There is something about a Queen
that a king will never be
with gowns and jeweled crowns
sovereign tranquility in she
monach of dependability
regal and stern
in one last jubilee
now the son and grandson heirs
find solace in their grief
and pants
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dVerse prompt to write an aphorism. Not sure if I did or not.
I went out to the garden
looking for spelling bees
there were many beside me—
a bumble bee entered foxglove’s bell
it was not the one I seek
then one buzzed my head
anxious at my presence
to say the word
say the word
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dVerse prompt for a quadrille using the word spell
Chalk hills
exposed—
Salisbury Plains
Where downs meet sea—
White Cliffs
of Dover
I travel north—
Yorkshire Wolds
west to the River Nidd
Pateley Bridge
Summerbridge
Glasshouses
Hampsthwaite
where old Mr Wainwright
showed me the plaque
of William Makepeace Thackeray
who was burned at the stake
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dVerse prompt to write a quadrille using the word chalk.
I folded and creased the paper
to make a fuselage
long and slender
overlapped side wings
perfect aerodynamics
hoping it would stay aloft
that it would be lifted
by a current of air
and fly forward
tailwind taking it further
before the landing
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dVerse prompt to write a quadrille using the word paper
Temperate climate
soil is loose and ready
to cultivate
arugula radicchio
celery cabbage kale
chard favas beets
made it through
kept warm under snowfall
now start to grow
nibbled by rabbit and slugs
buds swell on the fig
red of rhubarb emerges
cold brewed
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dVerse prompt to write a quadrille and use the nibble word.
Things that make me shiver—
a windchill temperature
of minus degrees
sharp cutting edge
of the freeze
Things that make me shiver—
a covid booster in winter
feeling cold to the bone
can’t get warm
shivered so hard
I thought I’d have a seizure
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dVerse prompt to write a quadrille using the word shiver.
Searching for a muse today
amongst the clutter of everyday living
accumulation of unneeded things
projects begun and never ended
heaps of writings piled neatly
It was there I felt it take a hand
beckoning for me to rise again
in words already vanishing
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dVerse prompt to write a quadrille and take a look for the muse
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
I wore it on my head
delirious from its weight
wanting to stay upright
posed and productive
ruling my thoughts
with more thoughts
demanding right words
to subjugate my subjects
learning to turn glistening crown
of diamonds and pearls
to a crown of thorns
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dVerse quadrille prompt with the word crown
While working in a classroom
I will never forget this
dark-haired little boy
who had a substitute teacher
that day—
he watched as she wrote
a cursive name on the chalkboard—
Miss Fair
so he replied
Miss Fair—
will you be fair to me?
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dVerse quadrille prompt using the word fair
wordshophop 