photo of house near tree during winter
Prosery

“Hope,” #Prosery

Colleen M. Chesebro

Merril D. Smith is over at dVerse hosting the Prosery Prompt for 5/10/22. She says:

Prosery is a dVerse term for prose incorporating a given line of poetry. This can be either flash fiction, nonfiction, or creative nonfiction, but it must be prose! Not prose poetry, and not a poem. And it must be no longer than 144 words, not including the title. (It does not have to be exactly 144 words, but it can’t exceed 144 words.)

I’ve chosen a prompt line from Sara Teasdale’s poem, “May Day.” I think this poem is a tiny perfect jewel of a poem. There’s a wistfulness to it—the beauty of May tinged with the realization that it, and life are ephemeral. Of course, I know May is different in other parts of the world, but the line does not mention spring.

dVerse: Prosery: Sara Teasdale and May

Here’s the line:

“For how can I be sure
I shall see again
The world on the first of May”
–From “May Day” by Sara Teasdale

“Hope”

The storm approached on cat feet, soft and silent, in the darkness of night. In the morning, it quilted my neighborhood in a shroud of snow. Trees glazed with frost lined the street, their budding leaves bitten black by the chill.

The wintery weather matched my mood. Yesterday, the news from the doctor was grim. Cancer, like a silent storm, was present in my brain scans. Like patches of white hoarfrost, the malignancy had spread to the frontal lobe regions of my brain.

“For how can I be sure I shall see again the world on the first of May,” I wondered?

Outside my window, clouds raced the wind against a pale sky. When a shaft of sunlight broke through the haze, my breath caught in my throat. An unusual winter rainbow stretched across the sky. The answer to my troublesome question? Hope.

37 thoughts on ““Hope,” #Prosery”

  2. This is beautifully written, Colleen, and very moving–and I certainly hope it is fiction!
    Thank you for joining in for my Prosery prompt!

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          3. Since I have no idea of an ending–if there is one–it might be difficult. 😅
            And for a novel, there would have to be so much more–plus years of research. I am VERY picky about historical novels.

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  9. That was so beautiful! I loved the imagery and emotion in your prosery, Colleen! 🙂 (Not sure if this will be a repeat. It didn’t seem to post the first time.)

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  12. I can also imagine the ’cause’ of the distress to be a memory loss issue.
    Since I know of too many that wake the next day, not remembering even what day it is.
    The hope is that that the current time or present moment is one of joy and not worry.

    Glad it was the muses’ doing!!

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