Birth

I gave birth today

Not from my barren womb,

but from my heart strong and my soul true

My fingertips gripped the pencil, poised over unlined paper

I had to press down hard to deliver my racing thoughts

and tore a hole right through the middle of the page

But on I wrote

 

When I went to read my creation

I found the letters had shifted into unrecognizable garble

I jiggled the paper to reorganize my reflections

Still the patterns seem to spell no word

Had I been fleeced of original thought?

I shook and waved the crumpled paper more and to my horror

I saw that I was continuously dropping syllables

 

At this rate my poem was sure to perish

as surely as apples that wilt and wither with blight

And so now I’ve had to adopt some sort of ad-lib

Some off the cuff step-child and pass it off as art

~Melanie Thomason

2/19/2022

Sweatshirt

How wicked of a thought must you have to jostle a mind already organically filled with evil?

What is your terrible longing?

Piercing butterflies to save and study beauty you will never possess?

Plucking feathers from wee birds because you will never fly?

The truth is no matter how much you ply yourself with alcohol and other forms of courage I will always call your bluff.

You hit me in the face with your fistful of bad words but just what do you think you shall inflict on me with your vulgarity?

You are as threatening as a damp sweatshirt.

I am not afraid of you.

 

~Melanie Thomason

8/31/21

Gina (a short story)

Gina was tired, bone tired as they say. Her journey had been a long one and she was ready for the end.  She really was but first she just wanted a small respite, some comfort and sleep to prepare herself for what was to be her last official act.  There were only so many times she could run through the recent events in her head and she wasn’t coming up with any solutions anyway. She knew that she wouldn’t.  Her impassioned pleas for assistance had fallen on deaf ears once again so she knew she had reached the end of her journey. What she needed was to just not be conscious anymore, shut her brain off and rest.

She started looking for the ubiquitous road signs for hotels and motels up ahead.  As if on cue, Gina saw the sign for the Venus Bed & Breakfast.  She followed the directions and in no time at all she was pulling up in front of the most charming little cottage she had ever seen.  There were colorful flowers in every windowsill and the entire place was surrounded by a field of sunflowers.  It was gorgeous and Gina could already feel some of the tension melting away.  As she watched a butterfly flutter and land on her hand she felt a calmness that was alien to her.

The smell of freshly baking bread wafted through the open window causing her to salivate.  Gina hadn’t realized how hungry she was until that moment.  She went inside and was greeted with a fresh slice of hot bread with butter and jam before she could even check in.  “Heavenly,” Gina thought.

Her room was perfect too.  A cozy bed, piles of books served as the only decorations and there was a cat curled up in what looked like a perfectly comfy armchair. “Yes, if this is to be my last night, what a lovely night it will be.” she thought wistfully.

So it was.  The next morning, refreshed yet still determined, Gina went to check out of the B&B but found no one at the front desk.  She searched the cottage and finding it empty decided to just leave her key on the counter and go.  “After all,” she thought, “I have something to do and I don’t want to do it here.”  Then to her surprise the door wouldn’t open.  She checked the back door off the kitchen and all of the windows.  None of them would open.

That’s when she saw the envelope on table with her name on it.  “How strange” she thought as she opened and began to read the letter.

Gina,

Please find the enclosed receipt for one day at Venus B&B.  You did know that a day on Venus lasts longer than a year that you are used to?  Doesn’t matter if you were aware or not, you cannot leave.  There is no way.  The windows will not break, don’t bother trying.

P.S.  We do hope you enjoy your stay.

 

“What a pretty prison” she thought as she flicked the blade open and slit her wrists.

~Melanie Thomason

11/13/2020

Alfie

 

The people of Gillyhead were a kind and hospitable folk, yet they lived in fear.

They decided to take turns acting as lookout. One villager would take up their place each night, in the crosswalk near the pub, so that ample warning could be given. When the signal was given the villagers would quickly whelve a tankard or goblet over any lit candle to try and avoid playing unsuspecting host to an uninvited guest.

Alfie, you see, was a fine fellow.  It just so happened, they discovered, that after he imbibed in many an ale at the pub he considered himself a superb singer and as such he felt it an act of generosity to serenade the other patrons there.  An act that caused many a raised eyebrow to be certain; one bloke described his signing as a toddler playing bagpipes while another said it was what they imagined the first person to stick their hand in a fire sounded like.  But what happens at the pub can be tolerated, laughed over and forgiven. But the rub was that Alfie didn’t know when to stop.

He baltered from the pub, crooning and warbling through the village stopping at any house along his way home that happened to have a light burning.

 

~Melanie Thomason

07/22/2020

Vox Populi

They named their band Vox Populi as that is what they fully intended to be…but what a joke that turned out to be.

After a meteoric rise with their hit single Blood Orange Tears, Vox Populi were soon forgotten and left to fade into obscurity.  After all, their lyrics were widely considered to be too far out of left field and required people to listen and think!

How can you be the voice of the people when The People are all asleep? It is eerie really how the people stumble through life never learning… rejecting reason and responsibility and only seeking to place blame.

 

~Melanie Thomason

7/7/2020

Knock ~NaPoWriMo Day 27

Was that a knock?, or am I hearing things, again?

I swear I might be cracking up

or maybe it is that dastardly bird Poe went on and on about.

Maybe it’s time I make a break for it.

But I know the romance of being on the highway is fiction…

I know things don’t always go smoothly

…at least not for me,

never for me.

I know that there are scary things out there

including the freedom I seek.

“Should I stay or should I go” I once again ask myself

and isn’t that a song?

I know I should go…

but my steel resolve crumples like aluminum foil.

Maybe I am all bluster and bravado after all.

Maybe I can only stomach the outside world in small bites;

a spoonful of indigo sky, a pinch of grass, a sliver of moon.

I shake my head to dispel these thoughts

and soothe myself with a nice hot cup of Earl Grey.

So once again, for today, I am staying

Maybe one day I’ll go

and maybe then I’ll stop hearing this infernal knocking on the door.

 

~Melanie Thomason

4/27/2020

 

FLF

Shades of Beige

Image by Mary Pahlke from Pixabay

This is the story of Dan.  Not a sob story mind you, Dan would never allow that, he isn’t into drama of any kind.  He is a simple man and he is just incapable of absorbing anything bold, spicy or new.

Dan lives alone and he tells himself it’s because he is his own man.  The truth of the matter is he leads a very boring life.  Bland is really the best word to describe him, though he would say stable and responsible.

His wardrobe consists of khakis and button-down shirts in cream and ecru.  If the weather calls for it, he has a heavy tan coat as well.  You see Dan knows with a certainty, which defies reason, that beige is an idoneous color and that red is not.

So it is really not surprising that when Dan went shopping for a new car he perplexed the salesman.  Every car he showed him that as not some shade of beige would elicit a, “Next,” from Dan.  Once he learned to exclude anything of color, he showed Dan every car on the lot in buff, fawn, latte and sand.  Dan eventually decided on a safe and sensible Volvo in eggshell.

~Melanie Thomason

04/20/2020

 

Force Majeure?

Image by Emilian Robert Vicol from Pixabay

She normally loved a rainy day but she had been driving most of the day after driving all last night. The rain had been coming down in sheets and while it was tempting to stop she knew it was unwise. She was worn out, her eyelids were heavy and she really was in need of some sleep, but she only had a tiny head start so she couldn’t afford to lose any time.

The growing rumble from her belly reminded her that it had been even longer since she had eaten anything.  Oh well, she thought as she rolled down the driver’s side window part way.  She was hoping the cool air and splashing raindrops would wake her up a bit. She looked at the gas gauge and saw she was at less than a quarter tank so she would have to stop soon to fill up and while she was at it she’d at least grab a coffee.

She knew he was hot on her tail and his blood lust was all the fuel he needed.  There would be time enough for food and rest once she was clear of him.  He hadn’t always been this way…had he?, she pondered while subconsciously biting her fingernails. She remembered when they had first met, he was confident, charming and gorgeous.  She had felt lucky to even be on his radar, a pigeon to his peacock.  But had he always been this mean?

She really couldn’t answer that but it didn’t matter anymore.  She had thought of leaving before but this had been the last straw.  She had always stayed before, partly because she took the meaning of band of gold on her finger seriously but this certainly had to qualify as force majeure!

Now if she could just make it to the train station without him finding her she would be free.  She had a suitcase waiting in a rented locker there with a couple changes of clothes and the little bit of money she had squirreled away.  She knew she wouldn’t have much left over after buying a ticket but that was ok. Where ever she ended up she knew she would find a way to raise this precious life growing inside her far away from him.

~Melanie Thomason

4/14/2020