5min-SMOKE

Smoke from the fire in the middle of the woods. Burning colored leaves. Turning them to gray ash. The smell tickles my nose. It’s different from the smell of most fires, no false starters. The light burning bright. The flames stripping the leaves of their pigment, taking on the bright red, orange & yellow for themselves. No roasting marshmallows over this fire, there’s too much smoke! The crackling popping noise of the little flares as they escape from the main flame untamed. Heating up my skin, swaying in the wind.

This weeks UNbalanced exercises

7/11
I try to sleep,
but my eyes continue to blink
I think of you,
& why you didn’t love me too
But my cat slumbers soundly

7/12
I dreamed of snowboarding last night,
Everything was fine and great,
and then I woke up

I hope you heal up soon,
I hear people say,
I’m sorry that happened to you

7/13
I’ve got to admit,
I’m being a typical girl
I say I can’t be friends,
It’s too hard, & hurts so bad,
But I secretly want him to fight back

7/14
As I sit in my backyard
basking in the warm sun
I watch the sky turn to night
the wind blowing in from the west
Little cracks of light shine through
As if the sky is an egg shell
through which an alien is punching a hole
The Leo in the sky roars
heralding the mighty upcoming production

7/15
Elephants, large, majestic, strong
Milling about with trunks so long
Tusks of white ivory
& gray wrinkled skin
never to perform at the circus again

10 min-Clap (I didn’t like this one)

Clap goes the thunder in the distance. The clouds slowly rolling in as though watching the bottom of waves from underneath the water. The loud clap makes the silence in between that much more powerful. The suspense between the flickers of lightening and how long it will take to hear the thunder. Judging how close the lightening struck by how long of a pause between the two. Golf claps on the contrary, very quiet. Pleasant displays of appreciation for sportsmanship. Louder is the clapping at a concert, between songs, louder still at the end of the show prodding an encore. Whistles and yells dispersed throughout adding to the racket. Children’s clackers. The 3 plastic hands on the end of a stick that, when waved, make an awkward clapping noise. Clapping at the circus between each act. Barnum’s just retired their elephants. Is it actually “thunder” that claps, or is it really the lightening making the noise, & we just refer to the noise as thunder. I don’t believe they are separate entities. I believe the thunder is just the resulting sound of where the lightening hits, which is why the delayed effect is based on the distance of lightening from where you are. The time between is proportionate to the distance

90 sec-Sinking

Sinking in a ship, the water slowly rising. Churning about inside this vessel of no escape. All the while thinking, because thoughts don’t sink. Salt water in the air, smells of dead fish. Gasping for oxygen.

10 min – Full Moon

It’s a full moon on Halloween night. Trick-or-Treaters scamper about in the moonlight. To & fro, from door to door they go. Collecting candy & small nicknacks. Covered in sheets with holes cut for eyes. An eye patch under a pirate hat with a hook for a hand. Little girls in wigs & big ball gowns. Princesses twirling in circles round and around. Under the full moon the black cat strolls by. The wolf howling in the distance, but no one hears his cry. The full, yellow moon lights up the night sky. A reflection of the sun on it’s stark, barren surface. Illuminating the dank, dark corners of the corn maze. Hay rides & candied apples, or carmel if you like. Bobbing for apples in metal vats of water like farm animals to win a prize. More children dressed as yellow & orange crayons, like candy corn. Dinosaurs and dragons and one eyed monsters. Zombies, & witches with pointy hats & striped leggings & moles with hair growing out of them.

10min-Swan

Swan, beautiful, majestic, loyal for life. With it’s long slender neck, & feathers of innocent white. I have heard that swans find mates for life. I wish people were like this too. But they aren’t and this is true. People will leave you as soon as another shiny object comes along. They will stab you in the back rather than stand by your side. Swans float through the hard times together. In unison they remain. Women have been judged for wearing white wedding dresses, when they have already lost their virtue. But swans don’t have this problem, they can sport snowy feathers as long as they like and it isn’t a lie. Sitting atop the water, wading through life. Vicious they might become to protect their young. While bite you they may, with their spouse they will stay. For eternity. This may sound crazy, and no doubt there are exceptions. But this animal proves that it is possible for any animal, and humans are after all animals right? In the family of mammals.

5 min on Peanuts

Peanuts tucked neatly inside of the pretzel of the elephant’s trunk. Slowly the wrinkled, gray elephant raised the bow to it’s mouth where it unwraps it and pops the pent into it’s mouth as if from a pez dispenser. A little mouse in uniform riding in Dumbo’s hat. African elephants in the dry dusty air, slinging mud onto their backs and fanning their giant ears to stay cool. Peanuts, such a tiny treat for such a large creature.

Last object writing exercise for the week. 10 min on Ice Cube.

Ice cube. Cold, solid, rock. Frozen water. A glass through which to look for a distorted reality. Cut into squares with jagged edges on one side. Running water sloshes into blue trays full of squares, placed in the freezer. Not just water, trays filled with sweet juices, pineapple, etc. Making tiny frozen popsicles. Toothpicks for handles. Melting ice cubes down on your head on a hot summer day. Letting the cool water trickle down the sides of your face. As the sweat is washed down, you can taste the salty mixture. Rubbing another one on the back of your neck & chest. Ice cubes crushed into a smoothie in a blender. Strawberry daiquiris by the pool. Music playing in the background. Ice cubes, good for a bump on the noggin, a muscle injury, or insect sting. But I don’t like too many in my drink oddly enough. Frozen fruit works better for my water.

Almost done with this week’s object writing exercises. 90sec on Chalk.

Chalk, thick, colorful. Sidewalk masterpieces ground my pieces into tiny nubs, circles made square by scraping against the pavement vigorously.