Not Quite

May 8, 2021Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: Alone, Creative writing, Flash Fiction, Isolated, Loss, Micro-fiction, Society, Solitude, Suspend Judgment, Weekend Writing Prompt 23 Comments

(Photo: Kajetan Sumila on Unsplash)

He was, but not quite, a solitudinarian.

He lived alone. His homestead perched atop a bluff where steep trails provided an effective fencing.

He offered bare gruff care for stranded hikers whose calculations of the weather led them to beg shelter.

Townspeople cast shadows on his hermitage. No sane man, they insisted, would give up their company.

He differed.

He came down from the mountain only rarely, for provisions he could not otherwise procure, his expression ascertaining that friendship remained off that list.

And yet.

He loved. The one. Before.

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: solitudinarian in 90 words

Compliance

November 30, 2020Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: abide, Compliance, dVerse, Expectations, History, Poetry, Poetry prompt, Quadrille, Rigidity, rules, Society 28 Comments

(Photo: Isaac Holmgren on Unsplash)

When all was said and done,

There was no question

Of whether or when

Or why,

She would be expected

To abide by all

The rules they had

Intended to

Apply.

The law was set.

The outcome clear.

She was to follow

And adhere.

For the dVerse quadrille poetry challenge: abide

Hearts’ Hum

June 15, 2020June 15, 2020Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: better future, Black Lives Matter, change the world, Current events, dVerse, equality, Have a voice, Human Rights, Poetry prompt, Protest, Quadrille, Society 28 Comments

Photo: Koshu Kunii on unsplash

No humdrum moment.

No silent pause

Or rest.

The tempo of the chanting

Rises

As crowds flow

And crest.

They march to call

The winds

Of change

To come,

And heed the soul

As hearts’ pain

Hums

And drums

The need for

Better times.

For the dVerse quadrille poetry challenge: drum

Swamp Dweller

June 13, 2020Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Writing Tags: Corruption, Cruelty, Current events, Dark Times, Gaslighting, Lies, Obdurate, Politics, Society, Swamp, Weekend Writing Prompt, Writing Challenge 11 Comments

Photo: Patrick Smith on Unsplash

He claims crises are never his doing.

He says none of what’s broken

Can be.

Not the harm.

Not the scams.

Not the spread of corruption,

Or growing alarm.

It is all others’

Fault.

Everyone else

Is bad.

If there’s pain

It’s the doing of fools

Who complain

And fake hardships besides.

Obdurate,

He mocks all

Who point out

Lies he told.

To him every word

From his mouth

Is pure gold.

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Obdurate in 72 words

Not Welcome Here

March 20, 2020Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: COVID19, Current events, Gaslighting, Government, humanity, No More Hate, Pandemic, Poetry, Society, SoCS, Stream of Consciousness, Truth 12 Comments

Photo: Franck V. on Unsplash

You are not welcome

Here,

With your

Contaminated fear.

You are not welcome

Here,

With words that hurt

And terms that mean to harm, divert,

Self-aggrandize, and

Smear.

There is a bigger risk

In hate

Than in keeping

Near.

You are not welcome

Here,

If you weaponize worry

To steer

Away from empathy,

Away from truth,

Away from the real challenges we share

As we ride great distances

On this one

Sphere.

Call this by its name.

Not by the rhetoric

Of racist,

Misinforming

Jeer.

Address it not in

Murky swamps

That deliberately

Throw mud into the

Gears.

Humanity is better

Than your insatiable need

To infect the

Atmosphere.

We’re on to you.

We see.

We hear.

We will hold steady to what

Matters.

We support the hardworking, factual and

Compassionately

Sincere.

But you?

You are not welcome

Here.

For Linda Hill’s SoCS writing prompt: Welcome

New York Marvel

September 2, 2019November 12, 2019Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Photography, Poetry, Reflections, Writing Tags: CB&W, equality, Free, History, library, New York City, NYPL, Photo Challenge, Photo prompt, Poetry, Progress, Society 15 Comments

Photo: Inge Vandormael

Marble walls in carved glory

Hold

A marvel,

Home

For words

No longer

Kept

Small

But shared

With all.

Note: This fantastic photo was taken by my talented friend Inge Vandormael, at the New York Public Library building on 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue. Click here for some of history.

For Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: M or N

In Thrall

July 6, 2019November 12, 2019Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: Discrimination, Enthrall, Freedom, Inequity, Jim Crow, Poetry, Prejudice, Racism, Society, Weekend Writing Prompt, Writing Challenge 19 Comments

Photo: Lancaster Ohio 1938

He was enthralled.

His fate decided

By those who bought

And sold

The humans they preferred

To see as lesser than,

In order to exact a price

For their own

Self-aggrandizing,

Once freed,

His slavery was still

Held against him

In deliberate inequity,

His struggles mocked

As ‘proof’ he hadn’t been trying

Hard enough.

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Enthrall in 54 words

Pinned Hopes

May 22, 2019November 12, 2019Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Speech Language Pathology, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, Birthday, children, Disappointment, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Invisible, Isolation, Micro-fiction, Photo prompt, Society, Writing Challenge 75 Comments

She planned every detail.

The dress. The cake. The decorations.

What games to play. Who to invite. The invitations.

She fretted over treats and props. The seating arrangement.

The day dawned bright. The weather fair.

The flowers gifted blooms. Butterflies came to visit.

The cake turned out close to perfect.

The dress fit well. Even her hair cooperated.

She breathed it in.

She smiled.

She waited.

The only thing she did not foresee

Was no one showing up,

And only her mama there

To wrap a scarf around her eyes

To hide the tears

As she pinned the donkey.

Note: Dedicated to all the children whose parties turn to pain. To those who are all too often left invisible due to social awkwardness, adversity, disabilities visible and invisible, social isolation, bullying, and the myriad ways indifference (let alone direct cruelty) can a child’s soul maim.

For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers