tight across her chest. And not

in two words—not “Everybody Lies,” but

Every—Body—Lies.        We know a body

of evidence can jail the innocent man,

and still, we like to pretend:    the wide body

of the plane pushes back from the gate

with the promise of safe arrival, the Atlantic

wil...

What's Your Sign?: Prompt

As a Capricorn, I am ambitious, loyal, responsible, honest, determined, pessimistic, sensitive, practical, and suspicious. Part of my suspicious nature means that I do not give credence to horoscopes. As a goat, I am also curious, so I do read my horoscope on a regular basis, and each month find my monthly forecast, print it out, and put it into my Resolution Book/Journal.

As a tween, one of my best friends (a Leo) and I were REALLY into this. We got books from the library and discussed them at...

Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Sonnet 43

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

I love thee to the level of every day’s

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right.

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.

I love thee with a l...

Onions by William Matthews

Onions

by William Matthews

(published in his Selected Poems and Translations, 1969-1991, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992)

How easily happiness begins by   

dicing onions. A lump of sweet butter   

slithers and swirls across the floor   

of the sauté pan, especially if its   

errant path crosses a tiny slick

of olive oil. Then a tumble of onions.

This could mean soup or risotto   

or chutney (from the Sanskrit

chatni, to lick). Slowly the onions   

go limp and then nacreous

and then wha...

Love and Death: Prompt

Use today's wonderful poem posted here on my blog, During an Enchantment in the Life

by Brenda Hillman, for your inspiration today.

She writes a love poem that isn't a straight "I love you" poem--it's far more complex. Plus, she mentions the dead, but that is not the focus of the poem (although the Carpe Diem sentiment is).

Can you create a piece today that also addresses the concept of love and mentions death?

Try it and see!

During an Enchantment in the Life by Brenda Hillman

During an Enchantment in the Life

by Brenda Hillman

(published in her 2022 book, In a Few Minutes Before Later (Wesleyan University Press), and also here

Do you love a living person             

absolutely? Tell them now.

In a half-unwieldy life you made, under

the hyaline sky, while the dead     

drank from zigzag pools nearby,

if they saved you in your wild incapacities,    

in timing of the world’s harm

in a little pettiness in your own heart while oth...

Birds in Cemeteries by George Kalogeris

Birds in Cemeteries

by George Kalogeris

(published in NOR 11, Spring 2012)

It must be the shade that draws them. Or else the grass.

And it seems they always alight away from their flocks,

Alone. It’s so quiet here you can’t help but hear

Their talons clink as they hop from headstone to headstone.

Their sharp, inquisitive beaks cast quizzical glances.

The lawn is mown. The gate is always open.

The names engraved on the stones, and the uplifting words

Below the names, are lapidary as ever.

...

Flophouse?: Prompt

Does anyone use the term "flophouse" anymore? If you aren't familiar, it is a synonym for a sleazy motel. These places are everywhere and they definitely have personality, even if they are no longer in business.

For this prompt, make one of these places a part of your piece.

It does not have to be the focus, but a flophouse should play a role.

Have fun! Be safe!

Marriage (motel) by Laura McCullough

Marriage (motel)

by Laura McCullough

(published in Posit, 2018)

Inland, just west of Atlantic City,

old motels stand hunched

as if ashamed, people

inside propping them up. No one

told me about the architecture

of sorrow, how expensive

it is to build, how long it takes

to tear down. East as far as you

can go here in Jersey is the ocean

in which swimming

and drowning

sometimes look the same.

I love a conceit (the unfortunate name for an extended metaphor), and this one is marvelous.

The po...

The Death of Rachel Carson--April 14, 1964 by Donelle Dreese

The Death of Rachel Carson--April 14, 1964

by Donelle Dreese

(published in Canary, Spring, 2017)

The battle of living things against cancer began so long ago that its origin is lost in time.--Rachel Carson

It had spread to her liver.

She never read the last letter

from Dorothy, the one that said--

I have come to a great sense of peace about you.

She said for all at last return to the sea.

Then death came whale-bursting

into her life, metastasizing

stirring its cellular gravel.

De...