Category Archives: poetry
[short fiction] Notice
Updates, end of year reviews and top 10 lists soon. Until then, here’s a little holiday drabble. Hope you enjoy.
NOTICE
Winter wonderlands. White Christmases. Sleigh rides, hot chocolate. Snow ball fights and snow angels. Cozying up by the fire.
That’s me, you know.
Not the fat man in red.
Not his eight or nine reindeer.
Not his jolly elf army.
It’s all me.
I’m not the enemy.
I make the magic.
All I’m asking for is a little credit where credit’s due.
Consider this your notice.
You’ll call it what you want. An unseasonably warm trend. A heat wave. El Niño. Global warming.
You’ll want me back sooner or later.
You always do.
Until then, Jack Frost is on strike.
© 2011 Elizabeth Ditty
[short fiction] Frogs
So, I’m knee-deep in NaNoWriMo at the moment, but I wanted to drop in and say, “Hello, I’m not dead, and the things I was working on like STILL and scripty sorts of things are not dead either and are simply waiting for me in the bit of future called December.”
In the meantime, if you’re interested, here’s a bit of flash fiction inspired by the marvelous Chuck Wendig over at his blog, terribleminds.
FROGS
— Oaths they swore on the sacred texts of storybooks and fairytales.
She believed. She hoped. She stubbornly persisted —
— Through countless kisses bestowed in her quest to find the missing.
Finally she found her prince transformed –
— Only to discover she preferred the company of frogs.
© 2011 Elizabeth Ditty
[#Reverb11] Primitive Telemetry
This is not the official August prompt, but it is the Seed Words prompt linked in the August Reverb11 e-mail, and that is good enough for me right now. I like to engage in a little poetry now & then, as it exercises the brain in its own unique way. If you’re a writer (or any sort of creative), you might check it out (installment #2 here) & give it a shot yourself, whether you go the poetry route or somewhere else entirely. If you do & want to share, link me in the comments, as I’d like to read what you come up with!
i fear i misread every signal
if they are even there
at all
mirages on a journey
to find water in a desert
i find a valve
and open it
look for direction
but what drains
is me
even an iron will can rust
the current
once electric
now shocks
but for now
i remain in orbit
wondering
if i will ever stop
going in circles
© 2011 Elizabeth Ditty
Prompt words via Kathy Kottaras: water, limit, valve, electric, iron, orbit, telemetry, signal, drains, look
[FridayFlash] The World Still Shakes
In light of the crisis in Haiti, please consider donating time or money to help those in need. A list of ways to donate can be found here.
THE WORLD STILL SHAKES
Life was still, or at least it seemed so.
And then the world shook.
It shook free our souls.
Some left. Some shattered. Some were shaken but not destroyed.
All were changed.
Chaos reigned for a time.
Aid waged war against it.
The sun somehow continues to rise.
But the world still shakes.
© 2010 Elizabeth Ditty
Merry Happy
I’ve wanted to send out a 100-word Christmas story with my Christmas cards for a few years now. This is the first year I’ve gotten around to writing a story. Alas, I did not get around to actually sending Christmas cards. So, I present it here instead, along with my wishes for a lovely Christmas if you celebrate it and a lovely day regardless.
And to make up for the mush, I’ll also share this riveting piece of cinema, created by my sister and myself as a bit of Christmas entertainment for our family.
[FridayFlash] Leave Your Values At The Front Desk
I was going to post an old story, but then this jumped out at me from my idea box. It’s another venture into poetry, which happens from time to time, generally when I least expect it and never when I try to force it. It’s inspired by a blurb I read somewhere about a place where at least the first verse rings true. As for the rest, who knows?
LEAVE YOUR VALUES AT THE FRONT DESK
At our little Parisienne hotel, we have a simple sign.
“Leave your values at the front desk,” it declares.
With its quaint lack of pretension
And its implied promise of security
It makes our guests feel at ease.
The astute ones even chuckle,
Thinking our English is less than perfect.
They smile and say nothing, and so do we.
Never occurring to anyone
Is the realization
That we are deadly serious.
The moment your shoes, be they well-worn or très chic,
Cross the threshold into your room,
We take them into possession.
It’s in the fine print
When you sign the receipt.
Don’t blame us.
We warned you.
We are quite skilled at keeping them well-protected,
The morals, the promises, the religions and idols.
They are locked in a vault
And only we have the key.
Many of them stay there forever.
Sometimes we wonder what causes a guest
To leave them behind once their stay is done.
Other times we smile as they scurry out
Holding them tighter than ever before.
It seems to us –
And we refer to our years of experience –
That the best way to appreciate your values
Is to lose them.
And when you want to find them again,
If you want to find them again,
We will have them waiting here,
Safe and sound at the front desk.
© 2009 Elizabeth Ditty
[FridayFlash] You Have Been Replaced
I’m cheating a bit and posting something I wrote last year. Give me a break, OK? I had to make pie! From scratch — crust and all! Anyway, excuses aside, I normally stay pretty clear of poetry, but this dropped out of my brain one day, and I kind of liked it. Hope you do, too.
YOU HAVE BEEN REPLACED
Dear Sir or Madam
We must express our sincerest regrets
And please know that you have our deepest apologies
But we simply must inform you
That you have been replaced.
Perhaps this comes as a shock, and perhaps it does not.
We didn’t quite see it coming ourselves
But foresight has never been a strong point for us.
At first we thought of the New Component
As nothing more than a simple accessory.
A supplement, if you will.
But as time moved forward
It became clear that there was a hole of sorts
A mold that needed to be filled
A mold that you had indeed created
And yet, you seemed to be outgrowing it.
Rebelling against it.
Trying to reshape it to your new form.
And we came to realize
It wasn’t you we needed.
We needed the mold.
And the mold needs to be filled.
And the New Component fits.
And so, while we know it might be awkward
To see yourself replaced
In niches, in requests, in photographs, in social situations, in minds, in hearts
Know that we enjoyed you while you were here
And we wish you the best
But the time has come
And you have been replaced.
All the best,
The Management
© 2009 Elizabeth Ditty
