Kilimanjaro

In space in time I sit thousands of feet above the sea May Sarton

There are many who have come to my three peaks. Shira is my easiest at 13,140 feet, Kibo my highest at 19,340 (highest peak in Africa) and Mawenzi at 16,893. It is not a technical climb but rather a feat of endurance and determination. Do not get altitude sickness or you will fail.

Hemingway camped at my feet. His interest was in hunting and taking trophy, not in climbing me. Hans Meyer and Ludwig Purtscheller were the first Europeans to my summit in 1889. Yohani Kinyala Lauwo, a native, and declared member of this summit party, did my summit three times before WWI, once without shoes.

On a clear day you can see my snows from miles away. Come and see my mountain of whiteness. Come and strive for my highest summit Uhuru Peak, Freedom Peak in Kiswahili.

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dVerse prompt to use May Sarton quote in flash fiction. This is flash historical fiction with Kilimanjaro speaking.

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Enjoy Life

Do you enjoy your job?

Life is a job and I enjoy my life. It is a paid position of sunny days, sounds of nature and God’s presence.

Swimming

Hold air like water

float

traverse skyward

in a dream

unbroken

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dVerse prompt on AI. This picture came out of an AI program at the Dali Museum in St Petersburg. My childhood dream of swimming in air was typed into the program and this picture was created by AI.

The Fig Tree

In Sunday School I learned about the big red apple of original sin in the garden. How Adam and Eve ate thereof. Caste out. Ashamed. Hid from God. What I didn’t learn— it was really a fig. They ate a few. Clothed themselves in fig leaf. Hid from God. Caste out. Separated from God. How Jesus went to the fig tree for food and finding none, he said, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” Explanation mark. A curse that lifted a curse. And the tree withered and died.

Jesus new Adam

the sin of man forgiven

reunite with God

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NaPoWriMo Day 29 prompt on curses.

This is how the end comes

This is how the end comes.

It is wrapped in silver like a gift.

The gift is most welcome,

eager to see what is inside.

Inside was not what I wanted.

It was full of memory.

Each memory had a story.

They played inside my head.

The head was filled with irrelevance,

as I sought for the divine.

What could be more sought after

than a life of heartfelt love?

In love with the only One—

this is how the end comes.

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NaPoWriMo Day 27 prompt to write a duplex sonnet.

Christ’s Entry

I can’t really say I loved him. Love does not come easy for me. He was my first kiss, a little bit of making out, kind words from his thin lips.

I went on to guard the pool, to save a life, my tanned olive skin a beacon for men. Then one day a man walked through the gate and I watched his choppy strokes across the water and married him.

We vowed to love art. To make art out of our lives. We traveled both locally and abroad but that huge painting on the Getty wall stays with me— Christ’s Entry into Brussels in 1889 by James Ensor.

When will He come?

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NaPoWriMo Day 21 prompt— a person forgotten, a job taken, a memorable piece of art, an unanswerable question

https://smarthistory.org/ensor-christs-entry/

Spin On

there would be day and there would be night on the first day

water will not spill over the edge of this rough existence but tides will be sometimes high and sometimes low

(compressed over time

into a spiritual shape

of shadows)

spin factor that keeps balance and movement in the right direction

perfect union with the creator

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NaPoWriMo Day 18 five answers to an unstated question

Palm Sunday

Look at a man riding the donkey

Go with him saying Hosanna

He is the one waited for

Spread the palms at His feet

He has come to save

Sing songs of joy

Praise His name

He is

Lord

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NaPoWriMo prompt Day 9 to write a nonet. This is based on Zechariah 9:9.

My Imagine

Imagine there is heaven

not only in the sky

what surrounds everything

and everyone

reflecting the divine

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NaPoWriMo prompt to pick a phrase and write against it. I took John Lennon’s “Imagine there’s no heaven”.

Chorus

Dark too early

add gloom of cloud covered night

hanging on to the day

with cold in hallways

feel the draft

time to tinsel the town

with flashing lights

singing angels

bright stars

Gloria chorus

in excelsis deo

Handel’s chorus

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

Hallelujah

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dVerse prompt to write a quadrille using the word tinsel