Crafting Poetry One Syllable at a Time
Posted on March 20, 2018 by Colleen M. Chesebro
March 16, 2018, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story about carrot cake. It can be classic or unusual. Why is there cake? How does it feature in the story? Go where the prompt leads.
Respond by March 20, 2018, to be included in the compilation (published March 21). Rules are here. All writers are welcome!
The train clickety-clacked across the rails while rolling hills flashed outside the windows with the speed of an old movie reel. I swayed my way into a mindful moment, breathing in peace.
A loud sniff interrupted my reverie. Across from me, the woman’s red eyes blared out her secrets. Tears streamed down her face and sobs wracked her body. Our eyes met, and she shook her head, silence her shield.
Mothers recognize pain. When the throbbing ache subsides, hunger sets in. I opened the box and drew out the carrot cake, a gift for a friend. Sweets always heal.
Sweet dreams on this first day of Spring. ❤
Category: Authors Supporting AuthorsTags: carrot cake, Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction, Carrot Ranch Literary Community, Carrotranch.com, flash fiction
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“A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone’s knowledge of himself and the world around him.”
—Dylan Thomas
Click: What is a Rhyme Scheme?
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Colleen M. Chesebro is an American Poet who loves crafting paranormal fantasy and magical realism, cross-genre flash fiction, syllabic poetry, and creative nonfiction. Colleen sponsors a weekly syllabic poetry challenge, called Tanka Tuesday, on wordcraftpoetry.com where participants learn how to write traditional and current forms of haiku, senryu, haiga, tanka, gogyohka, tanka prose, renga, solo-renga, haibun, cinquain, Etheree, nonet, and shadorma poetry. Colleen's syllabic poetry has appeared in the Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal, and in “Hedgerow, a journal of small poems.” She’s won numerous awards from participating in the Carrot Ranch Rodeo, a yearly flash fiction contest sponsored by carrotranch.com. In 2020, she won first place in the Carrot Ranch Folk Tale or Fable category, with her story called “Why Wolf Howls at the Moon.” Colleen is a Sister of the Fey, where she pursues a pagan path through her writing. When she is not writing, she is reading. She also loves gardening and crocheting old-fashioned doilies into works of art.
Love this Colleen 💜
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Isn’t that the truth, though? LOL! ❤
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IT is indeed!
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A lot of truth in that Colleen.
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Thanks, Michael. It’s like that sometimes. ❤️
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A comforting and sweet tale (in more ways than one). Excellent, Colleen.
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You know who I though of? Miss Markle! I know she didn’t have kids but it was her kindness. 😍
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I love the idea of carrot cake as a sweet healing gift…
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Thanks. Sometimes it’s the little things. 😍❤️
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Cake is certainly a healer!
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My favorite! 🎂🍰🍮
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So true 💜🖐🏻
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Thanks, Willow. 😍
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💜
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I have been wondering as to what to bring to a friend who’s sick..now i know..a carrot cake…beautiful tale Coleen..
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And, you’ve made my day. Carrot cake always brings a smile. It’s the healing veggies. ❤️
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Aw, that would be a big old hug, for sure!
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I thought about Miss Markle. I could see her doing that. 😉❤️
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I was appointed “Poet Laureate” of my high school paper, given a subject each month along with a deadline, and ordered to produce, all because I wrote a 36 stanza satire about becoming the old woman with whom I now have to live, my English teacher’s favorite subject, and taping it to the door of her classroom. I still regret that action because I just never have been able to write on a given subject on order! It’s regrettable, but for some reason if I don’t feel strongly about the subject the words just don’t come. Your challenges look like so much fun, and I keep hoping that some day I will find one that speaks to my muse so I will be able to accept the challenge. Really should have paid more attention when I took those writing courses in college! ❤
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LOL! What a great story. I love it. 😍❤️
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I would have loved it better if I could have chosen my own subject. the time frame was okay, I’ve been a columnist since then and always got it in early but the subject was up to me. Having someone else tell me what to write about: not a good idea. I have to feel it before I can write it and if the feeling is missing the poem is lame! Just never could get the dear Sister to understand that. And in those days you just didn’t argue with Sister! Demerits meant being confined to the dorm for the weekend!
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A lovely story, Colleen. How sweet of her to share the cake and comfort. ❤
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You know, I imagined Miss Marple on the train. Isn’t that what she would have done. 😀 I’m glad you enjoyed it. ❤
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Lovely post, Colleen. I don’t know if I am going crazy but your sharing buttons seem to be missing.
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They are at the top left of the post. 🙄❤️❤️❤️
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Ahhh! Found them.
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Food for the soul and body.
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Aw, Jan… you’re so sweet. Exactly. ❤
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🙂
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Very nice. Now I want some carrot cake, one of my favorites.
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LOL! I thought the same thing. 😀
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Delicious picture of the carrot cake. Your story tells of the sweetness of compassion.
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Such Scrumptious-ness.. 😎🥀😎🥀😎🥀
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LOL! You are so darn sweet! Thanks, Dorna. ❤
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You are most welcome, Colleen. 🙂
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The comfort it offered was a gift the friend could later share, knowing how the carrot cake was offered. Beautiful, Colleen!
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Thanks, Charli. I imagined Miss Markle on a train. I have a funny brain, for sure. 😂❤️
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Beautiful, Colleen. It’s something I imagine you would do ❤
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I saw Miss Marple in myy mind, but yes, that is exactly what I would do. My empathic abilities draw people to me. LOL! When I worked in the accounting department of a hospital in Montana, the accountants used to kid me. Everytime I walked down the hall, patients or their families would stop me and ask for help. I looked like all the other employees wearing an ID but they always picked me. They used to say: “Colleen’s got her sign out again!” LOL! ❤
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Can you imagine what it would be like if all the Sisters of the Fey worked in one place? 🙂 ❤
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Work?? Seriously? We’d all be in so much trouble. LOL! We’d be fired and still end up talking and sharing on our blogs together. LOL! 😀 ❤
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Hey, it would make great fodder for a sitcom! 🙂 ❤
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LOL! It would. Especially with our super powers! 🤣
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