Tonight, the moon in your eyes is no reflection. It is the sun shining through, radiating. On me. I flush, drawn despite hesitation. I stop, losing myself. I am hollow, a layer of bronze, an #escutcheon awaiting its key. Is it you? I must know; I reach to you. We touch, we fuse, we burn. #vss365

#sonorous your words grabbed me by the shoulders holding me there i grew afraid worried would i ever move again should i slowly your voice dissolved like honey in tea a little sweet a little bitter and then gone i have to close my eyes now to remember the thunder when you spoke but i don't #vss365

pieces of walnut scattered alongside dusky mistletoe #north #dailyhaikuprompt

chrysanthemums bloom the painter and the poet lay down their brushes #dailyhaikuprompt #north #haiku

I shouldn't rub my eyes but the lilac sky is bright I rustle the child-safety seat too big for it now soon he'll be too big for us both Tomorrow a thing of the #past I shouldn't rub my eyes but the smell of gasoline is strong The smell of my childhood I take a long whiff and rub my eyes #vss365

the smell of old pickles and cigarette smoke your bruised smile apologies addressed to the floor your voice breaks and you hear a sort of harmony tangled with bad decisions and futures you dared not #yearn for the math league certificate you won in fourth grade framed on your mother's wall #vss365

The problem with Plato's cave is that we know what caves, fire and shadows are. We can say they carry no #malignant intention because they are trapped in our imagination. We cannot but imagine what's outside. We are not in a cave; we are in a p̶s̶c̶åùl̶g̶h̶îd̶d̶œ, and we know nothing of escape. #vss365

a sultry wind roses' hips undulate #north #dailyhaikuprompt

at what point does the #vigil become an assignment a chore disconnected from the spirit of vigilance the integrity the participation in the present the connection to the act of observing observance what are we who no longer watchful because that's a neat word-- I should use it in a sentence today

distant clouds a chill in the air the geese pause #haiku #dailyhaikuprompt #north

two old men repeat stories to old men

cold rain on concrete snoring dog cuddles with the shaking man #dailthaikuprompt #north

falling on the ground the old dog was a puppy

Oh my gosh, you won't believe it. Gillie claimed she was allergic to the #spider in the break room. Crazy, right? She said she needed to go home and Tom said no. I think she's finally being held accountable–What do you mean? The hospital? I don't believe it. She probably went ho–really? Hmm. #vss365

freshly-packed snow footprints miss the summer path #dailthaikuprompt #north

“He'll be up in a jif, don't worry.” I stared at her. Was this a #prank? No, I never mentioned him. But…this couldn't be coincidence. Pounding at the door; Sasha opened it before I could speak, and hugged him(!?) He accepted his phone at the door, his eyes never leaving mine. I was trapped. #vss365

Broken shell cracked under the weight of his steps. Blood and feathers and offal stained the walls. Even the ceiling was despoiled. A plate of beetle #brownies lay discordantly intact on the table, as though deliberately ignored. Hrrakkh shook with fury. Outside he heard movement…laughter. #vss365

after the fires the crow, corn, and scarecrow gather in black #dailyhaikuprompt #north

Wait, is it–it's gone. I think the hum is gone, okay. Okay. Funny: the guy crossing the street, it kind of seemed he was hearing it. That driver, too. No, that's crazy. July 2nd–you're sane if you know the date; those are the #rules, right? But how would I know if I knew or not, if I'm nuts? #vss365

on a cloudy pond my reflection overlays a catfish's gaze #dailyhaikuprompt #haiku #north

“Well, don't you look sharp.” His aunt smirked, tugging at his lapel and the cummerbund. “Big day for you, I guess.” “I want to show the man respect. Unlike you.” “The #sass,” she said, dumbfounded. “You let him talk to his betters like this?” He felt like a toddler. He hated her for that. #vss365

falling maple seeds these spiraling sentiments only bring me down #dailyhaikuprompt #haiku #north

“Tell me whe–” “Tst.” Jake needed to think. The target was about 400m from their position. Even if his AR hit every target, that’s a lot of ground to cover after announcing themselves with gunfire. Only a guardian #angel could keep them safe. “First, we move in.” He couldn't rely on angels. #vss365

fault lines voices of the underground quake the earth

Do you see that? I don't think you're allowed to show that much skin. Kids shop here. Of course, somehow, for her it's okay. I really don't see the #charm. What's it for? Does she want everyone talking about her? Is she that desperate for attention? It's sad when you really think about it. #vss365

red leaves a splash of color their first kiss #dailyhaikuprompt #north

“Who's that?” Why was he down there? Was he staring at me? “Yer man?” Sasha joined me at the window. “He's a star. I couldn't find my phone, an’ he offered me a lift. Wha’?” She must've noticed my #scowl. “He looks…familiar.” "Ask him." She held up the phone. His phone. I looked: he was gone #vss365

barely hanging on outside the lawyers' office overripe pears #edit

So what if the kadrrh wished him gone? Until they banished him, he belonged to the territory. Now, #mischief had come. Touching down outside the quiet copse, he sniffed: the air was heavy with death. He announced his presence. Nothing. He hobbled inside. A massacre. Even the unborn. #vss365

What's this #hum? Tinna–tinninitus–us? Am I going deaf? Don't they say that, if you hear a ring you're losing that freq–come on, go. It's green. Some people shouldn't be driving–oh, an egg McMuffin sounds good. Sausage maybe. Do they do filet-o-fish this earl–Eagh! It stings. And the hum. #vss365

“Marty.” “Janice.” A standoff in the doorway. Two #elm trees forever guarding opposite sides of the road. For a moment, anyway. Then, Marty looked down and walked past his sister. The old man knew what was coming, but lacked the resolve to fight it. Harold, though. He'd kill for his family. #vss365

“Are you seeing what I'm–” “Mm-hmm.” The man with the bodyguards procured a black case. Dan smiled unwittingly, expecting weapons and a reason to shoot. Instead, he opened: “Tourmalines, #sapphires,” Jake said. “Huh?” “Gemstones.” A lot of them. Enough to make a couple of grunts very rich. #vss365

“Oh, did you see the #sparrows?” She said that to me, can you believe it? As if she knows a sparrow from a scarecrow. “They were singing outside. Blah, it was so beautiful, blah." Please. No, I saw them. I just–I don't think she did. She's the type who, she’d hear you and fake it was her. #vss365

“God, I was so worried!” “O my pal, so good to see yeh,” she swept past my concerns into a breezy European hug. “Yer flat is darling.” At the window, she waved down to her driver. I peered below. It was the man who tried to lead me into an alley. Looking at me. This couldn't be #happenstance #vss365

overnight drive wiper smears a winter moth riding to a wake #haiku

Hrrakkh’s eyes widened. He inhaled, lapping at the air. He tasted #crimson in it, and close. Tilting his head, he listened and scanned the horizon. Somewhere nearby blood had been shed. Lots of it, by the smell. Buried in the wind, a muffled wailing reached his ear. The old korrwt leapt. #vss365

My humanity, the last vestige of an ancient line–outdated, outmoded–splits in two and two again, 64x64 times over. I, I and every sentient lump of meat, #together join, becoming the one truth, the one freedom, the one terrible unity that escapes our wailing gapes: gal’Ama-gi. All praise. Me #vss365

#SenseWrds 100 It's down to three of us. Cowboy was the first to go. That inane chivalry of his. After him, those things picked us off one by one, operating on no known rules of engagement. For 36 hours now, we've huddled here, listening silently as we fight the twin urges of sleep and insanity.

Aunt Jan’s smile rankled him as he entered. It was the kind of supercilious grin one wore when they know they’ve won before the game’s begun, dripping with preemptive pity. She was so proud in her #violet suit. She wouldn’t look so proud when he procured her downfall from the back of the van #vss365

“Tst. Movement.” Jake peered through his scope, following Dan's sight. Someone new in the window. Several someones. Two were clearly bodyguards, the way they stayed between the new guy and the windows. “Try something,” Dan said. “Let's #tear it up.” What were they up to, Jake wondered. #vss365

#SenseWrds 99 Blue jeans, we couldn’t afford. I watched friends in sky blue and longed for my own. I was ashamed of my used, pleated pants. The kind old people wore to work. Then, I got a pair: stiff and scratchy, a texture I wouldn’t wish on Satan himself. But in my slacks, oh, I could breathe.

dandelion seeds tangled in a spider's web no sun today #haiku

Oh. My. God. #Promise me you won’t tell anyone about this, but I saw Gillie outside the other day screaming like a maniac to some guy in a green Jeep. He honestly looked like the type who still lives at home, and she’s unloading on him. She likes to pretend she’s sooo sweet, but she’s not. #vss365

The airport was a dud, so–what now? The police? “Yes. My friend who I don’t know all that well, but who’s staying with me for a few days hasn’t called. My #purpose in calling? I just told you, my friend Sash–never mind.” Even imagining a call with the cops was too much. My phone rang: Sasha. #vss365

As he lighted on the petrified outcropping of an ancient rookery, piercing pain shot up his leg. Were it broken, he truly would cease to be of use to anyone. These monastic cells, long abandoned, stirred an atrophied #spiritual core. Balancing on his good leg, the old korrwt emptied his mind #vss365

Nothing happened I vaguely sense the nothing spread, passing me indistinguishably beyond the event horizon. I am deafened by an absence of sound, tortured by a lack of touch. My mouth opens, and the black #onyx nothing that emerges joins the silence of all life screaming in ecstatic unison #vss365

corner of my eye a fluttering leaf embarks on grand adventure #haiku

They were traveling together to appeal the probate: ten packed in a single minivan. Unable to breathe, he felt bound and, suddenly, overdressed. They passed a home covered in #wisteria; his eyes followed it, snapping to the rearview mirror as it withdrew. He needed to claw off the bow tie. #vss365

Jake wasn’t listening. His mind was on Deb. Debra. Monday, she'd said he kept her #mellow. That, without him, she was "going crazy." What did that mean? The boys joked that on your last night before deployment, wives made a mask of you to use on a “friend.” Jake wasn’t really one for jokes. #vss365