Archive for the ‘tragedy’ Category

The Box

This piece is offered in response to prompt Mag 29 at Magpie Tales,
and the August 25th prompt at Three Word Wednesday,
and prompt #18 at Writer’s Island.

The Box
…a short story of intrigue…

“What do you mean Taylor,” Gwen inquired, the strain obvious in her weary voice. “Who exactly is going to confront Dylan… and why?”
Her voice trailed [...]

True Work

…I offer this piece in response to prompt #67 at Carry On Tuesday,
and prompt #16 at We Write Poems,
also the August 23rd prompt at Big Tent Poetry,
and the August 25th prompt at Three Word Wednesday,
and prompt #18 at Writer’s Island,
and finally prompt #131 at One Single Impression…
______________
AUTHOR”S NOTE: I had this incomplete 3-year-old draft of [...]

Old Man’s Prayer

…this piece is in response to the 16th prompt of 2010 on Writer’s Island,
and visual prompt Mag 27 at Magpie Tales (see image at bottom),
also offered for prompt 129 at One Single Impression,
and for prompt 228 at Sunday Scribblings….

Old Man’s Prayer


successful as a younger man
the grind became my home
and I a conduit of worry
could I [...]

Machine Mind

This post is offered in response to prompt #14 at We Write Poems,
the August 9th prompt at Big Tent Poetry,
the August 11th prompt at Three Word Wednesday,
and prompt #65 at Carry On Tuesday.

“…scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could,
they didn’t stop to think if they should…”
Dr. Ian Malcolm

Machine Mind

you wink awake at [...]

Spellbound

…this piece is in response to the 15th prompt of 2010 on Writer’s Island
and further inspired by prompt #14 at We Write Poems…

Spellbound


poet
you are enigma
darkness and shadow
you veil and shroud
fire and light
you incandesce
torch my essence
burn deep my soul
trouble my spirit
unsettle my being
ignite my wonder
whet my seeker’s vessel
with need
to be filled full
at once familiar
yet
exotically foreign
wonderfully strange
wrongly [...]

Still

This piece is offered in response to prompt Mag 26 at Magpie Tales

Still

it sits
still
atop the corner
of our garden wall
just where she left it
how many lilies
did it nourish
how many fuscia
lilac
rose
and morning glory
did it quench
it dispensed its
life giving waters
so gracefully
in her hand
such a delicate hand
gentle in its task
of planting new growth
but rugged on the weeds
that threatened her [...]

Blood Moon

This piece is offered in response to prompt Mag 25 at Magpie Tales,
prompt #13 at We Write Poems,
and the August 2nd prompt at Big Tent Poetry.

Blood Moon

icy round
the wolf’n eye
soft and round
the riding breast
roundness
in the grande dame’s fear
a circle round
the blood moon’s crest
there are lies
within that circled moon
that surround
this cruel charade
they gather
and collect the [...]

Barren

This is offered in response to Prompt #63 at Carry On Tuesday

Barren

no life without love
like a tree without blossoms
barren and fruitless
• • •
rob kistner © 2010

The Quiet • The Strike

…I’ve written two pieces in response to Three Word Wednesday July 21st prompt • the first is entitled “The Quiet” • the second is entitled “The Strike”…

The Quiet

left like spent bait
in the disapproving sun
to rot from apathy
the carcasses of constituents
foolishly quiet
curl brittle and crack
victims of their trust
they did not jump
their chance for change
and so they [...]

Stream

…I wrote this free verse poem in a single-draft, stream of consciousness, surrealistic spirit, with minimum edits, inspired by the ‘We Write Poetry’ prompt #11 — hence the title.
I then re-imagined it from a steganograhic perspective, and added the flash fiction prologue, so as to also offer it in response to the July [...]

You Are Here

It was 15 years ago today
you were taken from this earth
I could not sleep last night
the tears come at times today
tears because I miss you
tears because I love you
tears because the memories
bitter and sweet
bring forth these true emotions
you abide within my heart these days
in a place of warmth and peace
I am so thankful you are [...]

Questions

…I wrote this in response to the June 28th prompt at Big Tent Poetry
and for prompt #59 at Carry On Tuesday…

 
Questions

he lifts himself quietly
from beneath the sheets
soiled with neglect
makes his way carefully
past the shallow-breathed crumple
that lay milky-eyed in a heap
un-moving on the floor
save a twitch of the sodden head
this wreckage is his mother
why do you [...]

Extinction’s Shadow

…these are rewrites of prior drafts, edited fresh for the June 21st prompt at Big Tent Poetry
and strongly influenced by prompt #7 at We Write Poems…

Extinction’s Shadow

smothered by big oil
our blue planet is dying
greed’s shadow falls hard

future is mortgaged
to petrochemical lust
fatal addiction

mankind is drowning
in a flood of fossil fuel
black tide of folly
• • •
rob kistner [...]

That Hollywood Sparkle

…I wrote this in response to the June 14th prompt at Big Tent Poetry…

 
That Hollywood Sparkle

it’s not so much we resent the hungry
no more than do we despise the poor
rather we avoid and dismiss them
with the dull cough of apathy
we find them disturbing and dangerous
they disquiet our comfort
we do not flow with the milk of [...]

Maneater

• In response to prompt #6 of the newly opened We Write Poems, I find arrogant, manipulative divas to be difficult to tolerate, or to understand…

Maneater

auburn mane with sable streaks
frosted ermine — lush with pride
a bounce and whip, and tiply snap
with each stiletto’d wanton stride
taught hips roll on slender stems
that part in ripples then enmesh
a [...]