Shelley was #absent the day of the announcement. She and her mother were drinking and working through some stuff. She thought the building felt awfully quiet. Not a soul in the halls. What the hell? she said, her small voice echoing back to her. At the door to the office, she sighed. Some joker had locked her out. Not in the mood for shenanigans after the session with her neurotic mother, she decided to head for the break room. That door was open. A dachshund sat on the table.

#MastoPrompt #vss

How did I end up in the back seat of this parked police car,
lights flashing,
passersby staring,
cuffed,
“collared for a violent crime”,
me,
a criminal?

Radio chatter,
like in the movies,
not clear,
raspy,
garbled turbulence,
erupting from the car speaker.
Uniformed bodies mill around outside,
pointing and questioning.

My wrists hurt.
Blood appears to be smeared on my shirt.
I can taste the scent of fear,
my fear.
How the hell did I get here?

#MastoPrompt #SmallPoems #Poetry

I never had a dog would wear a collar, they all pulled too much and I feared for their throats. I bought them though, in amazing colours, soft blush pink, bright crimson, the darkest blue velvet - and ones with tiny stars that twinkled thrillingly along their surface when twisted to the light. And I wore one, once, to a party, or rather hid it in my pocket until I was certainly out of sight of the house. Nor did I wear it on the bus, which I forever after wished I had....
#mastoprompt #collar

He might have meant to catch me by the #collar. I didn’t ask. I was thinking how weird it felt to hit the sidewalk after he grabbed my hair and pulled. Was I running? Maybe. The moment passed in a flash. Actually the whole night is a bit of a blur. Is it because of the impact of my head on that cement? Maybe. I just hope no one saw our mess. Or heard the words we exchanged. I don’t remember them either but the feeling was bad. My heartbeat was loud. I don’t really like him anymore.

#MastoPrompt

I almost didn’t go. It’s easy for me to cop out. I like home. I like solitude. Two reasons to make effort. What if I get weird and antisocial? More than I am already, I mean.
All week it’s sun and heat. Today? Rain and shivers. Poets in layers and songwriters tuning between songs. The crowd is sparse. Friends of performers mostly. They bring potato chips, cider, and weed. Fingersnaps. I bring a sweater, an umbrella, and my red stress ball.
We meet for art. I #return wet. Unharmed.
#MastoPrompt

Spit the venom from my veins down the drain
your toxic waste swirls like toothpaste -
I used to #carve your sticks and stones
out of my haunted hollow bones,
now your regrets and frets stick like glue
and I want nothing more to do with you.

I #carve healing in this new life out of the strife -
I find magic in places and spaces
I didn’t know could exist, and I can not resist.

#Mastoprompt #Carve

#MastoPrompt #results

What were your results, they said, or shouted, and they meant it.
Nothing else mattered but top marks.
But tests were too stressful, my brain refused to work, I didn`t remember a single thing I read up on, the words danced across the page out of reach.
Instead I sat, listened to birdsong, gazed out the window watching clouds dance across the sky, and wished I had not turned up, just taken the inevitable fail without the wasting of the time

#MicroFiction #SmallStories

#MastoPrompt #results

What were your results, they said, or shouted, and they meant it.
Nothing else mattered but top marks. But tests were too stressful, my brain refused to work, I didn`t remember a single thing I read up on, the words danced across the page out of reach.
Instead I sat, listened to birdsong, gazed out the window watching clouds dance across the sky, and wished I had not turned up, just taken the inevitable fail without the wasting of the time

#MicroFiction #SmallStories

Clandestine
©️ Nona Rose 2023

It was a secret,
A covert assignment
With furtive glances
And surreptitious talk
Of stealthy activities.

It was all very cloak-and-dagger,
The behind-the-scenes planning
And under-the-table passing of plans,
Concealed in brown envelopes
And hidden in codes and crypts.

It was a private affair,
Conducted slyly,
In an underhanded manner,
Spawning an underground movement
Run from dark and dingy back alleys

It was undercover -
A sneaky plot point
In a murky history -
Where things are kept hush-hush,
Our clandestine concern.

🌹

Feedback, comments, boosts and discussions more than welcome.

#MastoPrompt #clandestine #SmallPoems #Poetry #PoetryCommunity #PoetryByNona

The itchy wool blanket seemed more comfortable than lying directly on the ground,
an ineffective barrier against the creepy-crawly things meandering along the surface below.

As she closed her eyes to sleep,
a meteor briefly scraped the night sky trailing off into nothingness.
Her breathing became deep and slow.
Faint flashes of soft light captivated her mind’s eye.
She felt safe,
for the first time in years,
alone,
in a forest miles away from home.

#MastoPrompt #SmallPoems #SmallPoetry

Every year, about this time, I do not go to bed,
I get my things together, and I sleep outside, instead.
I hope to see a meteor, a-streak across the sky,
or any form of other-worldly things a-passing by.
For I know that if I see one, it will also be a sign,
that "better things" will find me, up along the line.
Like "if the traffic light stays green", or "if I find a penny",
For that`s the way you try for luck - if you do not have any.

#mastoprompt #meteor #SmallPoems #Poetry

She had a quaint look about her,
dark hair wrapped tightly in a blob on her head,
tall and confident,
an old sole shining through twenty-year old skin,
her voice was timeless,
and she said, “Yes!”
I gently placed her soft hand in mine and led her onto the dance floor.
We twirled into the night,
bathed in colorful flickering light,
surrounded by plum velvet decor.

#MastoPrompt #SmallPoems #SmallPoetry

Morning has arrived again,
but my only neighbors,
the birds,
slept in.

The gentle August breeze sounds like static.


Sun beams from the east illuminate the landscape,
oaks,
evergreens,
maples,
and birch tops sway.
Wispy thin white clouds decay,
as the azure and cyan ceiling,
makes way,
for a perfect summer day.

#MastoPrompt #SmallPoem #SmallPoetry

She lit the yellow hair of the dingy doll on fire,
it went up quickly,
black smoke rose up and dissipated.

While blue sparking eyes reflected the flickering light,
she danced rhythmically into the night,
holding plastic hands tight,
twirling and spinning with delight.

Cinderella,
Snow White,
visions of princes,
castles,
and fairy tale life,
shared with her only friend,
the hairless one,
dressed in a gown of white.

#MastoPrompt #SmallPoem #SmallPoetry

Across the fretboard
His hands a-blur
The chord remained the same
Ronnie Barker
Miming the guitar

#Mastoprompt #SmallPoems #Guitar

Just over 200 bones make up the human skeleton, held in place by magic. And we do not notice, or care. It is only when we are old, and it does not serve us, and we curse at it for letting us down, allowing us to fall, not performing of the task of which we immediately require
Instead we should remember how it stood up to our excesses when young, when we did not appreciate how it allowed us to run free, dance wildly, and curve into our lover`s body as if formed of liquid

#mastoprompt #skeleton

Just over 200 bones make up the human skeleton, held in place by magic. And we do not notice, or care. It is only when we are old, and it does not serve us, and we curse at it for letting us down, allowing us to fall, not performing of the task of which we immediately require
Instead we should remember how it stood up to our excesses when young, and we did not appreciate how it allowed us to run free, dance wildly, curve into our lover`s body as if formed of liquid

#mastoprompt #skeleton

It's always been my #tendency
To fall back on chemical dependency
To not see what I dont want to see
To sacrifice and not show the real me
To not live my life and to just be
To lash out instead of making a plea
To wait too long for diplomacy
To be stuck with this ennui...

#mastoprompt

#Mastoprompt #Tendency #Poetry

(Continued …)

You made a grand gesture,
Telling me “I love you, just the way you are.”
My heart skipped a beat
And I knew you’d suddenly raised the bar.

I felt my heart swell in my chest,
My soul crying out to just say yes
But no words could escape my mouth,
Though you didn’t need to guess.

We would love for a thousand years
Like they were the first day of my life
And the last day of yours -
Who knew a mix tape could cause such strife?

🌹

How did you go? Did you find all the song titles?

#MastoPrompt #cassette #SmallPoems #poetry #PoetryByNona