PENSIEVE

Salt & pepper, literally, poetically ~ Friday's 40 PC, #9

Even though I choose each week's photos for Friday's 40-or less Photo Challenge, I have no idea what my response will be until I start writing a few days later. 

Today's?  NOT the direction I thought this would go!  I was waxing nostalgic about diners and family dinners and "variety is the spice of life" and good and evil and salt of the earth stuff--not a touch of the insane with a poem trumpeting the virtue of salt and pepper! 

Oh, well, que será será...I've certainly written crazier.

This week, instead of using Mr. Linky, just leave a comment on this post and I'll compile a list below.  If you're new to Friday's 40, click the badge for details and this link for samples of previous challenges; then, please feel free to respond with a post of your own!

Popcorn's attire
Pretzel's glory
Potato chip's best friend.
Chili's fire
Salsa's story
Spicy to the end
I'd be a liar-- Honky dory--
Failing to defend
This pair, admire
Season, more-y
Out? Now I'm chagrined!

Let's see what others had to say (be sure to check out comments, too):

Jan, The Prytz Family
Peculiar, How Do We Get There From Here
Karisma, Karisma & Kids
Storyteller, Sacred Ruminations
Amber, Imperishable Beauty

Ebony & Ivory, Black & White, Night & Day

This week's Friday's 40-or-less Photo Challenge is simple but with the potential for great fun. 

Salt and pepper shakers. 

Taken for granted and nothing trendy or glamorous about 'em, salt and pepper make THE difference in everything they season.  While I've never known either to be the "secret ingredient" in a recipe, leave one or both out, and even if you can't put your finger on it, you KNOW something's missing. 

A weekly photo prompt, Friday's 40 participants compose a 40-or-less-word response and then link it on Friday (please click the button for additional details). 

Hope you make plans to join this week; next week we'll be taking the day off in commemoration of Independence Day.

Inspired by GARBAGE? Friday's 40 PC #8

Yesterday, I drove about six hours from Tennessee to South Carolina. 

By myself. 

The day couldn't have been more beautiful, and I e n j o y e d the solitude amidst verdant mountain views and river-winding roads. 

I listened to the silence.
I silenced the silence with prayer.
I blasted a fun, diverse and eclectic play list--from Paul Potts popera to the glory days of the Boss to Casting Crowns ('cause I never get tired of listening)--and I sang like no one was listening (because, if you're paying attention, you know no one was ;) ).

I also mentally composed poetry for today's Friday's 40-or-less Photo Challenge.  Can I just say this:  I AM SO THANKFUL I REMEMBERED MOST OF WHAT I MIND-WROTE!!!  Cause otherwise?  Mr. Linky would be here all by himself.

So...let me know what YOU think about any of my three offerings and be sure to link if you've written a post for this week's challenge.  Please note, while I often respond in poetry, don't feel pressure to follow suit!  The only guideline is a 40-word limit to MAKE IT EASY FOR YOU!!  If your response is a clever three-word photo title?   Your readers will LOVE you and I will bow to your awesome brevity-in-writing skills!

 

"One man's trash is another man's treasure"
Many times I've heard this said.
But it you think garbage is precious,
Then I think you're touched in the head!

(Another, with a different take...)

"One man's trash is another man's treasure"
Many times I've heard this said.
Why not turn your garbage to "useful"
Don't toss it, recycle instead.

(This takes a somber turn.  I had another stanza, but it exceeded the 40-word limit; I wonder if it makes sense without it....)

Carelessly discarded,
Used then tossed aside.
Clearly, ill-regarded
"Forever", but he lied.

At first, satisfying
Fulfilling primal thirst
In time, less gratifying
Promises reversed.

Salvage found in gentle hands
Picking up the pieces
Illumined, now she understands
New love that never ceases. 

Chop, chop!  Comment and link away!!

I see this? I get twitchy...

This is a scene I encountered at my son's track meet a few weeks ago.  Having begun a home-recycling program in earnest last year, when I see a trashcan over-flowing with plastics (and aluminum), it sends me over the edge! 

For Friday's 40-or-less Photo Challenge this week, share your response to this photo.  You don't have to be literal, although that's fine, too.  Does it make you think pollution? Needing to find a bathroom after drinking mass quantities of liquid?  Can you see a spiritual correlation?  Does a snappy caption come to mind?  Are you challenged to step up your environmental stewardship?  And, I dare anyone to wax poetic over TRASH!

Give it your best shot, post the photo (if you'd like) and a 40-or-less word post on your own blog, then link that post here on Friday.  I can't wait to see your interpretations...it's always fun to see how similarly AND how differently we think.

New to Friday's 40?  Please!  Join us!  Just click the badge for details.

It's just the beginning.... Friday's 40 PC, #7

An Ode to Corn on the Cob
Slathered in butter, Sprinkled with salt
Rows of sweet kernals, Each one I exalt.

Is it veg'table, grain or a fruit?
Frankly, my dear, I don't give a hoot!

Sometimes a 40-word limit is welcome, other times it's frustrating.  I'm afraid my love of corn has me waxing insanely poetic, and this might just be the beginning of a 40-stanza epic. 

I'm not sure ANYONE will be joining me for Friday's 40-or-less Photo Challenge this week, I believe the operative words in the preceding paragraph--"me...insane..." might explain it.  But, IF you've written a little something for this week's edition, please...link below!  I'll be right over to see if you share my same affections.  Then I'll invite you over for lunch.  The menu?  Corn burgers, corn casserole, fried corn, corn poppers, popped corn, creamed corn, corn soufflé, corn cakes, cornbread, and for dessert, corn pudding (is it me, or does it sound like I'm channeling Bubba Blue from "Forest Gump"?)

I'm kidding, just kidding!  OF COURSE there's no such thing as corn burgers!

Click the badge for general details; click here for more about this week's challenge.

Salty lips and butter drippin' down my arms...

Just thinkin' about summertime in the South opens my salivary gland floodgates!  Oh my ever-lovin' word--watermelon and cantelopes, squash and okra, home-made ice cream and ice cold sweet tea?  Until I got to those last two, you'd almost think I was a health nut!

For this week's Friday's 40-or-less Photo Challenge, here's a delicious capture from the family reunion we attended last weekend--a vat piled high with Silver Queen corn!  I'm pretty sure I could eat my weight in it, but we'll have no estimating of how many ears that would take.

Instead, what thoughts come to YOUR mind when you gaze longingly, lovingly at my preciouses below?  As with every Friday's 40, you have 40 words (or less) to tell a story in response to the weekly photo prompt.  Don't linger too long, just go with a natural response to your visual queue--a caption?  a title?  poem?  shortshort story?  word association?  You're only limited by word economy :).

You're welcome to post the photo on your own blog and invite your friends to join in...it really is interesting reading all the varied perspectives from the same photograph.

Be sure to check back here on FRIDAY to link your post.  We gotta know where to find you! :)

Twisted in two directions

A few things came to mind in response to the picture for this week's Friday 40, two of them friendship and sin.  I wrote a poem about sin first; since it was so weighty, I had to recover by writing one on friendship after all.

...which makes me think my brain is as tangly as these wisteria vines!

Each poem is 40 words or less, but their rhythms are very different; I think it helps to anticipate that transition :).

Best Friend

Kindred souls, knit together

Thoughts entwined like spools of thread

Weaving life, but not to tether

Wind beneath your wings, instead.

Fingers laced, secrets held

Hard things said but for the best

Laughter, tears, when compelled

Refuge, haven, welcome rest.

Conquered

Masked in beauty
sweet deception
subtly
without exception
tangled web
entrapment lures
siren's call
clear thought, obscures
inescapable
its hold
remedied,
hearts consoled
Holy, just
One brings redemption
thankfully,
no exemption.
Astounding grace,
Love's incarnation
defeating sin, then
transformation.

Dynamic Duo--SHAZAAM!! Poetic License & Friday's 40

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It seems unless you upgrade to the paid account, only one Mr. Linky can be featured on your blog at a time.  Since I'm cheap I don't have my credit card handy, and for the sake of simplicity and my your convenience, if you wrote a poem for Pensieve's Poetic License today, include "PPL" with your name when you link; likewise, if you wrote an entry for Friday's 40-or-less Photo Challenge, include "F40".  If you're an over-achiever and wrote a post for both, be creative--you earned it!

It's never to late to join in!  Grab a badge, invite your friends, and write away!  Click the badges above to access FAQs pages, the links below for specific details for today.

June Poetic License Details
Details for this week's Friday's 40-or-less Photo Challenge

I'm still workin' on my entries, but I know some of y'all are obnoxious completed yours early, so go ahead...link...mix and mingle at your leisure...I'll drop by the party a little later :).

Twisted ~ Friday's 40 PC #6

Surely this photograph should warrant some interesting responses for this week's "Friday's 40"!  Just a few weeks ago, beautiful wisteria blooms were flowering in the midst of these mature vines; now, they're barren and entangled, to me beautiful in their own way. 

What do you see or sense or feel when you glimpse this image?  Does it make you think about convoluted life circumstance or simply make you wistful for the flowers?  However it strikes you, you've got 40 words--or less--to play with--prose, poetry, captions or titles, word (or syllable) count is your only guideline. 

New to Friday's 40?  Write a short post in response to the above photo prompt anytime between now and Friday; then, come back here on Friday to register your link with Mr. Linky so you can visit others who've joined in.  Click the badge for all the details, and feel free to invite others to join you. 

See ya Friday!

Hoop Dreams ~ Friday's 40 PC #5

Sometimes...

A fresh perspective

Is all you need

To reach your goal.

 

Robert (Thoughts of a Father) asked recently, "Why FORTY or less?" and I realized I never explained the origin.  The answer?  Limericks.  Yep, limericks...I love 'em.  The humor, the wit, the rhythm...they usually bring a smile.  Soooo...with Friday's 40 PC I wanted to make sure there were enough words within the guidelines to allow for 'em.  Five weeks into this carnival, I've yet to pen one myself and I don't think I've seen one elsewhere, but if you wanna "win" for the week?  A well-written limerick should do the trick ;).

I'm looking forward to reading your perspectives for the photo above--have I mentioned that I LOVE this shot?  I took it lying on my back on our very cold, very hard concrete driveway, and the day couldn't have been more Carolina blue :).  The resultant image is very crisp, clean, and a distant view of the light above our goal.  It's just FUN and I thought your responses to the photo prompt could be all over the place--we'll see!  Be sure to visit one another to see how similarly--or how differently--we interpreted the photograph.

New to Friday's 40-or-less Photo Challenge?  General guidelines are here; click here for this week's challenge details.