Friday, August 28, 2009

Saturday Wordzzle Challenge: Week 78


This is week 78 of the Saturday Wordzzle challenge. Anyone new to the process can refer back here to find out how it works. Whew! Tried a poem again this week. By the time I realized I was over my head, it was too late, so it is what it is. My brain is tired. I look forward to reading what everyone has come up with.




The words for this week's ten word challenge were: records, impulsive, really cool, bread crumbs, angels, Sponge Bob, magical moment, back and forth, suffering, good fences make good neighbors For the mini challenge: side effects are generally mild, clingy, rooster, samples, curiosity



My mini:


Side effects are generally mild, my foot, Carla muttered groggily pounding on the snooze button of the hideous alarm clock next to her bed. At least they were free samples and I didn't waste a fortune on this crap, she murmured wanting very much to go back to sleep. I should have know Ben was a loser when he bought this stupid clock. What kind of psycho buys an alarm clock that crows like a rooster? A lying, cheating bastard, that's who. A curiosity, he called it. That should have been a tip off too... Who talks like that? Think maybe I'll send this as a wedding gift to that bitch in a clingy dress he's marrying next week. Having made that decision, she felt suddenly energized and enthusiastic. She had to get cracking. Her appointment with the real estate agent was an hour from now and she didn't want to be late.




My 10-word:



It was not a magical moment, nope... not at all. Carla knew instantly that this was going to be a situation of "good fences make good neighbors." The guy looked like Sponge Bob's pointy-headed pink friend. And he seemed as manic as a cartoon character as well. He was running back and forth dropping what looked to her like bread crumbs (turned out it was grass seed... what did she know? She had been a city girl her whole life until now) and singing loudly something that sounded like an off-key rendition of "Angels from the Realms of Glory," one of her favorite ever hymns. What had she done! she muttered to herself. She had purchased this house in an impulsive moment, caught up in the excitement of the idea. She had thought the change of scene and the adventure of a home of her own would distract her from her suffering and loss, and now here was this weird buffoon cavorting around like a crazed cartoon right outside her door. Oh, God... he's spotted me she muttered to herself as he came bounding over. "Welcome neighbor," he sang out with a great booming laugh. I'm Michael Merriman. So nice to see that beautiful old house get some love and care. We're a good community here. I think you'll be very happy. I've got plenty of grass seed here. If you'd like, and if you can stand my singing, I'll do your yard too. Won't take me but 20 minutes and I enjoy the work." Up close he looked a lot less crazy. Instead he had the most beautiful kind blue eyes and a big smile that seemed to spread happiness. It was one for the record books she guessed as she felt her heart open for the first time in the two years since she had found her ex husband Jon (aka The Dirty Dog Bastard) in bed with her best friend. The realtor had told her the neighbor was a widower. Maybe her heart wasn't dead and there was hope for life and love still to come. Trying to play it really cool, though, she smiled back. "Nice to meet you Michael. What a wonderful welcome to my new home. I'm Carla Singer."




And the maxi:




Side effects are generally mild

How sweet it is to have a child

Tiny, clingy, sweet and new

It's really cool that he loves you

Angel sleeping in his crib

Jam and bread crumbs on his bib

How fast those magic moments fly

As weeks and months go zipping by

And newborn's curiosity

Succumbs to Sponge Bob on TV

Then just as quick another leap

To interrupt a mother's sleep

Back and forth he runs amok

Escaping death by sheer dumb luck

Impulsive, daring and enchanting

A boy the toddler starts supplanting

New adventures now he samples

Not meaning to, your heart he tramples

The kindly folks who live next door

Are not so kindly any more

The broken window they got past

That was a grudge that didn't last

But trampled flowers in their garden

Were more than they saw fit to pardon

Now bloody battles with light sabres

They say,"Good fences make good neighbors"

But still you haven't seen the worst

The next phase makes you think you're cursed

As teen years enter in like thunder

What happened to my child you wonder

Half strutting rooster and half boy

Insanely rude, then shy and coy

Who is this crazed, erratic loon?

And please, dear God, can he leave soon

He loved me once.... remember when?

Will he ever be my son again

Not suffering my love with sighs

Or worse yet sneers and rolling eyes

You pull you hair in deep despair

Then for a flash your boy is there

And the sweet young babe held in your arms

Your cracking bleeding heart recharms

The last phase is the worst and best

The mother's final, dreadful test

Strong and grown, his sails unfurled

The child now man takes on the world

Your job is well and truly done

He's now a man, your baby son

But mother's heart still sees them all

Babe, toddler, teen her eyes recall

Sweetness and pain both wrapped in joy

The man who is her baby boy.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~





Next Week's Ten Word Challenge will be: Spam, perpetual motion, sprinkle, telephone pole, stains, alphabetical, surgery, flattery, liberty, preservation


For the mini challenge: shadows, singularity, Florida, caterpillars, copy



Thanks for playing. For those who are new, here are some guidelines to make the process more fun.




Enjoy! See you next week.



DON'T FORGET TO ADD YOUR NAME TO MR. LINKY!!!!!





13 comments:

Richard said...

Wow, if this is what your mind does when tired then keep it up. Great story and awesome poem.

CJ said...

Three great wordzzles this week. I liked your first two-part story very much, but the poem was fabulous ---and so true.

Find my Wordzzle for this week HERE.

Akelamalu said...

LOL - Jon (aka The Dirty Dog Bastard) - tell it like it is Gal!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Carla and Michael get it together.

I just love your poem Raven it documents perfectly the transition of babe to man. :)

Akelamalu said...

PS I meant to say I haven't played again this week, I don't know where the time goes. Strangely enough I will probably play again when I go back to work - I seem to have more time then! :0

Dr.John said...

The first two make a great story. I love the alarm clock use for rooster.
But the poem. The poem is just fantastic and with those words.
Wow!

Reston Friends! said...

I really like the mini, and I'm excited for Carla that perhaps her heart will heal!

But I have a 12 year old son in that next to last phase and boy, did you capture it. Sometimes I just page through the little boy photos just to remember the moments when I was the smartest and most beautiful mommy in the world. ;-) You are a very gifted writer.

Argent said...

The poem was truly brilliant! I also really loved the mini and 10-worder - they meshed together very nicely. I don't know how you manage to crank out 3 such great pieces each week! I've been away on a course in London with no access to a computer so I had to bash mine together this morning.

Anonymous said...

'There was hope for life and love still to come.' With that I can move on with my day.
very creative use of words in your poem.

DawnTreader said...

Difficult challenge this week! Sponge Bob unknown to me but luckily I could google him ;)

I liked how you turned the bread crumbs into grass seed, and I admire anyone who can come up with rhyming poetry...

moosh said...

Very creative use of the target words. i enjoyed all of it.

Fandango said...

Your poem shows that its not the words its our lack oftalent that is the problem.
That is one great poem.
We dragons salute you.

Stephen said...

I think your poem turned out very well. I also liked the two stories. It's interesting that the strange man that looked like "Sponge Bob's pointy-headed pink friend" turned out to be someone she might like. It shows it's too easy to jump to conclusions, especially if a person's not in a good mood at the time. It may turn out that the divorce was the best thing that ever happened to her.

I have my own stories up now.

Stephen from Scottsdale, Arizona, USA
http://stephen-has-spoken.blogspot.com/

Carletta said...

My dear friend your poem has me in tears! Just having seen my son brings it all back and your words ring so true.
We (my son and I) just discussed last weekend that he has been out of college seven years and married for five. So grown, so still my first baby boy. :)