Peeled

My reflection is worn and weary.
I check every day.
She never alters for the better.

The mirror cracks.
Alice stranded on the wrong side.
Impossible Alice,
flushed from her victory
over the Red Queen,
fresh and full of hot tea and cakes,
smoked and delicious.

I peel her apple skin,
round and round and round,
from bottom to top.

I wear her well.
She hangs a little loose.
I can make adjustments.

I left her lying there,
flayed and quiet,
cored and tasteless.

Dig the hole deep.
Six feet.  Twelve feet.
A nail through her forehead,
heart staked.

She will not grope her way out
of her grave.
She will not rise, to walk,
a zombie at rest.

I prefer my pie 
with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Find it here.

Happy New Year! - TAW challenge

Showbiz - Take a Word Challenge

This weeks challenge over at Take a Word was Showbiz.

I've always had a weakness for the original Vamp, Theda Bara.

Checking my posting list, I can't believe that it's been fifteen days since I responded to a challenged or posted.  My schedule has been unusually packed but I missed this so much.

I'm glad to have had time to fit a piece in!

Creativity is always a joy.

I wear the cheese - TAW Hot Color Challenge

I may have been re-watching the many wonderful seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

so I might have gone a little out in crazy nerd space for this particular challenge.

While cheese is generally stored at cool temperatures, the color seems sufficiently warm.

The Orphans Boys of Lafayette - Square and Circle 3Muses Challenge

The Three Muses Challenge this week was geometric - circles and squares.

I started with a photo I took in Lafayette Cemetery in the Garden District.

In New Orleans, the dead never really leave us.  We can go and visit.  

They like it when you bring them gifts.

Every time I have been to this particular tomb, someone has always left

 little presents for the orphan boys - usually some sort of plastic toys or stuffed animals.  

The day I took this image, someone had left this bright and cheerful balloon 

as well as the usual assortment of Mardi Gras beads and little toys.

I like to think that after everyone leaves for the day (the gates are locked promptly at 5 pm), 

the orphan boys come out and enjoy their new toys!

Don't Linger in the Graveyard - TAW Dark Challenge

When the sun slides behind the end of the world,

make certain that you are on the outside of the graveyard wall.

Scary things come out of the tombs as night....

Don't be alone with slithering things in the dark!

Where I Live - 3Muses Challenge

I first came to New Orleans on a weekend trip.  What I remember most on the bus trip

 into town were the cemeteries: "The Cities of the Dead"

As a child of the modern suburbs, my second impression

was of the history of the place.

The buildings and the streets of New Orleans were hundreds of years old.

Most of what I grew up with were buildings that were all less than a decade old.

Add in the music, the food, and the people,

I was in love.