Land of Heat and Money

red rock monoliths block
the horizon line,
their shadows blacken
the dust grown ankle deep

sun glances off the land
raptors hover on heat waves
without tears, a tiny girl
cradles in crackling grass

under a bronze-like shine
her tummy stretches
fine as skin upon a drum
tomorrow, her mother

cursing and screaming grief
will bury this fifth child, her
only daughter, lost to famine
and a faulty trickle down theory

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Totally Optional Prompt says: your prompt this week is to take an unsavory topic and find a way to make it glow. Polish it. Turn it into something beautiful. (I say, now you can try it - it's not as easy as it appears. Unsavory, indeed.)

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Up and Down a Midnight Wander

white shafts freeze to the air
like a tongue on heavy metal

balance escapes to the south
dictates gray for the shortest light

yesterdays gyrate underfoot and
tattered regrets thread the night

days emerge as age-old rags
when sleep is on vacation

Watercolor by Sue.

Prompt words: balance, dictate, wander on Three Word Wednesday by ThomG at Surface Tension

Please come play along with us!

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Shine

Doppler watchers
say the sun
will shine today
but sensors keep
outdoor lights
brightly lit
on this double gray
December day.
It's sure to be late
before the sun
can find its way
through pressing clouds.
Standing by
the window,
I watch and wait.

Fractal created in Apophysis.

Prompt by Skittles at Heads or Tails

fractals

Welcoming

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gray sky low
snow falls ankle deep
flash of sun

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corn chowder
tang of poblano
soup welcomes

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scent of baking bread
laughter, chatter, hugs around
welcomes family

**
return trip
smooth flowing traffic
dry highway

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Several senryu prompted by the post on One Single Impression courtesy of Nancy Bea Miller of Genre Cookshop.

Follow the links to read what others wrote and to play along with this Monday Meme.

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Watercolor by Sue.
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