April #AtoZChallenge and #PoetryMonth
1. To celebrate my appreciation of life
2. To experience the process of writing linked poetry, a form of Japanese renshi
3. To give thanks for and better appreciate a life well-lived.
The flowers are a colorful bonus for the #AtoZChallenge
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G is for Gossip and Gladiolas (and Gail)
GOSSIP REIGNS
On lazy sun-washed afternoons
imagination turns to thoughts of
courtyard pubs, where friends
gather to discuss
whatever most consumes their waking
hours.
Tucked away behind the Seine in Paris,
or
a secluded nook of Gloucester’s
harbor,
topics range from art and plotlines,
to the
tantalizing satchel in the local
consignment shop.
Gossip reigns.
Food arrives, sporadically.
People pick at plates of
battered squid and cherry peppers.
Wash down Gorgonzola cheese-stuffed
mushrooms
with dark beer and fresh-brewed coffee.
Or some exotic drink,
served in mugs sporting
a hodge-podge of designs.
Each holding a life’s story at the
bottom,
shimmering for patrons to review
at leisure between sips.
Reality appears on no menu
in these flights of fantasy,
these parcels of precious moments,
free of conflict.
Close your eyes, relax.
Breathe deep.
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