Yesterday is but today’s memory, and tomorrow is today’s dream.
Kahlil Gibra
They called her Daydream Girl.
Eyes, tucked away in the letters of books, spine crackled and binding frayed. She was music, tripping up over loose pavement stone in the hopes of digging out stories long ago buried in the sands of time.
Her hands were skeleton keys pushed into every lock on sunken chests pulled up from abandoned rib-cages. Took care not to hurt the crustaceans as she pulled them away mail-link by mail-link until only the under armour remained.
She poured laughter down my throat and burnt out my lungs with song. Left me bellowing misty dragons into the night. Ran my hands across the tempo of her chest and told me to dance with the beat.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
Ba-dum.
They will not tell me where to find her again.
These words are brittle,
there is nothing of you here
and I am tired.
http://dversepoets.com/2015/10/05/haibun-monday-2/
I wrote this piece and realised that it has a lot of similarities to last night/this morning’s piece Dreamer. It’s sort of interesting how the prompt lined up with that.
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Published by Carol J Forrester
Carol J Forrester is a writer and a history geek. Her debut collection 'It's All In The Blood' came out November 2019.
She has a 2:1 BA degree in history from Bath Spa University, enjoys judo at least twice a week, and tries to attend poetry events around the Midlands when she can.
Her flash fiction story ‘Glorious Silence’ was named as River Ram Press’ short story of the month for August 2014 and her short story ‘A Visit From The Fortune Teller’ has been showcased on the literary site Ink Pantry. Her poems ‘Sunsets’ and ‘Clear Out‘ were featured on Eyes Plus Words, and two of her poems were included in the DVerse Poets Pub Publication ‘Chiaroscuro’ which is available for purchase on amazon.Her poem ‘Until The Light Gets In‘ was accepted and published at The Drabble and her poem ‘Newborn’ was published by Ink Sweat & Tears.
She has been lucky enough to write guest posts for sites such as Inky Tavern and Song of The Forlorn and has hosted a number of guest bloggers on her site Writing and Works.
View all posts by Carol J Forrester
http://dversepoets.com/2015/10/05/haibun-monday-2/
I really like this.. it resonated with those memories of parties in the past of how you can seem so connected with someone, and afterwards it all just evaporates into nothingness.. it could have been a lifechanging moment.. or maybe just a dream.
I didn’t think about it that way but I can see what you mean and I’ve been there myself. Human connections can be so fleeting.
I like the bellowed misty dragons. This made me think of long gone party buddies, disappeared into the mists of the past. The short poem made me said and think of stale morning after coffee. So very sad. Excellent haibun though and certainly did fit the quote beautifully.
Thank you very much. To be honest the party idea hadn’t really struck me but you’re the second person to mention it and now I think about it, it does fit.
Thanks for reading. It always amazes me how my readers can pull out thoughts from my words that I hadn’t considered.
I know. I am always amazed myself and think to myself, I didn’t mean that but I see what you mean!
Exactly. I suppose that’s part of the joy and sometimes the frustration of being a writer.
🙂 but so many times, they say things better than I had imagined. it is a joy.
That’s the best way to see it.
Your writing is like a finely wrought hand crafted piece of silver. It resonates with a lonely passion.
Wow, that’s a compliment and a half. It’s certainly taken a lot of beating to get it wrought into shape but I like to think I’ve improved over the years.
Thank you for stopping by.
Yes, it reads like you have spent a lot of time on it. I tend to write more spontaneously – both have their merits I think.
Well I wouldn’t say a lot of time. I just went back and read it through a few more times than I normally would. Fifteen minutes maximum after I actually worked out what to write.
Oh yes I do that fine tuning too. 🙂
She sounds like a treasure chest to me…full of all kinds of forgotten pieces of the past and some that are still fun and full of life. Your ending haiku speaks of a long ago time that no longer exists and age has taken the spark from that once-upon-a time-life.
‘Once-upon-a-time-life’, what a beautiful thought.
It’s always so lovely to hear your thoughts on my writing. You always give me something new to think about.
Thanks so much, Carol…what a nice thing to say, it’s nice to get that feedback too. Sometimes you never know if what you’ve said has made any sense or not! 🙂
Don’t worry, so far you’ve always made sense.
Oh good! 🙂
Daydream Girl needs to become in-the-moment girl. A terrific haibun. for sure, rocking the socks off the prompt. Wow, this is 4/4 out on the trail, & we all picked that quote. I added a Gibran painting to the mix, as Bjorn suggested. I like the longish line /her hands were skeleton keys pushed into every lock on sunken chests pulled up from abandoned rib cages/.
Thank you. I loved that line the moment I wrote it. It was one of the few times that I’ve written a poem and thought yeah, this is something special.
I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I’ll be over to check yours out too but I’ve got work in a few minutes so I’m just going through my comments and I’ll be back to reading tonight.
I specially admire this part: She poured laughter down my throat and burnt out my lungs with song. Left me bellowing misty dragons into the night. Ran my hands across the tempo of her chest and told me to dance with the beat.
Lovely haibun Carol ~ Thanks for joining our Haibun Monday ~
It was a pleasure as always. Dverse Poets Pub is becoming one of my favourite haunts here on wordpress. 🙂
Dreams of fiery
pleasure past
and future..
ways of being..
flesh lives now
touch is present..:)
past is a dream dreamed, present is daydreaming and future is a dream too…i love her character you’ve sketched…
Thank you. She’s someone I think I might come back to at some point in the future but I’m not sure when.
This is so beautiful! You took me on the journey with the daydream girl, living her presence each moment and then living her absence. Beautifully crafted!
Thank you, I’m glad I could create such an experience for you. Feel free to check out some more of my work if you enjoyed this piece. 🙂
Yes, will surely do 🙂
Beautiful – and also wrenching, in its yearning.
Thank you. Indeed, when I read it back it seems almost more lonesome then when I wrote it.
She was music …so is your writing!!
Thank you! That’s wonderful to hear someone say. 🙂
There is a lovely cadence in your prose.
Thank you very much. 🙂
I really love this, it really resonated with me. I’ve always been a daydream girl myself.
And somehow your ending brought it all full circle for me, the I am tired felt like an absolutely perfect close. Well done!
Thank you very much. I played around with the ending quite a bit because I wasn’t entirely sure what felt natural but I’m glad the one I picked went down so well.
OH! MY! GOODNESS! This is a spectacular write. LOVED it! Every word.
Thank you! I can’t believe how much love this piece is getting.
Great imagery in this. The haiku, though it could easily be freestanding, perfectly wraps up the haibun. Peace, Linda
Thank you for the comment. I wanted the haiku to work both as part of the poem and on its own so I’m glad to hear you say that.