Tag Responsibility

Chel Owens 28 Comments

“It would be lovely if the world just handed you things. But alas, it doesn’t work like that. Sometimes a dream job requires real work. Most people pay their dues. Yes, it’s a lot of hours, it’s repetitive, it’s boring, but that’s usually the way to learn. Very few successful people were successful the first time out. They were frustrated, bored, annoyed….feel free to enter in any descriptive word that you want, because everything has good and bad.

“Sometimes you have to give things a shot. Sometimes you need to work. That’s just life.”

-LA, “Laterally Thinking“

Houseplant Plea

Chel Owens 7 Comments

Excuse me, ma’am
Or sir
Or dog
But could you spare a drop?

I need no dam
For sure
No bog
Just please, won’t you please stop?

I mean no insult
To state
Remind
‘Twas you who placed me here.

For what result?
I say.
Mankind
Wishes me dead, I fear.

I’d love to grow.
I think
You think
That’s what I sit here for.

But dried leaves show
I drink
I shrink
Where roots will soak no more.

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Do You Believe in Magic?

Chel Owens 3 Comments

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Here, he sits. The screen reflects his fat fingers, his glasses, his balding head.
Between lines of numbered reports, his memory sees small hands, perfect sight, full hair. Laughter.

There, she pauses. Against the mopped floor rest her orthopedic shoes, her sore cankles, her ample midsection.
Mundane mind-wanderings recall barefoot summers, skinny legs, an inverted belly button. Happiness.

Where, do we stand? Honest bathroom mirrors capture our eye lines, our neck bulges, our long wrinkly faces.
Fleeting cognizance remembers smooth skin, thin necks, unblemished features. Smiles.

Fairy dust? Hardly. Evaporating imagination pulls us ever farther from Never-Neverland.

 

Carrot Ranch Literary Society Prompt

Today’s Lesson

Chel Owens

“All right now, class: each of you will receive a copy of this sheet of a family. You’ll need to color it, cut it out, then paste it onto card stock. We’ll be displaying them on the bulletin board for everyone else to see.

“You will only have a short amount of time to work on it, so color what’s most important to you. Maybe it’s the house. Or, you’ll focus on the mom’s hair and the kid’s clothes. I know I like to pick lovely colors for those flowers.

“When I say it’s time for scissors, you will have to see what you have time to cut out before we need to paste them. Sometimes, students only get the mom and dad out, and one of the dogs, before we need to move on. I had one classmate who removed the house, family members, and a flower very meticulously but the card stock was gone by that time and they had no background.

“If everyone is ready, then, you may begin. Hurry, but have fun!”