Concealing Chaos
Tangled up
a chaotic mess
its volume
overpowers order
and swallows whole
organization
causing even that
which is
in front of your face
to disappear
as it is swallowed
by the chaos
looming
in the background
creative writing
Gideon’s Challenge
Taking a Rest
Under boughs of
sharp tipped needles
the ground is soft
with spongy moss
and piles
of shedded debris
from the towering
branches above
this shelter
is my happy place
where hours
are spent lying upon
fragrant softness
looking up through
shades of green
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Gideon’s Challenge
Stillness
Let’s sit a spell
and watch
clouds travel
over calm waters
like little boats
that don’t make ripples
Stay perfectly still
and the silence
will fade
to be replaced
by soft sounds
of foragers seeking
tasty treats
but stop at the
water’s edge
for a drink.
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Gideon’s Challenge
Winter Breeze
Whispers swirl
though
windswept fields
as each dried
weed and reed
brush against
each other
to spill
their secrets
into the air
for seeking ears
and open minds
if we
will only listen
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Gideon’s Challenge
Waterfront Frolic
Come play with me
where sky and earth
meet clouds and sea
and moss drapes
the branches
while we can wander
along rocky beaches
and skip stones
over cold ripples
while our noses
turn red and cold
and a chill breeze
whispers
through the trees
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Weekly Creativity Prompt – The Swamp
Prompt: Draw up to three cards and use them to tell us a story of getting lost in a wild place such as a forest, swamp, etc.
He had spent his entire life carving out his little piece of heaven out of the wet clutches of the heart of the swamp. Moisture and mildew clung to every thing, it ate away at everything, and the small shack with attached pier he’d built needed constant work and upkeep in order to keep it from being yield over to the swamps voracious appetites. (Seven of Pentacles)
As he got older, he found that some days were better than others, and he had to plan his work on the small shack and pier carefully to make sure that he didn’t overtax himself in the process. (Wheel of Fortune)
When the waters began to rise in the spring rains this year, he was ready as always… or he thought that he was. He’d taken care to make sure that the planks of the pier were sturdy and the items in the shack were all on risers to give a few extra inches clearance in case the waters rose that high. As with each year, he looked at his place with new eyes as he shored it up for the coming weather and high waters. (Ace of Wands)
But what he didn’t anticipate was the shifting ground beneath his home stirred up by water’s currents.
It happened in the middle of the night, when the water rose to wash over the slates of the pier and ripple under the door of his shack, while the man slept on his bed set on risers. There was a long, low groan from the shack as the supports began to shift, and a shuddered moan of wood and rope and nails pulling free.
He awoke with a start as the shack began to come apart, not collapsing or crumbling, but falling apart as if every nail that held the place together were simply and suddenly gone, and as he rose from the bed and ran out of the shack, the shack and pier beneath his feet crumbled into the water… and he was pulled down into the depths with it.
And as the swamp then quieted and stilled, it was as if the old man and his shack and small pier were never there, for all had been swallowed by the wild he had fought to keep at bay for so long. (Three of Swords)
Twisting the Leaf 