Three Word Wednesday—the Obituary

Three Word Wednesday gives writers, poets and those who journal a mid-week jolt of creativity. Each week, three words are selected; you create something with the words. Then come back and post a link to your contribution.

Obituary,  a notice of a death
Placid, not easily upset or excited;  calm and peaceful, with little movement or activity.
Resonant,  deep, clear, and continuing to sound or ring;  filled or resounding with (a sound); having the ability to evoke or suggest enduring images, memories, or emotions;

The obituary
by Norma J. Bruce
December 8, 2015

She died.
Two days later, he died.
The obituary was clear on the dates.
Death notices are often dry and placid,
It took my breath away as I thought back.
With careful wording and verbs about the destination.
Brief paragraph, not resonant with the muffled sounds of the past
Of young love, quarrels and misunderstandings,
When sixty years ago they had hoped for a future that
Was not to be. Ever.  At least on this side.

Three Word Wednesday—The Christmas Letter

Three Word Wednesday gives writers, poets and those who journal a mid-week jolt of creativity. Each week, three words are selected; and participants create something with those words. Then they return to the website and post the link. This week’s suggestions:

Lackadaisical, adjective: lacking enthusiasm and determination; carelessly lazy.
Makeshift, adjective: serving as a temporary substitute; sufficient for the time being; noun: a temporary substitute or device.
Nude, adjective: wearing no clothes; naked; depicting or performed by naked people; (especially of hosiery) flesh-colored; noun: a naked human figure, typically as the subject of a painting, sculpture, or photograph; flesh color.

The Christmas Letter
by Norma J. Bruce
December 2, 2015

The page is almost nude, missing inspiration.
The 2015 Christmas letter has stalled.
It looks makeshift, a temporary substitute
For the lively travel log and holiday schedule
I had hoped to create.
My lackadaisical attitude is pushed by a short time frame,
And so  I start again. It reappears on the back of the card.
Problem solved.

Three Word Wednesday for November 25

I must have been thinking turkey and pumpkin pie, because the 3WW day slipped right past me.  The clues this week are:

Habitual, adjective: done or doing constantly or as a habit, regular; usual.

Illustrious, adjective: well known, respected, and admired for past achievements.

Jumbled, verb: mix up in a confused or untidy way

and there is an event being reported on TV.

“Active shooter situation, Colorado Springs”
Norma J. Bruce
November 27, 2015

Several are injured, and the police are swarming.
Jumbled thoughts as family and friends agonize.
By-standers send in video and reports.
Waiting.  Waiting. A hostage is released! Then another!
These shootings seem to be habitual.
Except the victims and aggressors are different each time,
Illustrious of past events of which they were never a part
And could not ever imagine.

Three word Wednesday, post Paris poem

The words to use this week are not difficult to use as looking back to Friday the 13th and the events in Paris:

Enigmatic, adjective: difficult to interpret or understand; mysterious.
Faulty, adjective: working badly or unreliably because of imperfections, (of reasoning and other mental processes) mistaken or misleading because of flaws, having or displaying weaknesses.
Grovel, verb: lie or move abjectly on the ground with one's face downward, act in an obsequious manner in order to obtain someone's forgiveness or favor.

Paris and Beirut, November 2015

We will not grovel
or  submit to your evil
hateful attacks and
beliefs enigmatic
tools in the hands of  leaders’
faulty interpretations.

And speaking of enigmatic and faulty, what a perfect description of our President.  Not only can he not interpret the Quran, he's completely ignorant of what the Bible says.

Links

Three Word Wednesday, venom, wiggle, distracted

Venom, noun: a poisonous substance;  extreme malice and bitterness shown in someone's attitudes, speech, or actions.

Wiggle, verb: move with small rapid movements, (wiggle out of) avoid (something)

Distracted, adjective: unable to concentrate because one's mind is preoccupied.

See web site for clues and how to participate.

A noun, verb and adjective.  Hmm.  This almost screams for a poem about today’s college campuses of the United States, doesn’t it? For the internationals who contribute to this website, it refers to current college protests in the U.S. led by wealthy students, a massacre in Kenya in April of college students, and looks back the the 1960s when protests were common.  The term “snowflake” is American slang for young, coddled adults who melt under criticism.

Fifty years later.

“Don’t trust anyone over 30!” was the cry of the sixties.
Can’t be too critical of the venom spewing from
From Mizzou, from Yale, from Ithaca,  
Solidarity walk outs, sit ins,  protests and marches.
Except, they want the opposite of free speech.
No investigation of rumors, just
Fire the president! Remove the faculty!
Especially that creep that gave me a D.
(Don’t be distracted by the cry from Kenya, 
Kill the Christians!
Almost 150 killed on campus for that crime.
No wiggle room for these young revolutionaries.)
Our snowflakes at home, deceived who
Shout, raise their fists, then go off 
to have a beer with their trust fund money,
Ignoring the blood spilled on the other side
Of the university world.

The homeless woman—Three Word Wednesday

This week (no. 452) the words are:

Ragged, adjective: (of cloth or clothes) old and torn,

Threatening, adjective: having a hostile or deliberately frightening quality or manner,

Unsightly, adjective; unpleasant to look at; ugly.

The homeless woman in July

She’s not threatening
as she daily rides her bike
through the neighborhood
of suburban  McMansions.
Dressed in heavy pilled sweaters ,
a ragged hand knit hat blue
from the church missionary barrel,
and unsightly galoshes with treads.
Perhaps she knows that
Cold winds will blow soon.

Appearances notwithstanding

Today the prompt at 3 Word Wednesday (a community for writers, poets and bloggers) is:

Nondescript, adjective: lacking distinctive or interesting features or characteristics.

Placid, adjective: (of a person or animal) not easily upset or excited, (especially of a place or stretch of water) calm and peaceful, with little movement or activity.

Quirky, adjective: characterized by peculiar or unexpected traits.

--------------------------------

She looked to be the perfect friend.
Just my type.
Bookish, nondescript appearance, sensible shoes.
But first glance, first impression can be misleading.
Beneath the placid wide eyes
Were archives of quirky questions never answered.

3 word Wednesday on Friday—Lotza and her treats

The owner of this site provides 3 words each Wednesday as a prompt/inspiration for writers.  Entries can be an essay, poem, a blog or thought. Helps when you have a brain freeze and it encourages spontaneity. The words this Wednesday are:

Jab, verb: poke (someone or something) roughly or quickly, especially with something sharp or pointed; poke someone or something roughly or quickly with (a sharp or pointed object or a part of the body); noun: a quick, sharp blow, especially with the fist, a sharp painful sensation or feeling.

Labored, adjective: done with great effort and difficulty, (especially of humor or a performance) not spontaneous or fluent.

Makeshift, adjective: serving as a temporary substitute; sufficient for the time being; noun: a temporary substitute or device.

She’s deaf now, my little calico.
And sometimes I worry about her eyesight
If she misses it.
Sweet kitty, she’ll jab at the treat
I toss across the tile floor
Slipping and sliding,
A makeshift exercise therapy
After she labored so long at napping.

Three Word Wednesday

Bone has posted for 3WW

Punch
T-shirt
Unravel

for us to play with this week. Before I checked the clues, I was sorting laundry, and again thinking about how I could turn the old t-shirts from VBS, traveling, library conferences and organizations into a quilt. My mom used to cut t-shirts into strips and crochet the fabric into rugs, but quilting them saves the event or organization, and thus your memories. I've got San Antonio, Seattle and Shedd's Museum. I've got a "I heart my library," and Walk with Majors. I've got a Lakeside Ohio tour of my husband's projects. I've got dogs, horses and kitties. So here's my little poem. The photo is from Goose tracks and she will quilt t-shirts supplied by you for a fee, if you're not crafty or don't have the time.

Punch up the memories,
unravel the past,
cut up those t-shirts,
the first and the last

Arrange the design
and a contrasting thread,
make a new coverlet
to place on the bed.