It's a breeze to be allowed priority - a Quadrille

                                                   Author: Béria L. Rodríguez @ Wikimedia Commons (here)

Image: A Charming Lady (here)

Nice to be growing old gracefully
It's a breeze to be allowed priority

Seats offered taken with a smile
Abundance of presents on the lap piled
Would they really bother if we were senile
Not on your life for we accepted them in style
(44 words)

For Bjorn's Quardrille 10 at d'Verse
and to include the word  'breeze'

The BMOC - Safeguarding One's Own Turf

                                                                                Author: InSapphoWeTrust
Image: The Thinker, Rodin's best-known
sculpture depicting a muscular man  (here)

secret keeper's 5 given words:
cover dance clear dare paint

MLMM's 12 given words:
effusive (unduly demonstrative, exuberant talkative)
facility drowsy upset gurgle notice supple
spool (any cylindrical piece on which something is wound)
poppet (a term of endearment for a young girl)
steal 
medulla (the marrow of the bones)
miasma (a dangerous, foreboding, or deathlike influence or atmosphere.)

Of an effusive personality
Restlessness overtook his facility
Drowsy uneasiness upsetting to his 
gregarious self now
gurgling with impatience

It would be a good cover he bemused
to unwind from the spool of boredom

From the other corner of the dance-floor
he noticed a supple Poppet of a beauty
stealing glances at him a clear indication
of the same ailment of boredom

Would he dare nudge her medulla of
coyness perhaps to paint a glowing picture
of his usual self the way he knew best?

Yes, it was a challenge
but lo and behold!

The hustler he had crossed swords before
sent a miasmatic foreboding through his
system for he was there nearby too
waiting to pounce on her

He ought to move fast with outright confidence
the mark of a popular BMOC!

Note: BMOC = big-man-on-campus

MLMM's Wordle #111
The Secret Keepers' Weekly
writing prompt #39 and
Marian's The Tuesday Platform
at Real Toads

how diverse souls find solace

                                                                                            Attribution: Allan warren
Image: It is yet another day (here)

11 of 12 given words:
crack mist chills creeps 
lucid (easily understood rational)
mad diverse trap vine
tawny (dull yellowish-brown color)
tassel (strands hanging from a roundish knob on curtains)

At the crack of dawn with thick
mist mischievously accentuating the
chills it gives the creeps to likely
rebuff any kind of activity

In that lucid moment of madness
diverse souls find solace in
defining a living

Truck drivers, nurses, the police
trapped in the vines of life's tawny
challenges hanging listlessly by the
tassels often at risks to their well-being

As a balance though enterprising
elements thrive in adverse
situations to fill the gap

They rise at that unearthly hours
to prepare their wares for the
early breakfast crowd some even
starting much earlier shouting hoarse
like the balut sellers

Life with its own set of players
to welcome yet another day no
different from the one yesterday
-  ask the homeless!

For Brenda's Sunday Whirl Wordle # 253 and
Mary's Poetry Pantry #304 at Real Toads

Reflecting on life's blessings

                                                                                   Attribution: Tomas Castelazo
Image: Were these all the choices then? (here)

Reflecting on life's blessings
Little nudges to the memories
Retracing paths trudged wondering
What otherwise could be the stories

A touch of gray on decisions taken
If she had managed to steal his heart
But he had rejected it oh, so brazen
Would they be better off for a start

Would riches pile high all their life
Shrieks of beautiful children heard
Instead of struggling to survive
Sadly childless amid cries of hurts

What then of the path not taken
And had lady luck smiled often?

For Grace's at d'Verse's OLN #173 and
Fireblossom's Friday at Real Toad's
- a touch of gray where even good
things can have a tinge of regret to them

colors to savor calmness

                                                                                                Attribution: Kaz Andrew
Image: Apple Blossoms (here)

silence
in the blind wind's dance
blossoms                                           (Jane Reichhold)

into unending waves with

colors to savor calmness                   (Hank)

silence
in the blind wind's dance
blossoms                                           (Jane Reichhold)
in all directions softly
with brilliance of light whispers           (Hank)

For Chev's CARPE DIEM Tan Renga
Challenge  -  silence - by Jane Reichhold

Hesitation was a potent element

                                                                                         Attribution:  Adam Hague
Image: MLMM's Photo Challenge (here)

Dawned on him it was a mistake
He could have acted fast
Though others deemed it as unfortunate
How was it allowed to happen, he asked

He could not forgive himself
That was what happened
He fought against the distress
Hesitation was a potent element

He had to live with it
It shadowed his every movement now
His waking hours or his disturbing sleep
He could see it in his dreams, he vowed

The friend was in the water struggling
The maroon shawl wound mysteriously
Around the neck in a choke hold strangling
Could have jumped in but not, regretfully

A good swimmer he should have
Not a picnic to retain such a conscience
But to be borne solely now on himself
A sad farewell to a good friend

MLMM's Photo Challrnge #114
For ABHRA's at d'Vserse's  -  unintended farewell
Susan's at PU's Midweek Motif  -  picnic

debts to society

                                                                                         Attribution: Steve Johnson
Image: Soup Kitchen for the Homeless (here)

Note: Sacrifices involve too many minds of those committed to their cause

The Prose

Sacrifice as one understands it involves the offering of animals fruits or food. This is in particular reference to religious beliefs such as Judaism’s Korban and the Muslim’s Qurban. Live animals are sacrificed in ritual killings where portions of the animals are later distributed to the poor

Sacrifice more as of choice were the heroic exploits of Japanese pilots in WWII. They crashed their planes in hara-kiri fashion onto their targets to inflict maximum damage.. Another was the ultimate act of suttee which was imposed rather than of choice ( a widow’s sacrifice at her husband’s funeral pyre) which had since been banned.

On a personal basis was Sir Timothy Berners-Lee’s insistence not to profit from his invention of the world-wide-web ‘which is rather for the benefit of mankind’ he said. One could not ignore that of Nelson Mandela’s who did away with any thoughts of vengeance against his detractors or that of the Dalai Lama’s who soldiered on. To round off was the sacrifice of the world’s biggest philanthropist  Bill Gates of his billions!

The Poem (tanka)
11 of 12 given words:
bell gloss itch spring track lost 
mission sense willing stand pay 

Does it ring a bell?
To gloss over past glories
Itching to spring forth
To back-track and not moving
forward. It is a lost cause!

Mission in life is
better served with sense of pride
Willing to take a
stand with debts to society
paid off with sacrifices

For Toni's at d'Verse Haibun Monday #14  -  too many minds
MLMM's Sunday Whirl Wordle #252

Ancient Ninja’s power-play

                                                                          Attribution: un amigo
Image: Ninja (here)

one step outside

the temple gate, it’s Japan --

a tea picker's song   -    © Tagami Kikusha

done with tea ceremony

dazzled by intricate steps    -   ©  Hank's

one step outside

the temple gate, it’s Japan --

a tea picker's song   -     © Tagami Kikusha

mixture of modern times to

ancient Ninja’s power-play    -    ©  Hank's

For Chev's CARPE DIEM  -   Tan Renga Challenge:
"one step outside" by Tagami Kikusha

Sprawled Spring's brightness

                                                                                        Attribution: Gerald England
Image: Nature's brightness (here)

Bright

Sunshine

Nature's rights

Spring's brightness sprawled
on mankind though not

all got same benefit 

Limits of locations and

seasons imposed some restrictions

So also political conflicts

Sunshine savored was not equitable

For Mary's Poetry Pantry #303

Victoria's Etheree at d'Verse

Turning over a wild horse

                                                                                              Attribution: Waugsberg
Image: A Spanish Walk (here)

the 12 given words:
lucid (very clear and easy to understand)
lisp (to speak falteringly, childishly)
lope (run in a relaxed way with long strides)
gravel heel 
wile (intended to ensnare or deceive)
hoop (a circular object : a large ring)
rave rant pent acid
rasp (to speak in a way that sounds rough or harsh)

Turning over a wild horse is no mean feat
Lucid in manner even lisp to a fault
Just so confidence is established

Loping around leisurely within the paddock
Not even disturbing the well-grained gravel
Or across the field digging the heels
No wile  maneuvers or intimidating hoops to be used
Rave and rant of pent-up frustrations
and rasp in a manner of speaking
are all an absolute no-no

Just to create rapport of partnership
The underlying acid test of success
Is when the going is easy
Horse and trainer can understand each other

For grapeling's at Real Toad's  -
get listed with the given words

Chasing the dream of fools

                                                                                  Attribution: Mario Sarto
Image: Brilliance of Diamonds (here)

All that glitters is not gold
How often one had been told
Chasing the dream of fools
Hoping to strike it cool

Wherefrom the urge to hasten
Getting elements of value that glisten
Not gold but a ommon path to accomplish
Rendered by a grand wish

Of getting their hands full
Untold riches pristine in bagfuls
Not aware of hidden diamonds
The unlucky ones could only lament

Smart ones  exploited the opportunity
Striving hard not to depend on charity

For MLMM's  Tale Weaver #66: -  all that glitters

Had dreams giddy in heights

                                                                           Attribution: Guilhem Vellut
Image: A Homeless Soul (here)

the 10 of 12 given words:
fetid (having a strong, unpleasant smell)
filthy faces empty home vow streetcar broken  
twilight (a period when something is ending)
gritty (harsh and unpleasant)

3WW given words:
enchanting fanatical giddy

Filthy fetid face hidden

Man in his twilight years

Empty of promise without a home

Made a vow fanatical in his resolve

Not to bother his relatives

But to hang on alone

Had dreams giddy in heights

Enchanting but suspect in execution

Taken for a ride not in a streetcar
but in foolhardy schemes
to end up broken
gritty and unfulfilled

MMT's Sunday’s Whirligig #60
Thomg's 3WW #480
Marian's The Tuesday Platform

Green gardens reflect grand efforts - a Quadrille

                                                                         Attribution: : A.Gundelach
Image: Flowers of Colors (here)

Green gardens reflect grand
efforts.Gadgets can ensure the
success of green fingers. Green
with envy detractors can only
gape at the gargantuan task of
grappling with gardening tips
.
True grit and gumption and
immersed in grime without
grimace or gripe is the answer

(44 words)

For Grace's at d'Verse -  Quadrille #9
and to include -  green

Seeing sustenance of love life torn apart

                                                                             Attribution: Vicki Nunn

Image: Love is Bliss (here)

To write on:
Love of beauty is taste
The creation of beauty is Art

A measure of wanting to court rapport
A resurgence of yearnings of the heart
Recluse of a person sliding in the flow
Seeing sustenance of love life torn apart

Unflagging appreciation of her beauty
Remained unscathed despite the odds
Unrequited and unleashed it tore readily
Unruffled beauty awaited to be thawed

Could it be resolved lashed by creativity
Pulverized and socked into submission
Galvanized into images of intrinsic simplicity
Not to be bewildered drained of frustrations?

For Sanaa's Dash of Sunny Prompt Nights

The last he remembered was being helpless

                                                                                       Attribution: Rennett Stowe
Image: Sad-looking Cousin (here)

12 given words:

hung burning enter white made less

last fish flowers cloth took screen

Head hung low it was a burning question

It had as yet to enter his cluttered mind

White with rage barely moments ago

Made to look less guilty but not quite

The last he remembered was being helpless

Like fish out of water no garland of flowers

But a piece of cloth covering his head

He took exception when told his sibling

Was given preference over him

Many were screened for the position

He was sad just could not stomach it

Why they preferred a younger person?

For Brenda's Sunday Whirl Wordle #251
Mary's at PU's Poetry Pantry  #302

Life but a little boring

                                                                                          Attribution: Fibonacci Blue
Image: The Ashley Rukes GLBT Pride Parade had over
100,000 spectators the largest in Minneapolis.  (here)

A Tanaga of 7 syllables each with
an AABB and ABAB rhyming scheme

Sitting alone insisting
Life but a little boring
Spice it up go for the kill
Good poems measure of skill

Winds of opportunity
Rarely will pass by two times
Some people seize them early
Politicians come to mind

For MLMM's  B&P’s Shadorma &
Beyond – tanaga, revisited

Blessings of a promised land

                                                                                              Attribution: Svend17
Image:  Beewax is capped off the honeycomb
before the pure honey can be extracted (here)

taste of nature -
sweet blackberry bushes
sing to child and bees                         ©  Sara McNulty
melody sailed through the winds      
on this beautiful Spring day                ©  Hank

taste of nature -
sweet blackberry bushes
sing to child and bees                         ©  Sara McNulty
tempting honey-comb wonder      
blessings of a promised land               ©  Hank

For Chev's CARPE DIEM Tan Renga
Challenge with Sara McNulty's  'taste of nature'

Wrestled with his conscience

                                                                        Artist: John George Brown 
Image: Survival in the Streets (here)
(oil on canvas)

the 11 of 12 given words:
wrestle evangelist angel bless bewildered touching 
beyond waxing cunning fleece gymnast

3WW given words:
damned cherished babble

Wrestled with his conscience
The evangelist in him wanting
to take a more playful stance
of an angel freely floating

Blessed  his soul bewildered 
but touching beyond the damned
Waxing his ego in a conceited
trait surly in a cherished radiance
but cunningly imposed without
misgivings of his intentions
He could babble away an assorted
yarn that fleeced at the imaginations

Quick thinking not unlike a gymnast
tumbling, jumping to hold their attention
a talent honed as a street smart
waif left to his own as an orphan

Like a bird freely swooping
he nudged a living without offense
only as much as a righteous means
of a mechanism of self- defense

For MMT's Sunday's Whirligig #59
Thomg's 3WW #479
Sumana's at PU's Midweek Motif  -  bird
Gayle's at d'Verse Open linkNight

Dainty little feet gracefully treading - a Haibun

                                                                                               Attribution: Oleg Oprisco

Image: Tethered and not Unlike a Ribbons Routine

MLMM's Photo Challenge

                                                                               Attribution: 阿圆
Image: Ribbon - rhythmic gymnastics  (here)

The Prose
During a ribbon routine, smooth and
flowing movements are expected. It
requires a high degree of coordination
to form the spirals and circles.

The Poem
Dainty little feet gracefully treading
Elegance of a display vibrant and vibrating
Swashbuckling madness a narrow space sprinting
Or on a 4-inch beam hopping ingeniously balancing
Nothing is impossible to work hard enough alluring
Chasing the elusive perfect ten so infuriating

Remember her, the petite Nadia Comaneci
The First Perfect 10 at the Montreal Olympics
Who did it not once but six more times
To the consternation of the crowd charmed

Her supple body lithe contorted but swiftly moving
At the uneven bars tumultuous tumbles swinging
Dissipating movements jumps and gyrating
Or with grace of a prima-donna just plainly walking

So it was done in gymnastics before
Still perfect for a versatile competitor
So there is no telling that a ribbons routine
Can still aspire for a perfect ten just the same

For MLMM's Photo Challenge #112 and
Bjorn's at d'Verse Haibun Monday #13  -  walking

sadly he had missed the boat

                                                                           Attribution: Martin Nikolaj Christensen

Image:A nice couple on a 

very old Fucsia plant  (here)

a dream in a dream

sand slipping through old fingers

autumn leaves turn red                              © Georgia

how best then to sieve through time

to dream back to the past?                         ©  Hank

a dream in a dream

sand slipping through old fingers

autumn leaves turn red                              © Georgia

sadly he had missed the boat

his old flame now just as frail                    ©  Hank

For Chev's CARPE DIEM Tan Renga Challenge
of Georgia's -  autumn leaves turn red 

The mass media as opposed to the social media

                                                                            Author: André Gill 

Image: Self Censorship is Better (here)

11 of 12 given words: 

mass flow news chants rants 

road map block bit show trance

The mass media as opposed to the social media

Current phenomena causing lots of unpleasantness

Opening to public view the nasty side of people

Communicating is fast of unfettered exchanges

Flow of news unheeded unchecked with no thoughts

of maintaining any semblance of good behavior

Sowing hate messages under privilege of anonymity

Chants and rants defying risks of character defamation

is common place absence of a road-map found wanting

Self censorship to block such omissions is advised

No easy way of enforcement a bit of a problem

A show of being responsible is very much lacking

Many seems to be in a wicked trance just not bothering

For Brenda's Sunday Whirl Wordle #250
Mary's at PU's Poetry Pantry #301

His soul trampled with torment

                                                                                                 Attribution: T.Voekler
Image: Irresistible aromatic scent (here)

It tugs at the bones when it does
Pushing through the sheath covering
the nose so fast
To withstand an aroma hovering

But resurgence of her presence
A retribution to remind
him of her absence
To bring to his senses so defined

Missed the scent ostensibly the scent
But he missed her most
His soul trampled with torment
How shabbily and petrified in remorse

Inconsiderate excursion to a young mind
Reacting too fast regretting, now within his confines
Lesson learnt that the next time
As elders said so, must first count to ten

For Sanaa's Prompt Nights  -  nothing
more memorable than scent

Way to learn when it burns

                                                                                Author: Play Among Friends Paf
Image: Happiness Among Friends (here)

Credit to:
My candle burns at both ends (Edna St. Vincent Millay)

My!
What a handle holding a candle
Way to learn when it burns
Having a spat still wondering at
The loath triggered by both
Among friends that’s where it ends

For De's at d'Verse MTB : The Golden Shovel Form

Desirous not to renege on their agreement

                                                                            Attribution:  Ed Yourdon
Image: 'Let me tell you a secret' (here)

Furtively clawing away in the darkness

Keeping an eye on every little movement

Smirking in his heart quietly with awareness

Desirous not to renege on their agreement

Likened to harbor guilt feelings unperturbed

Still a softened stance kept gnawing in his bones

Should not let them down he felt disturbed

This looked like a fight to be borne all alone

A life and death venture a betrayal thwarted

Could not fathom others were thinly principled

Kept his mouth sealed in secrecy not a doubt

Him alone to bear the burden without a ripple

For Susan's at PU's Midweek Motif  -  secrecy

ghostly stumps standing as apparitions

                                                                                                      Attribution: Mish

Image: Arid countryside (here)

Sunday's Whirligig's 12 given words:

think sound light beneath force send 
falling little rain marvelous water blind

pleasantly surprised to think that the

absence of big city sound and lights

can still mesmerize the inner loss of

direction within the arid lands beneath 
the dryness and force of heat 

ghostly stumps standing as apparitions

in the shadows to send shivers to the

unaccustomed falling to imaginations

of how a little rain can make a difference

but if it would be marvelous to grapple

with deprivation of clean water and blind

adherence to the hustle and bustle of

the absurd city life

being choked with man-made noise

pollution smog and dust of city streets

the arid south-west is a welcomed respite

to escape from the ills of the rat-race

For Mish's at d'Verse's Poetics – Sentiments
of the Southwest
MMT's Sunday's Whirligig #58 and
Marian's The Tuesday Platform at
Real Toads

The moment of truth came to light - a Quadrille

                                                                                    Attribution: Takashi Hososhima
Image: Easter Eggs Ice Cream (here)

8 of 12 given words:
yearning boundless grace 
silken fire moment light eggs

Yearnings for the boundless energy
that used to grace the catwalk in bright
silken dresses fired up her desire to
reduce her waistline by skipping lunch

The moment of truth came to light
when liking for eggs put paid to
any pretense of reality
(44 words)

For Brenda's Sunday Whirl Wordle #249 and
Toni's at d'Verse for a Quadrille not
exceeding 44 words to include variants
of the word 'skip'

Investing in intricate encounters

                                                                                              Attribution: Le.Loup.Gris
Image: Courtship at its intense moment (here)

Infatuated by the infectious
smile but infantile in thoughts
with an inability to resist.
An interference to man's thinking

An inference of a weakness
intensely inadequate and abdicating
the strength of purpose of wanting
to be the right partner in love

Investing in intricate encounters
hoping for success appears remote
but certainly worth the fun
(55 words)

For Kerry's Flash 55 Plus
at Real Toads and
Mary's at PU's Poetry Pantry #300