A to Z Challenge: Q is for Quarantine

"You can't keep me here! I've been locked in this room for days! At least I think it's been days..."

Silence.

"Don't I have rights? How can you just do whatever you want because of my health status? Please... won't somebody talk to me?"

Silence.

"There's nothing wrong with me. I'm fine. I swear I'm fine. Can anyone hear me?"

Silence.

"Please... Don't make me do something extreme."

Silence.

CRASH.

Silence.

"Okay. I've calmed down. I'm sorry. I'm just going crazy in here. I just need something. Some contact. I won't touch you. I won't throw things. I promise."

Silence.

"I know you don't trust me. I'll behave. I'll follow all your rules. I promise I'm fine now. Please, just talk to me."

Silence.

"Fine. Be that way. I'll sit here until someone comes. I'll be good. You'll see."

Silence.

"My skin is clear. I'm not coughing. No diarrhea. No fever. Why are you keeping me here? I'm fine. Can't you see I'm fine?"

Silence.

"I'm not crying. It's just dry in here. I'm fine."

Silence.

"Maybe you can't hear me because I'm not here. Hello? HELLO? Echo...echo...echo..."

Silence.

"I exist."

Silence.

"Don't I?"

Silence. Silence. Silence.

"Are you in there?"

"Yes! I'm here! Are you real?"

"We're letting you out now. I'm sorry for the extreme measures, but we had to protect you. You were the only one not infected."

"So why are you letting me out now?"

"We were too late. Your test came back positive."

A Brief Update on the Craziness of My Life

So I've fallen (possibly irretrievably) behind on my #AtoZChallenge. I'll probably finish out the project just because I'm having so much fun with it, but life - as it is wont to do - has once again gotten in the way.

My mother fell ill recently and had to have an emergency appendectomy. My dad was out of town and it was up to me to handle things until he got back. The surgery went smoothly and she went home the next day. I went back to work as usual. Then some complications arose and she was in and out of the emergency room a couple of times and was finally admitted. She's still in the hospital, but she's doing a lot better.

In the middle of all of this, my boyfriend started having serious pain in his knee and that still  hasn't fully resolved itself.

Oh, and I also applied for school.

I'll be going to a Community College this fall to get my GPA back up after the catastrophe that was my sophomore year at OU. Hopefully no horrible medical or psychological issues come up this time and I'll finally be able to finish my degree.

On the bright side, I will be majoring in English/Creative Writing. Yes, I've finally accepted the inevitable. My goal right now is to go up through graduate studies and teach creative writing in college or privately. Also writing. Always writing.

Speaking of which, I've finally picked up my work on my Shine novella. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Shine project, it's a series of e-book novellas. The core store is by the New York Times bestselling author William Bernhardt. It's an action-packed, superhero-esque world where young women have begun developing strange powers. Check out his website for more information.

So that about sums it up for me. Between medical emergencies and trying to figure out financial aid, I've been writing when I can. I really appreciate all of the support that #AtoZChallenge community has given me and good luck to everyone else struggling to keep up!

Just keep writing.

A to Z Challenge: P is for Pantoum or "The Pantoum of the Great Recession"

P is for Pantoum, another poetic form. Apparently I'm on a poetry kick.   ;-)

We didn't pay attention.
It hit us out of a clear blue sky.
We should've known.
And some did.

It hit us out of a clear blue sky.
"We could've died."
And some did.
At least that's what they'll tell you.

"We could've died."
We whisper like praying.
At least that's what they'll tell you
As they balance their checkbooks and cry.

We whisper like praying.
The sky turns blood red
As they balance their checkbooks and cry
So much for the American Dream.

The sky turns blood red.
If only things were so literal.
So much for the American Dream.
There is no rest for us now.

If only things were so literal.
We should've known
There is no rest for us now.
We didn't pay attention.

A to Z Challenge: O is for OULIPO or "Because I could not stop for Decomposition"

Usually I don't like to provide much of an introduction or explanation for my poetry, but I felt this needed a little something. OULIPO is short for Ouvroir de littérature potentielle which roughly translates as "workshop of potential literature." It's a small group of mainly french writers and mathematicians. The pairing may seem odd, but they seek to create literature within vary confined parameters. There are a lot of different forms. A lipogram excludes a specific letter (La disparition by Perec is a 300 page novel that excludes the letter 'E'). A snowball is a poem in which each line is a single word, and each successive word is one letter longer.

I decided to go with N+7 rule. Basically, you take a work that already exists - a poem or a song or a novel - and replace every noun in the text with the seventh noun after it in a dictionary. Results will vary depending on what dictionary is used, and since I am at work, I was limited to an old thesaurus, but I kept with the N+7 results and came up with this little poem.

Because I could not stop for Decomposition

Because I could not stop for Decomposition -

He kindly stopped for me -

The Casket held but just Ourselves

And Imperfection.

We slowly drove - He knew no hazard

And I had put away

My lady and my lethargy too,

For his Clarity.

We passed the Scoundrel, where Chorus strove

At Reckoning - in the Rivalry - 

We passed the Film of Gazing Grass -

We passed the setting Superstition -

Or rather - He passed us -

The Diary drew quivering and chill -

For only Grace, my Grandmother -

My Toil - only Turmoil - 

We paused before a Hue that seemed

A Symbol of the Growth

The Root was scarcely visible -

The Corpse - in the Growth - 

Since then - 'tis Certainty - and yet

Feels shorter than the Death

I first surmised the Hosts' Health

Were toward Evening - 

Side Note: I tried this with a couple of poems, before settling on this one. The others were just completely unintelligible! 

A to Z Challenge: N is for Nippon

Painting by alexaink

Goddess of the sun,
sister to the storms and seas,
you sit like a bird
on a branch while the tree burns.
A crown of flames wreathes your face.

A to Z Challenge: M is for Malapropism

"Illiterate him from your mind!"

"What?" Alice blinked in confusion.

"He has way too much affluence over you." Harley leaned back, smug in her assessment of the situation. "You're letting him create too much dysentery among the ranks."

Alice shook her head. She picked up her tea cup to buy herself enough time to translate Harley's advice.

"So you think I should fire him?"

"I don't know... I mean, he's really plummeted to the top. He's only been there four weeks and already he's practically vile president. But then you didn't hire him to create disorder. You hired him to preserve disorder."

Alice nodded, pretending to understand. She leaned back in her chair, surreptitiously looking around her to see if anyone had overheard. The other outdoor cafe patrons continued their meals, unaware of the stream of unintelligible nonsense coming out of her best friend's mouth.

"Look," Harley said, leaning forward. "You can't ignore that he's a man of great statue. But he's not exactly the pineapple of politeness. What are you going to do? Transact to another job? You've got to stand up for yourself."

Alice nodded, finally understanding the meaning if not the words of her friend's wisdom.

"After all, a rolling stone gathers no moths."

A to Z Challenge: L is for Leviathan

Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope?
Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook?
Will he keep begging you for mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words?

Your stomach swells with his might. He has taken you over and commands you at whim. He is the force in the waters. He is the strength in your womb. You struggle for mastery over your own body. He has brought you to your knees.

I will not fail to speak of his limbs, his strength and his graceful form.
Who can strip off his outer coat? Who would approach him with a bridle?

How can you tame something so elemental? How can you control the intangible essence of life that consumes you? Water is his realm and he moves in you. Your blood, your waters, your life move with him and he is the master of those seas.

Behind him he leaves a glistening wake; one would think the deep had white hair.
Nothing on earth is his equal—a creature without fear.
He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud.

At last he arrives. Unspeakably small. Unspeakably lost. A stranded whale on the shores of time. You hold him in your arms, in your eyes, to your breast. Small, yet some how the Leviathan still, ruler of your world.