As a girl, Jenny begged Grandpa for adventure stories about when he was a real live soldier in World War II, but he never wanted talk about it.

Eventually he told that war ain't like the movies-- you have a gun, you run forward, the enemy shoots you, or maybe you get scared and run away, and your own men shoot you, for being a coward.

Jenny didn't really get it though, until one day, years later at the Memorial Day Parade, her little son squeezed her hand and announced that when he grew up he was going to be a soldier.

As a mother, Grandpa's words finally made sense, and she saw the senselessness.

Truth

:towers tall, talks thankfully,

thinks tenderly.

:tousells tangled tares,

tames tigers,

tempers thunder.

:terrifies terrorists,

takes tarnished theories,

tallies then toughens them.

:thrills talent, thwarts trouble,

teaches toddlers,

touches throats, turns tongues tinsel.

Tell truths tenaciously;

two-mindedness

thaws 'till thresholds turn tangible.

lonely, hungry,

black night-shaded eyes,

bright moon shining

pale face

Red lips blood-cloaked

deep desire

empty soul

moans never satisfied

Why didn’t you?

thanks for the challenge #moonsinger128. Good luck to all the other participants. Happy writing!

float in space,

orbit, rotate;

dance in circles,

glowing sphere.

transluscent, alive,

tiny planet

with a child inside.

thumb-sucking spaceman,

in a slick glass ship,

eyes shut tight

nestled egg-sac,

in sky black night.

pink placenta rocket,

pulsate, give life;

umbilical cable,

purple veiny cord,

attach, hold fast.

outerspace, inner space,

eternity stretched

into seconds.

a black hole below,

little galaxy in chaos.

stars stretch/contract,

pressure push pull

down,

down,

down,

intense crash landing.

sky ripping,

blood gushing,

water breaking,

voice screaming.

then, bright lights,

first breath of air,

lungs screaming, fear, then

gentle care,

big eyes like craters,

divine face glows,

heart-beats conjoining,

nestling place you know.

skin touching,

soft singing,

life changing,

welcome

to this new planet.

midnight

loneliness,

moon

clean and bright

a single starched sock

or d’ubervilles tess

uncertain, a mess,

or brilliant white

bride’s fitted

dress,

a rose buttonier

on a tuxedo, grey

a door slamming in fear,

furious,

kissing in snow,

flakes spinning like

ballerinas

no in between

marriage of extremes

burn you like

a blaze

leave you lost like a maze

freeze you, silent ice

so cold it feels hot

wild or captive,

flying, gliding, soaring,

or lying face down in the dirt,

hurt

rejected

or accepted like a

golden christmas present

angry, passive,

gentle, persuasive,

tender, brutal

but never ever indifferent

raindrops on my windshield

wiped into a blur,

smearing lake and sky;

raindrops on my windshield,

teardrops in my eye

wiped into a blur,

watercolor world,

car bobbing like a boat,

wiped into a blur,

guilt filling my throat

watercolor world,

painted lovely, numb,

sinking in the stormwater,

coldness crashing in

watercolor world

blurring siren din

painted lovely, numb,

is how they’ll tow me out

body blur blue broken

icy as a lie

Painted lovely numb

teardrops in my eye

Dad is dying,

Mum forgeting,

my sister and I go, to move them to a home,

we pack all their stuff, efficient, brusque

cardboard coffins stuffed with paper and memories,

black garbage bags dumped in the charity bin,

books donated cruelly, like orphans by

unfeeling aunts, who turn and leave, releaved to be rid of them

then my sister finds a Bear, an old beat up thing with ratty matted fur and a broken

button on one eye, and now she is no longer

my ally, she becomes like my parents, emotional

confused, very childlike, full of tears

the tattered bear has a name,

as silly as his felt pink tonguse

she pets him, hugs him

reminds him of days

that smelled of cut grass

that sang like a Red Robin

that laughed like a little girl

that kissed like a mother.

she can’t recall his name

but somehow Mum

who can no longer find the mailbox

knows his name is Freddy Bear

And then she finds my Eddy Bear

and we laugh in the kitchen

and I remember who my parents were

and hug who they are now tightly, regretfully

You kids today are lucky, getting lemons.

When I was little, we had to climb the tree and knock them down ourselves,

collected them in a hand-woven macrame basket.

So,

bring them home, look in the cookbook,

whip whites into mountains of meringue,

grate coconut for great results,

sift flour, sprinkle sugar,

get out your grandmother’s mixing bowl,

add hot water,

or cubes, crystal ice,

get out your zester,

learn to like the color yellow,

mix with olive oil and splash on salad,

mix with white wine and drowned the mussels,

by all means be creative,

get busy in the kitchen, and

remember, a good chef doesnt have time to complain!

O verhead, sleepy lion-sun lies with cloudy-lambs,

N autillus, in surf below, flirts with Venus clams.

E ach burst of summer wind blows magic fairy-dust

D own the beach, as pure white sand dances with each gust.

A perfect day for you and me, sitting side by side,

Y ou hold my hand and walk with me into gem blue tide.

A getaway together, in this perfect place.

T he sea dissolves our footprints, sun kisses my face.

T hen beachlike Eden ends, when winds blow harder yet,

H owling at the sky to darken, make everybody wet.

Y ou run, I run. Why did beauty go? I wonder.

M urky sky blankets beach with rain, fills the air with thunder.

E very strike of lightening shakes both sky and sea and sands,

S o we shelter in your Chevy, gently holding hands,

B eating hearts louder than beating wind or beating rain.

E ven as we wait for the sun to shine again,

A ll the passion, all the storm, reflected in your eyes.

C old and soaking wet, under towels to dry:

H ow I knew our love was true, more constant than the sky.