Colleen’s 2020 Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 181 #SynonymsOnly
“Nimble & Enigma“
Knot
Your string
Then again
Make your best wish
Swift it will return
By age old magic true
Agile mind, no puzzle there
The veil will part to let it through
Beware the partnership it returned
Darkest mystery made with you in mind…
©anitadawes2020
Thursday photo prompt: Veiled #writephoto
For visually challenged writers, the image shows a green horizon, beyond which the mist veils a hill topped with strange rock formations.
Driving through the canyon between the land
Feeling like the filling in a sandwich
I found it hard to keep my eyes on the road
The rocks reaching high above my head
Shrouded in mist felt more interesting
Than our destination
Something ancient still lived there
I felt its presence like a memory
Each rock, each tree, each blade of grass whispered,
you have been here before, we miss you…
I felt lightheaded, as if I were floating in a dream
From the back seat came a shout, Mum, watch out!
I slammed on the brakes.
Someone stood in the middle of the road
Before I could hit him, he vanished
I couldn’t bring myself to tell my family
That moments before I had seen that same figure
Standing in the mist between the rocks
Watching us…
©anitadawes 2020
First thing in the morning
When the mist covers the South Downs
I wonder, is Merlin walking those hills?
Hidden by mists of his own making
Looking for something
Anger, frustration
He strikes the ground with lightning
This breaks the hold on his mind
Yet the gate shuts as fast
Half remembered thoughts lost
He stands, supported by the rock
As the sea rages towards his fragile mind
His magic could not sustain
The beauty of his dream
Kingdoms made; round table broken
His love vanished with magic stolen
The golden bow with arrows spent
Lies in his hand, its target long forgotten
His mind will not recall the legend
that he made…
©anitadawes 2020
DEATH HAS BEEN STALKING KATE all her life, leading her to believe she has nine lives, like a cat.
With nothing to live for, no family to speak of, just a brother she hates, she waits for death to take her away when her lives run out.
People around her are dying at the hands of a serial killer, but has Kate finally run out of lives?
Will she find a reason to live before it is too late?
“If you like the thriller genre that keeps up the momentum then Nine Lives would be a good read for you. The pace never falters, building up the plot and characters with timely intervention. The author cleverly keeps the story centred around the main character, with the other players coming into the story and yet there are no plot holes or false timings.” Amazon Reviewer
“The story is very mysterious and suspenseful, and I was left wondering if Kate would escape the murderer. The mysterious voice plays a big part in the story and the ending does a wonderful job of explaining the voice and it’s purpose in Kate’s life.” Amazon Reviewer
Image by scvincent.com
To enter here is to lose your mind, your life
The house is reforming, rebuilding itself
Moving rooms from one end to the other
Building new ones, losing others
Should you be in one when it is lost
There is no telling where you will end up
Or how you will return to your own world
The house does not like the door shut
It is jammed open by a strange slab of concrete
Wedged tight against the bottom of the doorframe
Another, sloping away wedged against the outer frame
Making sure the door stays where it is
The interior is dark, moody, full of menace
Some say this is due to the missing rooms
The souls lost in the vanishing
It is a soundless place, yet the air is full of wanting
The door jam quivers as if something below
Is trying to move them, to close the door
To keep all trapped inside
Moving them around, like living pieces on a chess board
Outside there is a board with names of the foolish ones who entered
And yet the rooms appear to be completely empty
If you ask the locals, why they haven’t pulled the place down
They will tell you they have tried
Hammers bounce off the walls as if they are made of rubber
A lit match has no effect, the flame blows out
Before you can touch the building
They stand outside yelling, let us know you are still there
No returning sound has ever been heard
Others will tell you it’s not true, just Chinese Whispers
An old building left to rot, nothing more
Would you enter to find the truth?
Would you walk through those empty rooms?
