Bookended

May 11, 2022Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Professional Development, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: 100WordChallenge, adoption, books, Childhood Adversity, Finding a home, Flash Fiction, Friday Fictioneers, Getting ready, Micro-fiction, Photo prompt, Support 46 Comments

lr-prompt

She stood back to appreciate her handiwork.

A mix of tidiness and lived-in disarray. The books. The pillows. The cozy afghans on the couch.

“She’ll love it,” he said from behind her, and she jumped. She hadn’t heard him enter.

She leaned against his chest. Felt the thrumming of his steady heart.

“How do you know?” she fretted.

“Because it’s not about perfection, but about having enough support so that no matter how you wobble,” his hand rose toward the bookshelves, “you’re bookended by love.”

She kissed his palm.

“Let’s go get our new daughter, then. Bring her home.”

For Rochelle’s FridayFictioneers

Photo: Dale Rogerson (thank you for the homey, inviting photo prompt inspiration! This room makes me wanna curl up with a good book on the couch. xoxo, your NYNF)

To Know Good

May 31, 2020Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Meditations, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Writing Tags: better future, Cruelty, Current events, Elders, End violence, Good, kindness, Moral compass, Poetry, Promises, Racism, RDP, Support, Truth 20 Comments

Photo: Valario Davis on Unsplash

“So how do you,” he asked,

“Know good

From bad?”

“By the heart,” she replied.

“By the actions that

Build

And prop up,

And the words that

Support

And patch the

Cracked places

Inside broken parts.”

“And how,” he pressed,

“Do you know what

Just needs

Giving up?”

“By the soul,”

She patted the warm place

On her lap.

“For breath

Matters,

And hope

Matters,

And kindness

Is superior to any

Pass-by-night

Emperors

Full of promises

Of might,

Touted

For our good

But seeped in

Falsehood meant

To bring on

Plight.”

He shuddered

And she stroked his wet cheek

And held a cool

Palm to his brow.

“Now sleep,

And let spirits

Of light,

Hold back the bad

And

Fill your cup

With good

Till the world grows

Up.”

For RDP Sunday: For Our Good

Plenty Enough Of That

April 25, 2020Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Reflections, Trauma and Development, Writing Tags: Adversity, encouragement, Finding a way, Flash Fiction, Grief, Loss, love, Micro-fiction, Relationships, Support, Weekend Writing Prompt, Writing Challenge 17 Comments

Photo: E.K.

“I don’t know what we’ll do,” she sobbed.

He lifted her chin gently till the brown-speckled eyes met his. “We’ll manage,” he said, surety threaded carefully into his voice. He didn’t want her feeling as if she was weak for unraveling or wondering whether any of what she was feeling was excessive or unreasonable. It was not.

He didn’t have all the answers, either.

Only love.

He had plenty of that.

And it had to be enough.

“Everything’s a mess,” she sighed.

It was. And yet, it wasn’t. Not everything. Their care for each other had not a single tangle in it.

“It’s like this cotton field,” he breathed. “Raw fibers that are nonetheless brimming with nascent fabric potential. We’ll pick through our grief and weave love into a new life.”

For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: Fabric in 131 words

Weighted

June 14, 2019November 12, 2019Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Poetry, Reflections, Writing Tags: CB&W, Folklore, History, Holding on, Photo Challenge, Poetry, Statute, Support, Timeless, Tired, Weight 2 Comments

Photo: Smadar Halperin-Epshtein

The weight of the world

On his shoulders.

His heart thumps a fatigue

In his chest.

Eons stretch

Since certain with brawn

He sought

With his strength

To impress.

For Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: open topic

Isolated Rest

February 21, 2019Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Photography, Reflections, Writing Tags: Afloat, Black and White, CB&W, Isolated, Patience, Photo Challenge, Photography, Poetry, Refuge, Support, Tired, Waiting 13 Comments

Photo: Atara Katz

Not quite certain if it

Will be able to hold

The weight

Of tired swimmers,

Still it waits,

A little lopsided

And more than a tad

Tired

Itself.

For Cee’s Black & White Challenge: Isolated objects

Faded Charm

October 11, 2018October 12, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Photography, Reflections, Writing Tags: hope, Old, Patience, Persevere, Photo Challenge, Photography, Poetry, Relationships, Restoration, Support, ThursdayDoors, Waiting 4 Comments

Photo: Philip Coons

If you’re broken by worry

Hanging by a thread

Filled with dread,

There are links

That can hold

Even the weary and old,

Who then ride

The hard time

Till restored faded charm.

For the Thursday Doors challenge

Unbeknownst

June 6, 2018June 7, 2018Na'ama Yehuda Anecdotes of Life, Current events, Life and love, Muse and Flow, Photography, Reflections, WordOfDayNY, Writing Tags: Awareness, Being seen, Depression, Grief, Loss, MerriamWebster, Sorrow, Support, Understanding, WordOfDayNY Leave a comment

Photo: Inbar Asif

Unbeknownst

To anyone

Pain stripped her bare

Inside her mind.

She put on a brave face

And smiled

So no one see

What hid behind.

But how I pray

She understands

She’s not alone:

Hope’s here to find.

Merriam-Webster’s word for June 6, 2018:

Unbeknownst

This post continues the blogging challenge in which Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day, serves as inspiration a-la the “Daily Prompt.”

Want to join me? Feel free to link to this post on your blog, and/or post a link to your blogpost in the comment section below so others can enjoy it, too. Poetry, photography, short stories, anecdotes: Go for it!

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