The Closing of Open Doors
psychologists say there are five fears
from which all other fears stem
like digits, as manufactured,
the handful presumably
Natural, like
...extinction,
...mutilation,
...loss of autonomy,
...separation, and ego death...
to quote from Psychology Today
in this list, the median we see
of aggregate sum, or mean
centers on loss or losing...
which is to say
the irrevocable closing,
of the slatted gate...
09.11.2025
Gatekeeping challenge @Last
Prelife
"So, I get to choose," I answered the Empty.
"Yes, but it has to be two consecutive."
"Hm. So, I stick my second choice the minute I pick the first," I mused.
"In effect. Your range of choice is Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter," said the Void.
"Ok. So, I can't do Summer and Winter."
"Obviously, no. You can do Spring, Summer. Or Summer, Fall. Not Fall, Spring."
"Why not?"
"That's the order of things."
"Hm. Ok," I said thinking the Blank must not be all that, "gimme a minute."
"Take all the time you need," yawned the Infinite, while I felt quite limited.
"What is Fall like?" I said finally.
"Depends on where you land," responded the Great Darkness.
"Oh. Is that random?"
"It is. More or less."
"You mean you Know, but I don't?" I speculated.
"Mhm."
"What if I were more specific? Like what if I say Rainy season? what follows?"
"Well, the Gu is followed by the Dayr, meaning the small rain comes after the big rain."
"And what if I say I want to end on the dry season, what then?" I pressed on not exactly sure what I was talking about even though the words were here.
"It could be Summer or Winter, Tropical or Temperate."
"Then it could be anything?" I said feeling somewhat exasperated.
"Yes."
"But I have a choice?" I said feeling doomed.
"In part. We do."
"What if I don't live to be 80?"
"...Do you want to live or not?"
08/28/2025
A single season challenge @dctezcan
Strange Substitutions
Yesterday morning, I went to my walk-in and there were only newspapers and magazines on the racks and hangers.
"What are these rags?!" I cried out and shuffled to the kitchen in my pajamas.
There I opened the pantry and gawked, as it was full of empty munitions cartons.
The first thought was, "Where is my grub?" but I stifled that, almost superstitiously, and checked the boxes. Empty.
No bugs.
Then I went to the living room and turned on the big screen to see what was going on.
It was same-old, same-old, and I thought to myself in a huff, "What is this junk?"
And that was when I woke up.
08.27.2025
Strange substitutions challenge @Last
Always the Caboose
subway is a series
of sandwiches
now
to be had
on the go
or seated
in rows
sedately
they're offering
a free drink
to each
but sh*t
I forgot to ask
and the paper
clip is a coupon
of the past
like a bindle
lost in the lot
of all these
side by side
drive through
windows
grey brown hazel
that pass
without second
glance...
with so many rails
to run, and jump
07.21.2025
Tennessee Williams challenge @Mariah
The Taking of Toast and Tea
She poured me a steaming cup from a stainless-steel decanter in the Office.
"...the shadows, which are at morning and evening so large, almost entirely disappear at midday," she was saying comfortingly.
"I say, old girl, it all looks rather different to me," I retorted pleasantly, spreading my weight across the armchair.
She held up a platter of crumpets, and I stopped her midway with a declining palm of appreciation.
"I'd say it's the small shadows that get to us. The ones that creep into you just before high noon, and the ones that seep out, at that odd moment when you've taken notice of their apparent lack. Then again, maybe, neither of us are really afraid of the dark."
07.014.2025
Mid-life Eleanor Roosevelt challenge
Noblesse Oblige
We live like royalty
granting dominion
over the soul
momentarily
that serfs
in the bodily kingdom
it serves, and like all
servants of history
knows, eventually
on bended knee
its communist and socialist
tendencies
and declares the sovereign
naked and feeble
in comparison
to the Will
o'er the People
who says
give us liberty
give us death
and we till the earth
til scorched and barren
and bow
invincibly, invisibly
as one does
before God,
and after
with humility
begging redress
and mercy, individually.
07.09.2025
Love your enemy, pray for those who curse you Challenge @flashgordon
Wakes Progress
We look at algae
that murky slipping gift
and call it by name
or if we don't know
we say: man, what is it ?!
and someone wizen
answers: Kelp
or if no one is there
to ask
we turn to pages,
reference pictures
and try to catalog it
ourself
among other
slimy ocean greens
of which there's great mass
and the mess is not chaos
unless we presume it
ourselves
useless
as seaweed.
05.06.2025
The Messes challenge @beatricegomes