Today’s the day! Two of my poems have escaped Experience Writing and are out exploring the world. I hope you will pick up a copy of Washington’s Best Emerging Poets 2019 and read all the great poetry by Washington State poets. It will also make a great gift for the lovers of words in your life.
I want to thank all the poets of OctPoWriMo, NaPoWriMo, dVerse Poets Pub, and PAD Chapbook Challenge for keeping me motivated and inspired over the last few years.
Today’s OctPoWriMo theme is Finding peace. There were a couple of new-to-me forms this OctPoWriMo that I really enjoyed. On this final day and with the theme Finding Peace, I decided to revisit the Clarity Pyramid.
PEACE
at rest
no conflict
uncomplicated
not searching anymore
no need or want while writing
“Stay in the moment and find joy.”
PEACE
no pain
quiet breath
no expectations
left alone to my thoughts
Creating new images
“I imagine a playful world.”
PEACE
cool breeze
bright morning
accepting each bump
physical reaction
is but chemical exchange
“I try to be true to myself.”
As a Halloween treat, here are a couple of my favorite Halloween themed poems I’ve written during past OctPoWriMos:
T.M.I.
The Horned Flying Monkey In The Room
It’s our last day! Did you write a bunch of short, scary stories? I hope so. If not, you have a ton of prompts for when you do want to sit down and write a creepy story. And you still have today to catch up. What could be better than writing some creepy flash while waiting for trick-or-treaters?
As a treat, here’s my creepy contest-winning flash story The Wilson’s Old Place.
The image for Day 31 on the Pinterest board shows a lit jack-o-lantern in a glowing forest.
My take: Though at first this looks like a serene autumn scene, at closer look it is quite sinister. How did this jack-o-lantern get deep in the forest? Who lit it? What is that ominous orange glow in the distance? And why are we here, deep in a dark forest, stumbling upon a lit jack-o-lantern?
Micro-fiction: When I couldn’t run anymore, my breaths burning, my heart pounding so my head would burst, I found myself deep in the forest. I listened and only heard the small brook gurgling. I had escaped. But then I saw the lit jack-lantern and knew that there was no escape.
I have enjoyed that during the course of the month, through writing these stories, I’ve discovered some new tools to incorporate into my approach to drafting flash.
Emotion: excitement
Creepy verbs: slink, lurk, prowl, skitter, skulk, slither, undulate
Story Cubes Symbols: castle, clock (1:45), apple, cane, magic wand, drama masks, die, magnet, tepee
Woodland creature: cicada
Collective noun: a drunkenship of cobblers, a load of cobblers
Horror trope: Psychokinesis
Oblique Strategies: Decorate, decorate
All of these prompts and exercises are to inspire better writing and I feel like flash is a great way to sharpen our skills. There are many literary magazines that are looking for experimental writing. Flash fiction is a great place to dance along the line between prose poetry and prose, to discover new plot forms and inventive story techniques. Now that you have so many story ideas to explore, play with how you want to tell that story to readers.
If you are interested in submitting your stories to literary magazines, get your free November Daily Planner. Each day features one literary magazine to help you explore and find the best fit for your work.
Today’s OctPoWriMo theme is Who am I?
An artist in creation
creator of tales
alchemist of thoughts and words
vivid life afire
The image for Day 30 on the Pinterest board is a painting I did on my friends’ house. It shows three creepy little boys. The theme of their party was strange brood.
My take: These triplets are definitely up to no goods. Are they demon babies? Were they born evil or were they possessed or cursed after birth?
Micro-fiction: At first she thought one of them had fallen and skinned his knee, but when she got close to see if she could help she saw it had been a trap to lure her in.
Emotion: amazement
Creepy verbs: distress, harass, pain, strain, stress, trouble, grieve
Story Cubes Symbols: light bulb, building, fountain, crescent moon, volcano, postcard, fish, scarab, cane
Woodland creature: bat -cauldron of bats, a cloud of bats, a colony of bats, a hanger of bats
Collective noun: a bank of circuits
Horror trope: cockroaches
Oblique Strategies: disconnect from desire
photo by Maria L. Berg The eagles were out playing in the wind this morning, providing the perfect illustration for today’s theme.
Today’s OctPoWriMo theme is Lightness of being.
Playing in the morning light
Heady
The burden gone
No expectation, judgement
No pain
Ready
For the next adventure
Open to suggestion, surprises
No shame
Unsteady
The tethers loosened
Ground shifting, tilting
No blame
Eddy
Swirling in light
Vibrating energy, electric
Not tame
Excitement
In a moment of discovery
Defies gravity’s hold
The image for Day 11 on the Pinterest board is a watercolor painting by Indonesian artist Dinan Hadyan. It shows two people with multiple animal masks around their necks.
My take: I imagine these masks having the power to turn the wearer into the animals they represent, or at least pass on an aspect of that animal when the mask is on.
Micro-fiction: After the fire, Suho and Woojin sneaked past the crime-scene tape and sifted through the rubble by the light of their headlamps. Suho found the masks unscathed under a pile of broken sheet-rock. The depictions of the different animal heads were so realistic, he thought they might bite. Woojin grabbed the fox mask from Suho’s hand and put it on. He transformed into a small, red fox and scurried away. Suho collected all of the masks and hung them around his neck. His mind raced with possibilities.
Let’s look at one more Celtic Cross Plot for our creepy flash fiction:
Emotion: Conflicted
Creepy verbs: condemn, doom, frame, judge, reprehend
Story Cubes Symbols: cell phone, airplane, parachuting, tree, light bulb, fountain, magnet, scarab, bridge
Woodland creature: wolf – a herd of wolves, a pack of wolves, a rout of wolves
Collective noun: a mob of wombats, a wisdom of wombats
Horror trope: power-outage
Oblique Strategies: Go slowly all the way round the outside
Today’s OctPoWriMo theme is Mending the broken places. The suggested form, Pantoum, looks interesting.
Mending is only temporary
Pierced, torn, unraveling forms a hole
Reunite them with needle and thread
The fabric can never again be whole
This tear requires a tight zigzag instead
Reunite them with needle and thread
When left too long the gap needs a patch
This tear requires a tight zigzag instead
I’ll have to find thread and fabric to match
When left too long the gap needs a patch
Hours spent mending can’t fight destroyer time
I’ll have to find thread and fabric to match
Wasted effort or recaptured moment sublime
Hours spent mending can’t fight destroyer time
The fabric can never again be whole
Wasted effort or recaptured moment sublime
Pierced, torn, unraveling forms a hole
The image for Day 28 on the Pinterest board shows a ghost I helped make for my friends’ party in New Orleans.
My take: I love how the perspective of the photo makes the ghost look taller than the buildings. How frightening would it be if a specter with glowing red eyes rose up out of your back yard and grew to gigantic heights?
Micro-fiction: Petra knew she had no business messing with Voodoo, but the lady at the shop in the quarter had said burying the gris gris in the garden would change her luck. Her luck had been so bad lately, she had assumed that meant for the better. Cowering under the glare of the red glowing eyes of the rising, giant specter, she knew better than to assume when messing with Voodoo.
Emotion: Conflicted
Creepy verbs: sluice
Story Cubes Symbols: clock (1:45), padlock, apple, arrow up, pyramid, magic wand, drama masks, key, magnifying glass
Woodland creature: snake
Collective noun: a flourish of blossoms
Horror trope: witches/warlocks
Oblique Strategies: Would anybody want it?
Today’s OctPoWriMo theme is How did I get here? Today was my last prompt for this OctPoWriMo and I wanted to try a new form, so I chose Ottava Rima.
Today’s theme had me pulling out my old philosophy books: Neitzche’s Beyond Good & Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future
Getting Here
In a vision of the ideal future
a clear view of an unattainable dream
I couldn’t imagine a complete fracture
or my path veering to such an extreme
I will need to retrain my embouchure
to make a sound that is not sobs or screams
Everything ripped by a force not a choice
The desire didn’t show the cost was my voice
(Note: The framing of the rhyme scheme and syllables helped me narrow my scope approaching this vast topic. Sometimes putting rules and limits on your work can have exciting results.)
The image for Day 27 on the Pinterest board shows a human form backed into a corner.
My take: This image, though a simple human form, is super creepy to me. It makes me think of other dimensions, time not working correctly, not being able to trust my senses. The bare mattress makes me think of torture and abuse. This could be a possession story, a Hell-Raiser type story, something psychological-torturey. It can also fit with the OctPoWriMo theme. How did the character get here?
Micro-fiction: Carl followed Jasper into the abandoned building and up the creaking stairs. He trusted Jasper, but had a sick feeling in his stomach. Jasper led him down a hall of peeling paint. He thought he heard faint scratching in the walls. He felt it on his skin and shivered. They entered a room at the end of the hall. It was empty except for a gray, stained, bare mattress on the floor. Jasper stripped off his clothes and crawled onto the mattress, pressing his squatting form into the corner of the room. Carl was embarrassed, but couldn’t look away. Then it happened. He started jerking, moving so quickly he became a blur. Carl couldn’t see the features of his face anymore. It was as if the moment and the room were bending, shimmering and waving and then . . . he was gone.
Emotion: Remorse
Creepy verbs: defame, discredit, disgrace, scandalize, scorch
Story Cubes Symbols: world, long shadow, pyramid, arrow (left), padlock, fish, tepee, bridge, clock (10:30)
Woodland creature: bob-cat
Collective Noun: a glorifying of liars
Horror trope: cults
Oblique Strategies: Be dirty
Today’s OctPoWriMo theme is What has been unspoken. The suggested form is Joseph’s Star.
Sitting with anger
ire
vexation
exasperation
the attempt to negate me
animosity
resentment
gall
huff
conniption
disapprobation
bubbling below the surface
infuriating
impatient
stew
sweat
physical
labor will release
a flashlight beam in the dark
let the light shine through
sleep on it
gone
The image for Day 26 on the Pinterest board shows an array of human forms. This Daniel Richter painting has all the creepies: a cloaked figure, a naked person squatting, vultures, a caramel figure covered in candy, a clown.
My take: This looks like a moment after a Halloween party when a group of people are beginning to make some very bad decisions.
Micro-fiction: “Hanna, thanks for giving Tad your cape, but I didn’t realize you didn’t have anything on under it. It’s raining. You’re going to catch your death. What are you doing? You can’t pop a squat right there. I think I saw a port-o-let. . . .Too late I guess. I’m not ready for this to be over. What do you say? Cemetery? We could break into a mausoleum, see if any spirits are about. Or, Chuck’s clown here is looking pretty homicidal. We could go to the woods and scare people heading home. A cemetery with woods? Perfect. Let’s go!”
Emotion: Eagerness
Creepy verbs: punish, incarcerate, oppress, exile, blacklist, whip, scorn, brand
Story Cubes Symbols: fire, tent, tree, fish, flashlight, turtle, house, arrow (right), magic wand
Woodland creature: porcupine – a family of porcupines, a prickle of porcupines
Collective noun: a quiver of cobras
Horror trope: slasher
Oblique Strategies: Always give yourself credit for having more than personality
Turns out at the heart of it I found ghosts and love 🙂
Today’s OctPoWriMo theme is White. The suggested form is Musette.
Blank page
vacant
with potential
wakens
nothing
glaring light blinds
reeling
bleached bare
marks to be made
a flare
Note: I found this poem form more challenging than expected. I like it and think I’ll try some more musettes.
The image for Day 25 on the Pinterest board shows a red, glowing orb structure hanging in a swamp. Someone has traveled far to get to it.
My take: My first thought of this image was that the thing in the swamp had to be alien, but today I’m thinking that it’s more of a mutation, the swamp’s heart.
Micro-fiction: The throbbing became deafening and as I watched in awe the mound lifted from the swamp as if the cypress were a unified body drawing up their roots. There, before me, was a huge heart that glowed red with each beat. I felt that this was an ancient truth that only now wanted to be known.
How to Write Flash Fiction from Wiki How
Emotion: shame
Creepy verbs: malign, befoul, bespatter, vilify, villainize, revile
Story Cubes Symbols: rook/castle, die (dice), all directions, arrow, cell phone, lamb, fountain, worried smile, book
Woodland creature: skunk
Collective noun: a raffle of turkeys, a rafter of turkeys
Horror trope: werewolf
Oblique Strategies: Is there something missing?
Today’s theme inspired more bokeh photography. My little skull candle woke up with dragon breath, sang a haunting tune, then did some fire breathing. I find shape bokeh with objects and people challenging, but so rewarding and fun.
Today’s OctPoWriMo theme is Breathing.
Breathing
The inhale smells like lilacs and gardenia / The exhales are either coffee or beer
In rush memories of lust and longing / Out pour vile words then pangs of guilt
Spirits rise to exhilaration / The fall, time will exact
Hope fills the empty spaces / Which empties the full ego
Each delicate touch renews / and darkness soon replaces
Every smile replenishes / The strength to fight depletes
Opportunities to dance increase / while self-control decreases
Voice to song now automatic / There is nothing left but focus
To act exhausts and rejuvenates / No passion to reject
Give positive word / in exchange for the negative
profit from the cleansing and face the loss
let pleasure be the antidote for pain
Breathe yourself alive
The image for Day 24 on the Pinterest board is a picture I took of my friends’ Halloween decorations.
My take: Dolls can be very creepy, especially the abandoned, the found, the out of place dolls in the world. Symbolic representatives of innocent human life and yet dead-eyed plastic gender-role training tools. These dolls gathering in a festively lit tree bring up so many questions.
Micro-fiction: Myrna sat down at the table in her back yard. She took a sip of her wine, looked up at the tree, and sighed. This was usually the only peaceful moment of her hectic day, but last week she had noticed the first doll. Every day there were more odd, old, filthy and broken dolls in her magnolia. Today’s additions appeared to include conjoined twins. Who would make a doll with two heads? Nothing made sense. She had given up wondering who would sneak into her yard to put dolls in her tree and she didn’t want to get close enough to see how they were attached. She took a deep breath then gulped down her beverage. The leaves rustled and giggled.
Emotion: Frustration
Creepy verbs: avenge, revenge, deserve, return, balance, serve
Story Cubes Symbols: hand, parachuting, worried smile, alien, bee, pyramid, house, question mark, foot print
Woodland creature: humming bird – a bouquet of hummingbirds, a charm of hummingbirds, a glittering of hummingbirds, a hover of hummingbirds, a shimmer of hummingbirds
Collective noun: a cog of robots
Horror trope: bio-chemical attack
Oblique Strategies: How would you have done it?
This is my new pet (he may think the same of me). He doesn’t have fur yet (give him a couple weeks), but he does cheer me and fill me with a warm glow every time I see him. He also looks at me with hungry eyes, like a pet, which could soon be a problem. He reminds me of one of the aliens from those Critters movies, so I named him Critter.
Today’s OctPoWriMo theme is Fur Babies. I really liked Jane Dougherty’s Serpent’s Tail form from yesterday, so I thought I would give it a try. I love my neighbor’s cat who has taken to hanging out with me while I work, but he makes me think of fleas and other parasites. Thus, I changed my theme to parasites.
The Visit
He comes here to clear
appears with vocal demands
lands and begins to scratch
detaching pricks and brambles
ambles off leaving the sticky bits
habits for me to find
behind when least expected
projected reciprocal belief
thief of time and attention
distraction from my desires
tires of me on an untimely whim
grim our time has come to an end
pretend it is worth protecting
The image for Day 23 on the Pinterest board shows a simple, but eerie human head.
My take: This image makes me think that something inhuman is doing a poor job of painting on a human face.
Micro-fiction: After discovering youtube, the parasitic worm was sure it could apply a face that would disguise it among the humans.
Looking for more creepy image prompts? Head over to Danse Macabre for more Halloween writing inspiration.
Emotion: Disgust
Creepy verbs: scorn
Story Cubes Symbols: magic wand, magnifying glass, volcano/eruption, cane, question mark, arrow, apple, parachuting, rainbow
Woodland creature: moth – a whisper of moths, a universe of moths, a flutter of moths
Collective noun: a troubling of goldfish
Horror trope: Vacant motel
Oblique Strategies: Give the game away
