By The Books

October 2, 2021Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: books, Choices, cleaning up, Inheritance, Loss, Micro Fiction, New Beginnings, Poetry, Priorities, Taking Stock, Weekend Writing Prompt 24 Comments

Photo: MoneyforCoffee on Pixabay

Now that it was all hers, she wanted none of it.

She didn’t give an iota for questions or neighbors’ looks.

Out went the furniture. The clothing. The towels.

The reminders of swindlers and rooks.

She got rid of the bedding, the shelving,

The whole kit and caboodle in numerous crannies and nooks.

There was naught in the house for her

But memories of pain and emotional hooks.

She cleaned out the lot

And left only the books.

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Caboodle in 78 words

Crystal Clear

June 14, 2021Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: cleaning up, Creative writing, Critic, dVerse, Fatigue, Guilty conscience, memories, Poetry, Quadrille, Shaming, Smudge 38 Comments

(Photo by De an Sun on Unsplash)

She would have gone to bed

And let the mess wait

For the morning,

Or the following

Millennia,

Had it not been for voices

That still

Echoed

From her past

To smudge shame

Onto her

Present.

She grabbed the mop

And filled the pail.

For the dVerse poetry quadrille challenge: smudge

What To Do?

September 12, 2020September 12, 2020Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Writing Tags: Change, cleaning up, Climate Change, Consequences, Current affairs, Elections, Poetry, Politics, Practical solutions, Rectify, Vote, Weekend Writing Prompt 16 Comments

What are we to do?

They asked,

When all seems to be

So broken-up?

How can we rectify

When the mess

We allowed

Exceeds nightmare

Proportions?

Perhaps,

The measured response was,

Begin with

Cleaning up.

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Rectify in 35 words

In reverse

February 2, 2017Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Things Kids Say, Writing Tags: Big brothers, cleaning up, Creativity, Little sisters, parenting, playing, Siblings, The Daily Post 2 Comments

“I don’t like cleaning up,” she complained. The floor was strewn with blocks, mini-figurines, doll’s clothing, crayons, plastic tea-set, make up kits, paper bits, and other detritus of a long afternoon.

Her brother frowned. He’s been occupied with his tablet instead of playing with her and while it was nice to have the chatterbox quiet for a change, he did not relish the prospect of doing the work or facing the dressing down he’d get if his parents returned to see the living room drowned under mountains of little-girl paraphernalia.

She glowered back, lower lip already quivering in preparation for what he knew all too well will be a battle he would lose.

“It’s not cleaning up,” he started.

“What?” she squinted, suspicious.

“You see,” he enticed, “it’s like magic …”

“Magic …? ” She still wasn’t buying it.

“Yes, magic! You’ll be making a mess in reverse!”