falling in love with autumn Trick or treating on streets still damp from rainfall. Leaves wind tossed into heaps, stuck to sidewalks and fence-posts. Nature in Caravaggio's chosen color palette. Sounds are thicker heavier, fabrics denser and meals heartier. Fresh cheeks, rain soaked slickers and damp bangs invigorate. Indoors and outdoors are distinct once more. …
Author: manu
I can be likened to cauliflower, kale, roman broccoli, grapes, spinach, zucchini, a pink lady apple and an artichoke.
It’s getting crowded
She believes the lies she has been telling herself. They are what she wants to, needs to, hear. Faster and easier that way. After all, it is the end result that counts and not all that pesky stuff in the middle. The guileful person's go to choice for a fictitious projection of self. Gotta give …
Mrs. Knapp
Mrs. Knapp had been a teacher prior to her retirement, whereupon she became simply old Mrs. Knapp (as she was referred to by all the kids in the neighborhood). Berenice's mother said Mrs. Knapp was older than our elementary school, older than the park on Falstaff, even older than some of the shade trees lining …
Liquefaction
The smell of part dog piss and part disinfectant hangs in the air making me gag. The atmosphere is moisture laden; another intensely humid 100 degree day. I wake up tired. Everything is soaked through, dingy and malodorous; each energy sucking day a reminder that forever has gotten a lot shorter. What will I possibly …
Haiku triptych
BIRDSONG First one chirp one trill Rising sun crescendo song A new morning breaks DROUGHT Bone without marrow Brushed by dust laden breezes Brittle fractured World DEWDROP Delicate droplet A trembling kaleidoscope As we hold our breath
Fetal position
If I wanted to, I could destroy her. And this awareness filled me with a demented exhilaration. It was electric and awesome. I felt empowered and alive for the first time in my pathetic life. The only dissatisfying note being that she didn't look scared, not even worried really; more like deeply offended and slightly …
Everything’s not copacetic
George Negritsoyski on Pexels.com New York Spring 1953 - two friends sitting at a corner table in a packed bar drinking and smoking talk about their future ROSIE - the girl JEAN - the guy TOM - Rosie's boyfriend THE BARTENDER A COUPLE AT ANOTHER TABLE and roll em... J: Come on Rosie, let's beat …
No penny for your thoughts, but a buck for the rest
cottonbro on Pexels.com She carefully slips the dollar bill into his jacket pocket. The boring navy blue one that comes out only on special occasions. His funeral ticks that box. She is required to speak, but still hasn't come up with anything pithy to say, struggling with what is expected and what actually is. For …
Continue reading No penny for your thoughts, but a buck for the rest
The Intruder
Photo by Plato Terentev on Pexels.com Mine is a crusade to understand this brokenness, with a solid probability that I never will. Like Durga, who is both protector and destroyer, you and I stroll along soft even ground at times only to dangle off steep mountain craigs at others. Just as the sun can be …
When pigs could fly
Do you remember when pigs could fly? When you wondered where the moon went when it disappeared. Looked for shapes in clouds. Deconstructed Oreos. Walked to the park with a paper bag of gumballs, hot toothpicks and Pez to share. Sat on the curb with your best friend. Ran through the sprinkler on torrid summer …
Manu writes 