picture-it-write-39; Under the Spell

-Collecting youth. by alexstoddard on Flickr.

The sharp nail scraped my chin. It may as well have been a blade as the lethal, gritty edge punctured my skin. With my half closed and yet fluttering eyes, it was hard to see the person before me. I wanted to run but I needed the money. I needed to seal this deal. The darkness was thick and appeared to pulse rapidly, just like my wild heart. “Lavish in your newly acquired riches,” the gravelly voice spoke, from neither a man or woman but something much more hellish. “But the clock is ticking and I will collect.” The gnarled finger caressed my cheek and I shuddered.

– Ermisenda Alvarez

 

http://ermiliablog.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/__picture-it-write-39/

Fertile Ground

Poetry Picnic Week 26: Seven Deadly Sins

 

http://gooseberrygoespoetic.blogspot.com/

Striking Pose

*image source: fantasyartdesign.com

Free Write Friday; Cash in a Box

You are cleaning out your attic when you find an old dusty box you’ve never noticed before. You open it to find stacks of hundred dollar bills and a note that says, “Here’s your cut, see you in Mexico”. There is no signature. Start writing whatever floods your mind at this thought and tell me a story…

Oh, Aunt Sadie
what have you done?

Is this the reason
that you had run?

What is it now
I’m supposed to do?

Who is it coming
to look for you?

What do I say
when they arrive?

Was there a story
you did contrive?

How could you ever
do this to me?

This money didn’t come
to you for free

And now I’m left
holding the bag

While into your mess
others you drag

Without a thought
but for yourself alone

Well guess what
I’m taking it for my own!

Teresa Marie 2/3/12 © 

http://kellieelmore.com/2012/02/03/free-write-friday-cash-in-a-box/

Confusion – Hay(na)ku

(image source: fantasyartdesign.com)

Confusion
rules me
as never before

Whether
I shouldn’t
turn back or

Decide
to keep
sailing on for

The 
prize awaiting
on distant shore

Needing
only faith
and nothing more

Fear
haunts me
to the core

Greed
controls me
I’m its whore

While
my soul
sins does store 

It’s
of God
I must implore

Wash
me clean
that purity restore

Embrace
me again
One I adore

Don’t
let me
run like before!

Teresa Marie  1/25/12 ©

Dragon Deep

image source: dreamworlds.ru

Dragon of red
among the dead

In caverns deep
your treasures keep

You demon spawn
from the beyond

From days old
collecting your gold

In abandon greed
with hasty speed

Your coffers swell
there in hell

Left wanting more
what you adore

Your every action
brings no satisfaction

When is no peace
for the wicked beast

From the dawn
until time’s gone

In the pit remain
trapped in your pain!

Teresa Marie  1/4/12  ©

Life is a Battlefield

Life is a battlefield
that awaits us all

From the day we’re born
’til unto death we fall

Whatever is that lies
there in the between

May only day-to-day
by anyone be seen

Whether in a skirmish
or a full-out war

We are all fighting
to gain a little more

More money, more cars
more homes, more land

With wealth and prestige
comes the upper hand

Yes, life is a battlefield
that if we don’t win

‘Tis the time that may
our hell on earth begin

For the ultimate goal of
war is land and money

Fought over piles of dirt
and all the bees honey 

 This is how our society
from sea to shining sea

Has always been taught
is the way to be

But I must truly say
I’ve thrown my greedy lots

Trying to bridge the gap
between the have’s and have-nots

When I found myself
worse off than before

For money’s not the thing
that someone should adore

The battles that we fight
one into another blur

Until our life is gone
and I think you may concur

If we put that effort
rather into family and friend

We’ll actually be the richest
of all in the end!

Teresa Marie  12/29/11  © 

Mother of Time

(image source: latoro.com)

The mother of time

with her patience sublime

Just sits and waits

as every person skates

At break necked speed

her warnings without heed

Rushing through their life

ducking pain and strife

As they bob and weave

and plans for success conceive

It’s the driving force

how they set course

To go sailing on

until their time’s gone

Coming to their end

no longer can pretend

They have all the time

to learn reason’s rhyme

And what they find

is those left behind

Have no stories to tell

 how they spent life well 

For in their pursuit

of all evil’s root

‘Twas greed for more

they wasted their time for.

Teresa Marie  12/22/11  ©

 

Scent of Almond

My aunt placed the tea on the table before exiting. These family reunions were always uncomfortable. The conversations grew hot quickly from the grinding friction of personalities. I counted the hours until I would be home again. Instead of fiddling with the hem of my shirt I decided to drink the tea my aunt had offered me. She had a fascination with buying ornate plates, cutlery and cups. The intricate, golden design winked at me. What disconcerted me was the content. Blood-red tea reflected my anxious expression. I took the teacup and rested the cool ceramic against my bottom lip. I was only being paranoid. This was normal tea. The sickly sweet liquid broke past the seal of my lips. I convinced myself the blood-red tea was a fitting choice. After all, wasn’t it blood that had forced us to converse this evening? Somebody had to inherit our grandparent’s money.

– Ermisenda Alvarez

That blood’s thicker than water
is what people do say
when opposite personalities will
often a friendship decay

Even though my aunt had
truly hated my mother
’twas only her and I
no other sister or brother

And so the bloody color
of this particular tea
just seemed as appropriate
as it could ever be

Right before I sipped
the liquid from my cup
over the delicate rim
I stopped to glance up

My aunt began staring
with wide opened eyes
and a look showing
an element of surprise

The faintest smile then
spread across my lips
as I raised the cup
and took a couple sips

She had placed hers
back on the table
beginning to stand up
but found herself unable

Glaring now at me
almond sent filled the air
while there was no sympathy
for her would I spare

And right before she died
I really do believe
that she drank the arsenic
her mind did conceive

Her head hit the table
as I kept my seat
for I had switched cups
to her own defeat!

Teresa Marie  12/3/11

 

__picture it & write by Ermilia