“My Dearest,” the letter read, “You know that I would do anything in this world to satisfy you, your every need, every desire. All you must do is say yes. I love you.”
For this week’s Trifecta Challenge, we were given the word “satisfy” and a 33-word limit.
Dear Readers New and Old,
Thank you! I’ve officially passed 200+ followers here. Thank you for your support, and for taking the time to stop by to read once in a while. You are all amazing people (even you, followers who are potentially actually robots). Keep doing what you do, and I’ll keep doing what I do.
Sincerely,
Philip
I know that this is not
The end of the world,
But now the end holds
No fear for me. For I
Do not fear death,
And I now know the
Pain of losing you.
I know that this is not
The end of the world,
For I know that I
Shall not live to see
It. Nor would I want
To carry on if I would
Do so without you.
I know that this is not
The end of the world,
And I do not believe
In hell, though I
Have survived the tortures
That any hell could
Hold for one such as me.
I know that this is not
The end of the world,
Though I have raged
Against death and sorrow,
And found my only
Comfort in the arms of
Those I hold most dear.
When I can no longer hear your voice,
I will seek out your words.
If I have nothing else of you,
No lingering trace of your
Perfume, no lasting warmth from
Where your head once rested
Next to mine, I will still have
Your words.
If your face fades from my
Mind as the years pass, and the dreams
We once shared in confidence
Are forgotten in the light of days
Long gone, I will still have your words.
When all else in my world is lost,
I will still have your words, whispered,
Resounding for eternity in my heart.
This week’s Trifextra Challenge was a fun variation on the usual. We had 33 words for our entry, and were instructed to include a palindrome (either a single word, or a palindromic phrase). I found one that I’ve included at the end of my piece.
“Revolt”
Kisses will be given, not stolen. Stories will be shared, and dreams realized. Wounds will heal with the passage of time, and we’ll gaze with amazement at our progress. Won’t lovers revolt now?
This week’s Trifecta Challenge gave us the third definition of the word “worm” and a strict limit of 33 words. Here’s my entry.
“Promises to Keep”
I know you wanted to worm the information from me. I wasn’t about to give you the satisfaction, not even close to giving in and breaking the trust.
I owed her that much.
“Come Walk With Me Beneath The Stars”
Come walk with me beneath the stars,
And we’ll watch our breath rising to
Meet the moon above.
Come walk with me beneath the stars,
And count the constellations that
Are familiar, and name our own.
Come walk with me beneath the stars,
And wonder at the age and the
Depth of the universe.
Come walk with me beneath the stars,
And hold your hand in mine, our
Fingers intertwined.
Come walk with me beneath the stars,
And we’ll sing songs that echo to
The sky and distant mountains.
Come walk with me beneath the stars,
And we’ll walk throughout the
Night, and leave the world behind.
This week’s Trifecta Challenge gave us five words to use as the end of a piece. We were to provide 33 more to lead into that conclusion. Here’s “That Wasn’t What I Meant.”
Remember when I said that I was going to be okay? When I said I could do what you asked me to do? When I said it wasn’t going to be a problem?
That wasn’t what I meant.
“And So Begins The Long Night”
And so begins the long night, for though the sun
May rise and set a thousand times, until I hear
Your voice again, whispering into my ear, the
Morning will not return.
And so begins the long night, when I find I am
Alone, lost in the darkness and so uncertain
Of which way I need to go without your hand
Reaching out for mine.
And so begins the long night, and I am now
Unable to sleep, despite the silence that
Has fallen, and I pray that I might dream of
You, and find some comfort there.
Sometimes when you’re searching for the perfect words, someone else’s come to mind. Today’s words are not mine, though I feel their sentiment coursing through me. Today’s words belong to the legendary poet, Pablo Neruda. This piece comes from his collection Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair. Poem number twenty is shared here for your reading pleasure, as translated by W.S. Merwin. I found the poem online here. You can find the collection here.
“Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Lines” (Pablo Neruda, 1924)
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
Write, for example, ‘The night is starry
and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance.’
The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.
Through nights like this one I held her in my arms.
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.
She loved me, sometimes I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes.
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.
To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.
What does it matter that my love could not keep her.
The night is starry and she is not with me.
This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.
My sight tries to find her as though to bring her closer.
My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.
The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.
I no longer love her, that’s certain, but how I loved her.
My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.
Another’s. She will be another’s. As she was before my kisses.
Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes.
I no longer love her, that’s certain, but maybe I love her.
Love is so short, forgetting is so long.
Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms
my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.
Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer
and these the last verses that I write for her.
Trans. W.S. Merwin
Poem XX from Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
The Swords of the Ancients 