The Dark Chrysalis – Robert G. Wertzler

My response to the Writing Prompt, The Dark Chrysalis

Brave & Reckless

Black it was, blacker than black
A black that seemed to suck light
Out of everything around it
That seemed to eat light
So far black it was hard
To see any details on it
A black uncomfortable
To be near, frightening
In its embodiment of void
Of bottomless abyss
It had not completely defeated
The high tech scans
They were indistinct, not giving
Their usual fine detail, but
Showed enough to reveal
Something alive inside
Growing and changing
In metamorphosis
Opinions what to do with it differed
Kill it, but how?
Launch it back to the depths
Of space between the stars
Freeze it and open it and
Study the creature within
Let it mature and emerge
And find a use for it.
While they debated, the thing
Inside continued to become
And was aware of them
And making plans
Plans darker than its
Dark chrysalis shell

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Bob Wertzler…

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The Graveyard Apartment – Georgiann Carlson

Georgiann Carlson – An apartment available – perpetual lease?

Brave & Reckless

“Oh, it’s a lovely apartment. You’ll see. It’s just down these stairs,” said the sales woman, peering over the railing.

“It looks dark,” said the man.

“A bit, but then, the rent is very cheap.”

“Yes, but are there windows?”

“I don’t think so, I mean it is a garden apartment, after all. But it is quiet. You said you wanted silence, so you could write, didn’t you?”

“I did, but this seems extreme. And there are a lot of stairs.”

“Now days you can have everything delivered. You won’t ever have to leave your apartment.”

“I saw that some kids wrote, THE GRAVEYARD APARTMENTS, on your sign, out in front.”

“It’s rather close to Halloween, you know. And kids will be kids, after all.”

“Is there a graveyard near here? I’m kind of funny about those things.”

She smiled at him. “Yes, there is,” she said. “But not to…

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Nights at the Circus – Georgiann Carlson

Georgiann Carlson – Don’t go, please, don’t go.

Brave & Reckless

don’t go to the circus
especially at night
when the sun’s not out
to guard you
and wrap you in its light
stay at home
and read a book
ride your bike
or learn to cook
but don’t go to the circus
especially at night
everything you see there
isn’t what it seems
and it’s always far too noisy
which muffles all the screams
the horses once were people
the elephants
were too
the clowns
are made of different stuff
patched up with tape and glue
most of what they’re made of
came from kids who look like you
the acrobats
have feathers
since most of them were birds
the Ring Master is scary
made of black top hats and words
so listen hard
you know I’m right
don’t go to the circus
especially at night

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I’m an artist, a writer, a vegetarian, an animal rights activist, and quite a…

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At the Movies

Christine Ray Movies and books, briefly

Brave & Reckless

I took my first Creative Writing class in Spring of 2017.  One of our topics was concise expression.  One fun in-class assignments was to rewrite a famous book or movie in two sentences.  They were not supposed to be summaries but I was really challenged by this assignment.

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The Graduate:

Life after college sucks.  I advise against having sex with your girlfriend’s mother

Star Wars:

He wanted off his dreary planet desperately.  He answers when opportunity knocks and discovers himself the hero.

Romeo and Juliet:

A love so sweet, so passionate,  so star-crossed.  Who thought it would end so badly?

Pride and Prejudice:

Her pride was hurt by his assessment of her looks and suitability; she was prejudiced against him.  Fortunately, they got over themselves.

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Call the G7 Prime Ministers about Boycotting the Doral Summit for the Week of Sunday 20 October 2019

Calico Jack – New people to call

The Psy of Life

We have a special Call Your MoC post this week and that is call the prime ministers of the G7 countries to urge them to boycott the Doral G7 Summit. It is such an obvious corrupt move that it doesn’t deserve to be honored by the group.

The G7 doesn’t deserved to be dissed and tarnished by such obvious corruption and neither do their tax payers who would be emolumenting all over the Ol’ Pussy Grabber like some common pee-hooker he pays to piss on the Resolute Desk and American values.

Luckily, you have ways to be communicating our anger, disgust, and patriotism just like you do with your MoC’s. You can contact these governments either at their prime minister’s or chancellor’s office or through their ambassadors and charge d’affaires at their embassies in Washington. I list as many ways to contact them as I could find, so try them…

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Daily Writing Prompt: Sharp Objects – Gillian Flynn

The Daily Writing Prompt for 10/19 – Sharp Objects

Brave & Reckless

For October, I decided to embrace the Halloween season and use titles of short stories and books discussed in the enjoyable and informative new book Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction as my Daily Writing Prompts.  These are designed to inspire you to write a poem, prose piece, or a piece of flash fiction in 30 minutes or less.

The only rule is that you use the book title as your piece title OR integrate all the words in the title into your piece somehow. 

If you would like to have your piece considered for publication on Brave and Reckless and/or Whisper and the Roar, email your prompt inspired pieces to me at her.red.pen.wordsmithing@gmail.com.

You can also participate on Facebook by tagging your writing with:

• #the title of the daily theme
• #MonsterSheWroteChallenge
• #braveandreckless66

or on Instagram by tagging your writing with:

• #the title…

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P10: The Same Disease.

Morbid Corvid – Just like Daddy

Morbid Corvid

 

 

 

The man calling him on the hotel rotary seemed hurried. His name was Tom.

There were hints of sediment the timbre, hanging by the vowels, as if he were congested, needing to dislodge something. Or perhaps, he’d just not spoken to any living creature as of yet this morning aside from Rob, which is customary of the coroner’s field, and the laboratories associated with them. They hardly speak to anybody alive, except amongst themselves, his partner once said. And since they conduct their meticulous work quietly with microscopes, and strange instruments made of German grade stainless steel, with even stranger names to them, when they finally do end up speaking, their voices always seem distorted by an insecure shock. As if they had either never heard themselves speak before, or had forgotten what the sound of their own voice was like.

It wasn’t her, the voice had…

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Poets of SMITTEN speak: Katherine DeGilio

SMITTEN POET, Katherine DeGilio – “I think this book, in particular, does an excellent job of keeping the love without the erotica, which is a step in the right direction.”

TheFeatheredSleep

Katherine DeGilio is a part-time writer and full-time bisexual from Virginia. You can find some of her previous works in Soliloquies Anthology, Litro Literary Magazine, Psych2Go Magazine, and November Falls by Zimbell House Publishing, as well as on fiftywordstories.com and flashfiction.net. She loves connecting with her readers and encourages them to reach out to her on twitter @katiedegilio and katherinedegilio.com

Do you find any stereotypes in lesbian/bi work that you would personally remove? 

The over-sexualization of LGBTQ+ women is definitely an issue. There is a stigma that LGBTQ+ relationships are inherently dirtier than straight ones, especially when it comes to woman loving women. It is hard to find examples in the media of women who love women that aren’t sexualized. I think this book, in particular, does an excellent job of keeping the love without the erotica, which is a step in the right direction.

Do…

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Poets of SMITTEN Speak: Nadia G

SMITTEN poet (and more), Nadia G. – “I feel that because of the historical disregard for women’s voices male voices are often heard louder in general. It’s not surprising that the gay male experience is often the story we hear while women of the community tend to be a little bit of an afterthought”

TheFeatheredSleep

Nadia G. is an artist/musician/poet living in Chicago, originally from western MA. Currently she works as a freelancer doing props for TV and film. She is a founding member of the Chicago based post-punk band Ganser. She uses her writing to help develop lyrics and sort her head out. You can find Ganser’s music at http://www.ganser.bandcamp.com Her work has been published by Whisper and the Roar, Sudden Denouement and collaboratively in the music produced by Ganser.

How does being a bi musician and working in the music scene influence the kind of music you make?

My work can only ever come from my perspective so in that way it will always be inherently queer (among other things). As a group, our work in GANSER is often introspective so we aren’t typically trying to convey any messages outside of communication with our audience “this is how we feel, maybe you can…

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Adam’s Rib

Christine Ray – Intrusive, accusing bone

Brave & Reckless

Originally published on Whisper and the Roar

Adam’s rib
aches beneath my breast
titanium splinter
piercing my soul
constantly seeking
to penetrate my self-worth
deliver shame directly
to my bloodstream like a toxin
demands I atone
for eating the forbidden fruit
I still taste the crisp
sweet tart taste
of knowledge on my tongue
and will always
hunger
for more

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