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KATE NAYLOR: Everywhere I Walk I Trail a Thread of Forget-Me-Not Blue

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Flash Boulevard

Flash Fiction by Katy Naylor

Thread

Everywhere I walk, I trail a thread of forget-me-not blue. It unspools gently as I navigate each turn.

I go walking every day, the blue unwinding as I go. I walk to the night we sat by the river and laughed ourselves hoarse. I walk through the old allotment, where the plants you tended now grow in an ever-wilder tangle of green. I walk a land of sorrow. It’s a geography you’ll never know, even though every stile and gatepost is carved with your name.

I know the lack of you so well now. I have mapped out the space where your body should be, pored over the details of words that could have been said. The silence over breakfast, hanging thick in the air over your cup, is as heavy and as intimate as a kiss.

This morning I went to the market…

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DAN CRAWLEY: Changing Everything

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Excellent microfictions–

Flash Boulevard

Flash Fiction by Dan Crawley

LAS CRUCES  

Leaving the Mexican restaurant after a long lunch, Lea pushed the heavy wooden door wide open.

Brent followed, saying, “All that I mentioned earlier, I’m just trying to…I want to help you.”

“New subject,” Lea said. “I think those people are wasted.”  

Ahead on the sidewalk staggered another couple. They clutched each other as if traversing an uneven rock jetty, losing the battle against a wicked gale. Lea noticed a purple curl poking out from the black ski cap on the man’s head. The woman didn’t seem to have much hair under her ball cap.  

“Timber,” Brent said.  

The woman swayed, losing her grip on her partner’s elbow. He buckled, too, and all of his interior scaffolding seemed to vanish. The woman ended up between two barrel cacti, sprawled on the pink gravel lining the sidewalk. The man sat…

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“A Regular Occurrence” by Ethan Johnson

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A Regular Occurrence

by Ethan Johnson

Where is it?
Some pens,
Some clips,
A ball of twine,
Where is it?
Some rubber bands,
A bit of sand,
And a bottle of shoe shine,
Where is it?
Three dead bugs,
A magnet of a pug,
And a dust bunny or nine,
Where is it?
Fourteen erasers,
Miscellaneous papers,
And an air freshener pine,
Where is it?
I need to find it soon,
I should have left at noon,
But I just cannot leave the house without IT!

“Letter My Rapist Never Sent Me” by Cordelia David

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Letter My Rapist Never Sent Me

 

by Cordelia David

 

I guess I still don’t get it

In the end, wasn’t it worth it?

You said you wanted to hang out

I made the obvious conclusion.

 

I am sorry I hurt you, I guess

that much I know.

I thought your no’s

were a tease

and a possible please.

 

You liked it when I kissed you

And you giggled when I pulled away.

The Rohypnol in your glass on the tray,

Was a gift, to make it easier on you.

 

So when I finally grabbed your hair,

golden strands curled ’round my hand,

and forced you to your knees

I didn’t mean for the carpet

to rub so coarsely on your skin.

 

And I guess I’m sorry you cried

I didn’t know you’d never tried.

When you told me, I thought you were joking

After all, everyone does this type of thing.

 

I was a skyscraper standing over you

Your pulse raced beneath my fingertips

As I squeezed your wrists

and your salty tears mixed well

with the cum and sweat trail

 

scarred on your lips.

 

And maybe I held a little too tightly

for purple pearls curled lightly

Around your too-thin wrists, bones

with their flimsy fabric torn apart.

 

And maybe I shoved a little too hard

When I tried to force your lips apart

But the blood looked so pretty slippin’

past the ripped clothing of your shirt.

 

When you finally managed to stand,

should I have walked you to the door, hand in hand?

Or let you walk away shamefully

as you did in the end?

Maybe I should have said thank you,

I never did get the chance

 

And for that I’m truly sorry.

“A Hero’s Words to Zelda” by Peter Chong

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A Hero’s Words to Zelda

 by Peter Chong

In the video game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the hero Link tries to rescue Princess Zelda, who is holding the evil Ganon at bay and waiting for the hero to finally put an end to it all.

Those golden, silky threads
And those pointy ears protruding from the sides,
Your name itself, Zelda
Is enough to smite the fears that seek to swallow Hyrule.
You would think the sun to be the source of that radiance.
But that light has always concealed
The calamity looming over your head.
The pressure, a dark force crushing you beneath its dark heels.
His robe, wrapping you up until you suffocate.
That crown, demanding only excellence and perfection.
That crown, being your father.
Meanwhile, I am powerless, only to bow down beneath his feet,
To bend my head in shame as I can only listen to your knees hitting the ground
And teardrops being the only sound to break the silence. 

But I’ve been constructed to expel the parts that show weakness.
To serve the king diligently without question, is what a knight should do.
Even if I feel the slightest vibration in this vacant chest, I brush it off.
I raise my sword when harm wants to drive you deeper into pain
But when it comes time to seal away the demons that reside in your heart
A hero’s sword is worth nothing compared to words that can fix what has come apart 

And I remember our moments by the tree overlooking the castle
As I cut through the air in preparation for what lays ahead.
Nothing could prepare me for the next moment,
When you asked me, why do you stay so silent?
For a moment, I felt like a nonexistent past looped through my mind,
As we would stroll together through the woods
Picking sunshrooms and catching frogs,
It was like the breath of the wild was upon us
But only for a brief second.

For more ideas on “Superhero” poems, check out: http://www.cleavermagazine.com/tag/lynn-levin/

“Tour” of Poems for the Writing, Sponsored by the Doylestown Bookshop (July 14th, 2020)

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pftwfrontcover

A Free Virtual Tour of Award-Winning Poetry Prompts with Valerie Fox and Lynn Levin, authors of Poems for the Writing: Prompts for Poets, Second Edition

On Zoom, Tuesday, July 14, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. An email invitation with Zoom meeting information will be sent to all who register. Participants are invited to join the Zoom meeting starting at 1:50 p.m. The event will start at 2:00 p.m. sharp. The virtual book tour will last 20-30 minutes and will be followed by a Q&A with the authors.   

Please RSVP via the Eventbrite link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-tour-of-award-winning-poetry-prompts-with-valerie-fox-lynn-levin-tickets-112243445166

Valerie Fox (The Rorschach Factory, The Glass Book) and Lynn Levin (The Minor Virtues, Miss Plastique), co-authors of Poems for the Writing: Prompts for Poets, Second Edition, a finalist in Writing/Publishing in the 2020 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, will inspire you with their classroom and workshop-tested poetry prompts. If you are a poet, this sampler from the book will reward you with a trove of ideas to enhance your practice of poetry. If you are a teacher of creative writing at the middle school, high school, or college level, you will pick up exciting new tips that will add both depth and fun to your lesson plans. Be prepared to take notes and be inspired. Copies of Poems for the Writing: Prompts for Poets, Second Edition (Texture, 2020) are available in-store or online at the Doylestown Bookshop. Click here for more information.