Carbon (an acrostic poem)

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Couldn’t see flaws in the diamond on her finger

And he looked hard as he held her hand

Reality sometimes was hard to pencil into a narrative that worked for him

But he usually found a way to turn the coal in his stocking into something way more valuable

On this occasion, he turned his smile up to eleven to see if that would strike a shattering blow

Nothing could deviate her attention from her fiancé.  The boy, on the other hand…

Coal (an acrostic poem)

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Chucking the little black nuggets onto the embers of the fire and soon they burst into flame

Outputting more heat to warm up the chilly cabin

And to think people called him a dinosaur when he burnt his favorite fuel

Look, he was just freeing his spiritual ancestors’ souls in exchange for warmth

Forget the Cookies (a 200 word story)

I remember the child sitting on my lap.  “What would it take for you to do this one thing for me?” he had asked.  They warn you about this when you join the corps, but it still amazes you when you hear it.

That’s why I stopped in my tracks and thought hard once I was in the man’s bedroom.  What the kid was asking me to do came naturally.  Still, I hated the son of a bitch for what he had done to the boy, so I wanted to gift the man something more.  All it would take is a slight twitch and justice would be served.  I had killed many a person, young and old, male and female, but never while they slept, not in cold blood.  That was not who I was, at least not now.

I sheathed my blade and left his son’s note.  I thought about leaving a bit of coal behind to emphasize that I saw his naughty ass and if I had wanted he would have been mine, but I am a man of the red cloth.  “What would it take?  I may only play a saint, but a devil I am not.”

 

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Pressure (an acrostic poem)

Pushing on through the pain was Geoff’s forte

Running through the low bushes scrapped his legs raw

Every breath was labored, oxygen a rare commodity

Sounds of pursuit began to grow

Sending Geoff into more of a panic

Urging more speed from his spent limbs, he tumbled to the ground

Realizing fleeing was no longer an option, Geoff stood up, picking up a branch

Even a lump of coal could become a diamond.  Time to see what he was made of

 

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