Friday Fun ~ 15 Words or Less ~ Wise Owl

It's Friday and it's gray and cool and damp and leaf lovely if you look in the right spots.

You could also say it's grey and cool and damp and drab because some of the leaves (a lot of the leaves) are a little sad looking--kinda crispy AND bedraggled, which doesn't seem possible to happen at the same time but I'm telling you that yes they can if you live in Michigan and it's been too hot for an October and then really rainy for a teensy bit and still really not very cool.  So you could say that if  you REALLY wanted to.

But I say find the color.  It's there.

Also, head over to the Laura Salas's page and try out her Fifteen Words or Less picture prompt today--a bright and colorful picture to brighten up your grey day.  Also there's an owl.  Who doesn't like owls? Besides mice, I mean.  It's a great way to jump start a poem idea.  Or write a nice and short complete poem.

Here's my little brainstorm; I really do feel like maybe owls may feel a little stressed.  So much wisdom expected of them when really they just want a snack: a tasty morsel of mouse or a flavorful hare.

15 Word or Less About a Horned Owl;
or Existential Owl Crisis;
or Owl Introspection
So much pressure
     to expound
I'm really
   not that wise--
I just want a mouse.

 ©2017 Rebekah Hoeft

Writer Wednesday ~ Spooked

Michelle, over at Today's Little Ditty, interviewed Carrie Clickard last week.  Carrie challenged the Today's Little Ditty readers to write a poem about a person, place, or thing that spooked you as a child.

There were PLENTY of things that spooked me as a child.  Basement stairs (oh, the shivers), a creaking house, shadows that looked like  shadows of evil but were actually shadows of coats, doors, toys, books...it was rough.  I sympathize with all the scaredy cats in the world because I was (AM) one of them.  Why be scared when you can be happy?!  I mean really--wouldn't you rather NOT have your heart thumping in fright?

Be sure to check out the other poems on Michelle's padlet, especially if you like spooky, creepy, heart-thumping poems.  I assume they are there.  I don't have the nerve to check.

Chores Are Fine. It's Fine. We're Fine.

On hard-packed, shaded, friendly road,

Our wheels were sure, we never slowed;

We moved in sync, with joy, we were a team.

We ventured farther down the lane,

Our goal a simple one to gain:

Avoiding chores at home was our sole scheme.

Our carefree ride was sweet but short 

For soon our habitat would thwart;

Our joyful jaunt was changed when past the stream

Our wheels found dusty washboard track;

We thought that we might double back 

As shade became a gloam; no sun did gleam. 

The houses took a cheerless turn,

The lawns were junkyards. Faces stern

We pressed on, moxie pushed to the extreme. 

With legs that shook and palms that sweat, 

We made it past that unkempt threat.

Our confidence the sunlight did redeem.

Now languid, rolling past a field

Our haste forgotten, jitters yield

To summer's warmth and ease but then our dream

Becomes a nightmare as a shriek

Is heard and heard again; we freak;

Our wheels they skid and legs run out of steam. 

But then we're supercharged with fright

For menace lurks just out of sight;

The farm with monstrous mischief-makers teem.

We peddle fast but tangle, THUD!

Our nerves are shot by curdled blood;

We race with dents and scrapes.  Relief supreme

When home is reached, our chores a sport 

We relish as to Mom report,

Who laughs (she gloats?!): "'Twas just a peacock's scream!"

©2017 Rebekah Hoeft

Miscellany Monday ~ How Now Brown Cow

My nephew was visiting this weekend (he very nicely brought along his parents and brother). 

We saw a cow.

He named it.

Nephew:  This cow is kinda light, like a mocha.  If I had her, I'd name her Moocha.

Ba-dum-dum.

Kids are funny.

Not Moocha.

Thankful Thursday ~ Fall Nights, Ice Cream, and Two Parts of My Heart

Thankful for a Saturday night:

A corn maze, not scary, at one of my favorite places, with some of my favorite people; a sunset that made me stop; and sitting on a rock in the cool dark eating ice cream with the two kids who have my heart