Veil (an acrostic poem)

Image: realitysandwich.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/seeing-through-veil.png

Viewing life through a gauzy sheet of emotions

Everything was fuzzy and slightly off color

It made things less scary and more comfy

Living that way also meant never really knowing what was real

Paradise (an acrostic poem)

Image: bestlifeonline.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/06/feet-ocean-water.jpg

Putting my toes in the ocean with the wind in my hair and the heavy scent of salt in the air

And if not then a crystal clear lake with cabins and joy all around

Rural roads with mile upon mile of fresh blacktop and not a car in sight

A strong wind during twilight bringing the fresh smell of a coming storm

Dark night under the stars, friends to either side sharing stories and jokes

Icy cold in contrast to a bright sun reflecting off a virgin snowfall

Surreally painted skies at the beach, good tunes on the radio, watching the sun sink slowly off stage west

Everyone should occasionally go to their special place to recharge their soul in their own โ€ฆ

Lumber (an acrostic poem)

Image: previews.123rf.com/images/sutichak/sutichak1412/sutichak141200028/34205955-eucalyptus-tree-pile-of-wood-logs-ready-for-industry.jpg

Log after log swung off the truck and onto the mud

Under a gray sky that threatened snow any day now

Maybe she would have time to get this cabin built, but it would be close, too close.

Before she had moved out here, all she knew was the stuff you got from Home Depot or Lowes

Every day in this wilderness ingrained into her a sense of place, a sense of nature

Reaching for the first log with her backhoe, she eased her future over the foundation wall. Time to build her future.

Novel (an acrostic poem)

Image: liminalpages.com/static/a11e37f31c2fb4fd9bd839b6f84a582f/2c512/5-steps-to-go-from-short-story-to-novel-writing.jpg

No way he would ever get all those words down on paper

Obviously, he had bitten off more than he could chew

Vowing that after he was done he would never even touch a word processor

Every letter was a struggle as he tried to download his soul onto the paper

Long months later he typed โ€˜The End.โ€™ย  That was when he realized his work had just begun!

Smoke (an acrostic poem)

Image: raiznerlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/bigstock-Black-smoke-cloud-series-26409170-1024×685.jpg

So many wires going here and there

More than what is needed right now, but you want to be ready for the future

Oh I know it can get confusing, but that’s okay

Keep track of everything right up here in my big old brain

Except I forgot and now the smoke alarm is going off. Damn!

*a semi-fictitious tale. There was no smoke in my case. lol

Crush (an acrostic poem)

Image: img.freepik.com/premium-vector/valentine-s-podium-vector-background-design-happy-valentine-s-day-text-with-heart-balloons-elements_572293-3101.jpg

Canโ€™t take my eyes off you, you gorgeous thing

Really girlfriend, I want to consume you whole

Until you are all gobbled up.ย  Yummy, yummy, yummy!

So get ready to have my tongue touch every single part of you, youโ€ฆ

Hot hot hot fudge sundae!

Gears (an acrostic poem)

Image: learning-center.homesciencetools.com/wp-content/uploads/learn-about-gears-thumbnail.jpg

Getting her teenager to work around the house was always a chore

Every day they would go round and round each other, grinding away

And eventually, it would torque the two of them right off and nothing would get done

Reaching into her emergency chocolate stash she wondered how she could lubricate the situation

She ended up giving them a peace offering from her stash and that allowed the two of them to switch …

Fog (an acrostic poem)

Image: canadiannaturephotographer.com/Fog/island_fog2_rberdan.jpg

Focus was impossible in his current cerebral state

Obscuring mental mists drifted along his eerily muffled mind

Giving up he went to bed hoping the dawning sun would burn off the gloomy gray

Ear (an acrostic poem)

Image: cdn-prod.medicalnewstoday.com/content/images/articles/322/322064/bug-in-ear-demonstrated-by-close-up-of-persons-ear.jpg

Everything he heard was a gift ever since he received his hearing aids

And this coincided with his daughter having her first lesson for the French horn.ย  How exciting!

Realized the next day, when she began to practice, that the off switch on them was a blessing as well.

Franks (an acrostic very short story)

Image: thespruceeats.com/thmb/ilZPGZF3CD7DdKF_Hqut4ZMfNr4=/3000×2000/filters:fill(auto,1)/homemade-hot-dogs-1808491-final-01-ddf78878cb784ccdb617a2ae31674b75.jpg

Filling his hotdog bun with condiments,

Randy showed his date his brilliant idea.

โ€œAs you can see, put all the stuff underneath, lubricating sides and bottom

Now you canโ€™t drop anything out once you slip your wiener in,โ€ he said.

โ€œKnow what? ย This date is over,โ€ she replied as she stomped off.ย 

She left him holding his meatless bun.