taxi driver grows more vexed
his angry grumblings
echoed in the rattletrap
bump and clank of his elderly cab
his enthusiastic acceleration
his increasingly severe braking
his casual rage at other drivers
some groundless, some deserved
eventually we pull up at the kerb
he's sunshine, thanks, best wishes
and i thank any listening deities
that he has not yet been replaced
by some shitty piece of software

Thanks @FrostPoem for the prompt - vex.

#MicroPrompt #Poetry #MicroPoetry #Writing

so passive
dryads
all too often
portrayed
as though
they're just
lounging around
in trees awaiting
an awakening
on the altar
of rich men's lust
none of those
artists reach
for the wisdom
of the trees
nor do they
try to unravel
the secret
of how one
might obtain
such an eco-friendly
self-sufficient
residence
rent-free

Thanks @FrostPoem for the prompt - dryad.

#MicroPrompt #Poetry #MicroPoetry #Writing

@FrostPoem

#MicroPrompt: Grant
The Measurement Problem

"So what is the Docklands Redevelopment Corporation trying to do?" Harris asked me.

"They want to turn the old Canary Wharf complex into a canal city. Let it flood to whatever level the sea eventually settles at and build locks to manage the tides. They're buying up the properties for pennies and getting government grants for the feasibility studies. More to come when they start construction."

#amWriting #scifi

@FrostPoem

Before retiring, I moved among my men, searching for the proper words to stave off horror. I asked how they were feeling and for their recollections of battle then let them talk. Somehow, it had fallen to me to order these strangers to their deaths. War was chaos dressed in the finery of tradition. There had to be a better way. But voicing my opinion would cheapen their sacrifices. I thanked them and wished them Lord’s blessing.

#MicroPrompt #fantasy

@FrostPoem

Today's #MicroPrompt: Order
The Measurement Problem

Cecilia lent me her phone so I could order a car to take me home. In clothes crisp and warm from her dryer I was carried towards London stewing in my own thoughts. Her words brought me full circle back to Alice, to the events that had destroyed her life. Three years of bitterness towards the entangled still seethed beneath the surface. Bitterness I had never known until they took Alice from me.

#amWriting #scifi

four-chambered
five litre
wonder
pushing life
round bodies
coupled
in sunlight
or darkness
pulsing
as we climb
and descend
mountains
in our room
where our hearts
compete
to be all
we can be
or hope
where our hearts
share endless
star fire
mingled blood
fever dream
desire

Thanks @FrostPoem for the prompt - heart.

#MicroPrompt #Poetry #MicroPoetry #Writing

@FrostPoem

#MicroPrompt: Heart
The Measurement Problem

"I'm sensitive to these things. I know you don't believe me, but..."

She was right, I didn't. The one time she told me she was psychic I'd laughed. I still felt bad about that, she's a kind soul.

Her forefinger stabbed the air in my direction. "You're sensitive too for all your black cynical heart, to what happens in other worlds."

A suspicion crept up on me. "You aren't talking about astral planes here, are you?"

#amWriting #scifi

#MicroPrompt #Goodbye

#Haiku #Senryu #Poetry #TinyPoems #SmallPoems #Poets #Poem #AmWriting #MicroPoetry #Writing #WritingCommunity #PoetryCommunity #Prompts #Prompt #WritingPrompt #Business #Store #Shopping #Humor #Humour

Flowers lay by the door of the #crypt.
Golden sunlight dappled its stone walls.
The sun would set thousands of times.
Its stones would erode against wind and rain.
A hundred years would pass before the queen's #return.
But her reign would continue.
Her immortal people awaited her rebirth.
There was no need to #brood, nor even say #goodbye,
Simply, "See you soon."

#MastoPromp #vsspoem #MicroPrompt #vss365 #MicroFiction

wave to the ocean
like it can see you
or blow the moon a kiss
and whisper a farewell
we are of an age,
you and i,
to know sometimes
it's the last time
though we never
imagined that we
could say goodbye
to so much
in return
for so little

Thanks @FrostPoem for the prompt - goodbye.

#MicroPrompt #Poetry #MicroPoetry #Writing

@FrostPoem

#MicroPrompt: Goodbye
The Measurement Problem

"She's gone. Full Omega state. Would you mind?"

I lifted her head for him to slip off the skull cap. "What did she mean, you'll get what you want?"

"My research." He looped up the cables and packed away his instruments. "Today, she hovered on the edge, lucid but still in Omega. Think what she can tell us if we can maintain that balance." He snapped his case closed. "Goodbye, Lewis. I'll be back on Monday."

#amWriting #scifi

@FrostPoem

#MicroPrompt: Laundry
The Measurement Problem

A pile of half-sorted laundry lay by the washing machine. Cleaning bots sat at their charging stations, all deactivated. A heap of small metal items lay on the table: tin-cans, a worn screwdriver, broken door-spring.

"Soames must have been in the middle of sorting the recycling before he left."

``No. Those are top of the line bots, they sort it and bin it themselves. Someone tipped it out to look for something.''

#amWriting #scifi

Time to update my #WritingPrompt & #Writer Hashtag list (and remind myself -again- to use hashtags 😉 ).

Prompts About Wips
#WordWeavers
#PennedPossibilities
#WritersCoffeeClub

Short Fiction Prompts
#Vss365
#MastoPrompt
#MicroPrompt

Poetry Tags
#Poetry
#Micropoetry
#Hailku
#PoetryCommunity
#VssPoem
#575prompt

Writer Tags
#WordWeavers
#Writer
#WritersLife
#WritersofMastodon
#Fantasy

Author Tags
#Bookstodon
#LGBTQBooks
#AuthorsOfMastodon
#IndieAuthor

#Author #Writing

Time to update my #WritingPrompt & #Writer Hashtag list (and remind myself -again- to use hashtags 😉 ).

Prompts About Wips
#WordWeavers #PennedPossibilities #WritersCoffeeClub

Short Fiction Prompts
#MastoPrompt #Vss365 #MicroPrompt

Poetry Tags
#Poetry #Micropoetry #Hailku #PoetryCommunity #VssPoem #575prompt

#Writing Tags
#AmWriting #AmEditing #Writer #WritersLife #WritersofMastodon #Fantasy

#Author Tags
#Bookstodon #LGBTQBooks #AuthorsOfMastodon #IndieAuthor

sisyphus, drunk one night
weeping into his cups
bemoaned his lot
as his rock rolled away again
every person -
though history does skew it
mostly women -
who ever cooked, cleaned,
or did laundry
mocked him
he was a king, of course
and a shitty one, even by the low
low standards of monarchs
hence his feeble-minded inability
to cope with a punishment
that was just chores distilled so simple
even a king couldn't fuck it up

Thanks @FrostPoem - laundry.

#MicroPrompt #Poetry #MicroPoetry #Writing

i wonder how your nimble fingers
gently tease the wrapping clear
or do you tear and shred the paper
eager for what hides in there
and do you ever choose to unwrap
fav'rite gifts again, again
or are you once and done and move on
trails of wrapping in your wake
either way the tension builds, your eyes
are filled with signs you're thrilled
and that's enough for me for now

Thanks @FrostPoem for the prompt - present (no. 2).

#MicroPrompt #Poetry #MicroPoetry #Writing

there's a factory where rolls
of wrapping paper are sausage-cased
for their own protection
packed in containers on supermassive vessels
wallowing through oceans
that make their immensity irrelevant
warehouses, trucks, shops, full of the stuff
our bin's stuffed with joyful dismal shreds left bereft
after you took away the tokens
we were taught to offer to show love
this is what we burnt your world for

Thanks @FrostPoem for the prompt - present (no. 1).

#MicroPrompt #Poetry #MicroPoetry #Writing

@FrostPoem

I shook my attention back to the present, to the dark forest and the summer storm. Thunder faded into rumbling and rain lightened to mist. I ran my hands along slick boughs. Water trickled down my arms and over my breasts.

“Give me your blessing, please.”

All seemed hushed, like the land was listening. Trees parted to the north, branches curved low, forming a quivering tunnel.

#MicroPrompt #fantasy

@FrostPoem

#MicroPrompt: Present
The Measurement Problem

Cecilia picked up right away when I called back.

"Hi, Lewis, we've been trying to reach you."

"Yeah, I got the messages. How is she?"

"Asleep. Mid-afternoon she calmed down, it was another visitor we think. She was talking to someone anyway. We could only hear her side of the conversation..."

I took her meaning. Whoever she was talking to wasn't present in our world.

#amWriting #scifi

glossy in the sun
rainbow ribboned
beautiful and alien
we watch kids
expertly sweep wands
to produce massive floating
magic worlds unlike any
we had as children
then they pop them
that much, at least
remains the same
the sky greys
and it's still there
that sick feeling
outside a bubble
popping it is play
but if you were inside
that would be madness
and i don't want to admit
to the child
that i took part
in that madness

Thanks @FrostPoem - bubble.

#MicroPrompt #Poetry #MicroPoetry #Writing