Crafting Poetry One Syllable at a Time
Posted on May 31, 2020 by Colleen M. Chesebro
The May 28, 2020, Carrot Ranch Literary Community prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story using two words that contradict. Examples include champagne and hard-rock; rosemary and sewage; duck down and firecrackers; sleep and square-dancing. Use one of these or make up your own. Go where the prompt leads!
Respond by June 2, 2020.
“Shhhhh… don’t tell anyone what I’ve told you.”
Marnie shook her head. “You’re missing the point, Susan. Jim’s been cheating on Janet for months. This is an open secret, and the entire town knows what’s going on.”
“What? Mrs. Parker only told me the details today when I ran into her at the market.”
“That’s because you’re new in town. She probably told you not to tell anyone because it makes her feel important.”
Susan looked crestfallen as she waved goodbye to her neighbor.
Marnie grinned. Besides, she knew the truth. She and Jim had been lovers for years.
©2020 Colleen M. Chesebro
Category: Authors Supporting AuthorsTags: 99 Word Challenge, Carrot Ranch Writing Challenges, The Open Secret, write a story using two words that contradict
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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.
Ooooh!!!
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LOL! 😀
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My goodness… the Jim sounds like a real rascal!
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LOL! This was so fun to write. ❤
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That’s a wicked web you’ve woven. She’s not nice! Which makes her well suited to Jim.
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Right? It’s hard to get characterizations in so few few words. It was fun to write bad for a change. 😂❤️
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An “open secret” with a twist! Well done, Colleen. ❤
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Thanks, Diana. I’ve missed my writing for Carrot Ranch. Feels good to be writing again. ❤️
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This is a good time to be creative, even if it’s hard to focus. Happy Writing.
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Thanks so much, Diana. I have to make up for lost time. ❤
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Ooh, the makings for a scandalous book! 🙂 ❤
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LOL! At least a novella for sure! 😂
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That was a fun twist:)
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LOL! That’s why I love flash fiction. The twists are the best! 🤣
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😀
Gossip rarely goes good. But this flash fiction did good fun!
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LOL! Thanks Jules. You know how people can be. I’m not saying anything about my neighborhood… LOL! 😀
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I never did like Marnie! 🤣 Nice twist.
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LOL! It was refreshing writing something kind of mean for once. LOL!
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😀
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Oh, humans and their secrets! Always causing so much trouble.
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LOL! Right? It felt good to write about something different. 🤣
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