Two Handled Door

I looked up and there was a two-handled door. I had never, I remembered, seen this here before. My mind began to hypothesize what might be beyond it, what great secrets I might see. Was it reality or only fantasy that was drawing me?

I thought I glimpsed a sundrop and a trace of moonlight, too. There was within the moment a task, which I must do. No one else was around to see this portion, this vision given me. The door beguiled me, it emptied me of doubt and cast my fears away.

As my hands touched the smooth cool handles and gripped both tight enough to open up the door, there was a whisper, perhaps I heard. It spoke, “Oh, now careful be, monsters are living in the spaces between yesterday and whatever can be, you see. The door is closed to prevent catastrophe. We need not enter, the adventure will exact a fee, as it has throughout history.”

I was so excited by the mystery, the words of caution had no effect on me. There was a click, a swish, and my eyes met so suddenly with something somewhat other, extraordinary. It seemed this strange door opened on a world even my creative brain had never before imagined could be.

Though the coastal breeze still brought the tang of a salt-tempered sea there were magenta-toned mountains just a little in the distance before me. I blinked and then stifled a shudder of fascinated glee. Ah, why did I hesitate? This was everything I ever hoped to encounter, a stratospheric milieu, a part of which I would be. Beyond this instant was an infinity stretching into eternity.

I stepped over the threshold and the door clicked quickly shut behind me. I reached back, pushed against the handles and found them locked. A momentary worry, then it deserted me. I was becoming a part of this uniquely beautiful country, more spectacular than even well-kept dreams. I was ready, primed for discovery.

Story and Photograph:
© Jo Ann J. A Jordan
Wednesday, July 10, 2024

This house sometimes brings me stunning opportunities for awesome unreal images like I have never seen. This one was ripe for the taking and caught my imagination.

Prompt: Stay alert for images that can ignite your imagination and lead to idea generation. Your mind is a creativity engine much more advanced than the most capable AI. Dream, imagine, make, and create.

Leave Taken

Where the light was better there was little hope of ascending. Sharon sat at the desk with her hands on the keyboard hearing Landry’s voice in another cubicle. He might come to her next.

She shivered, let him not, Lord. Let him keep away, like the dogs at home, let him take his prizes elsewhere. There was no reason to fear, only that his hands had, they wandered.

She opened a new document and began the article assigned. Research: it would keep the plague of thought handily away. Handily, ah no, let’s not use that phrase. Not recalling hands.

“Tiller stops at edge of clearing, enough acreage to allow the land to grow. The farmers know the way to lay out the space, to make it productive. “ Productive of what, Sharon wondered. Launching lust, hands all over. Enough of that. Thought leads nowhere.

In the mountains she read, the farmers gravitated to terracing the fields. Creating spaces to help prevent erosion. She felt how the emotions were cascading from level to level. Soon there would be only the doubt, fear, and pain of the situation.

This was a dream job, the perfect solution to her need for experience. Was the price worth the lines on her resume? Was her body the booty for staying?

Landry, stepped up beside her, normally, like nothing at all. Then he put his hand on her shoulder. “How are you today, Sharon?”

She stiffened, “ Quite fine, sir. And you?”

“Ah, looking forward to your report. You can bring it to my office when you finish. I will go over it with you,” he said, his fingers wandering to her chest.

He left. She felt the lines across her face traced by her tears. Too bad Mom was not home for her to call, would never again answer her. There was only emptiness… It was beyond her to think about at the moment.

“Though clear cutting disturbs nature…” Clearly cut across her mind was the thought of being alone in his office again. How lecherous an editor, how accommodating a scribe. Like something old and traitorous. The body of work, the body to work.

Technically, there was nothing. No one would think a moment about his hands. No one would consider it a problem. A person like her, well, crazy people invent things. Paranoids think outrageous stuff up. It really could be a misunderstanding.

“The yield was often greater in the soil beneath. Ages left it fertile and allowed it to give a fine harvest.” Yielding was tantamount to agreeing. Saying everything was alright, when actually it was a terror.

She looked into the screen, and felt the door opening a crack, the fabric gave… Sharon knew nothing mattered enough, she closed the document. Her purse was beside her ankle and she drew the strap over her shoulder. She left the cubicle, hearing the soft click of other keyboards, then she was gone.

Quit, chapter over. A moment among others, freedom no more delayed.

Monday, June 24, 2024

Reclaimation

Remembering
We are more than
Pieces of refuse
Regurgitated
Onto the ground.
We have
Worth,
Spaces;
Some things
To give
A world
Narrowed by
Misunderstanding.
Where we
Live is in
The essence of
Being.
There is no
Us
Without God
Who injects
Us with
Hope
Beyond
Measure.
Our thoughts
Become
Tangible when
Consigned to
Words
Voiced or
On a page.
No one
Can take
Meaning,
Purpose,
From us.
These live
Within the heart,
Soul of us.
There are heights
To scale
And we reach
Up to grab
Hold of
Inspiration
Which makes
Dreams true.
Maybe we have
Nothing to
Show our
Greatness,
But our
Story
Is not
Over yet.
An Infinity
Of Life,
Love,
Creativity
Calls.
We are
Becoming
Who we
Will.

Reader Recommendations

I love stories of time travel and things that grapple with quantum physics. (Not So Secretly, I would like to figure both out fully).

This book is not too heavy on the technical end, but it does induce some thought and is a very good science fiction.

What if you kept traveling through the same week of terrible disaster and, in each instance, tried to gain some insight to end it? What if you began to fall in love as you experienced the same things?

If this appeals to you, read the book. It was lighter than other things I have read lately.

Thoroughly engaging, outstanding story: 5 Stars.

The American Civil War is a subject I return to from time to time. Erik Larson did not disappoint in The Demon of Unrest.

Mr. Larson made history feel alive in this book. He transports the reader to those days with his research work.

I have been to Fort Sumter, and this book reminds me heavily of the feelings experienced there. The pivotal role of the weeks leading up to the bombardment is fascinatingly described.

As always, Larson delivered the story with details that coax one deeper in. I give it a solid: 5 Stars.

Whirling on by on the course of An Agent of Spiraling Chaos. Searching for the Depths of the Universe.

Have you read something you highly recommend? Leave a comment.

An Imaginary Discussion Revealing Meaning

Fond Haiku, Busyness, Too

There are moments when nothing comes right, and then there are times we live again. The mission is to balance everything so it holds together enough that we do not die.

Anxiety can lead to panic, and our edges may fray. The trick is to tuck the fabric and sew another set of seams to help us face living alive. Those seams form a roadmap. We follow our path through the struggle and trials. However, it may not have the proper signage, and our “good path study (GPS)” may not know how to look for possibilities.

There are trips and falls along some byways. Wrong turns, lessons learned, every day we compete to better ourselves. The journey is not always fair but often lets us find simple joys. The texture of the paper beneath the pen is healing as the soul speaks. The welcome voice of family or friends bequeaths us smiles.

The opportunity to start over and come into a place where Love abounds is a beautiful blessing. No one has the answers to what we need, but if attention is paid, intuition may supply our longing. We follow our hearts and listen to our spirit’s guidance.

I am grateful I am out of the inhumane rays of the sun. Texas, this far south, never cools down. Sleep evaded me last night, but I am trying to prepare for a better night. I appreciate that God gives peace so rest and restoration occur. Nothing I do seems enough, but there still abides hope.

PROMPT: Are you coming apart or moving forward? Even in the breaking, a story is threaded through. You are moving, and that is all that is required. If you have your pieces of peace in order, that is wondrously grand. Create something that is a testimony of this moment in your search for purpose and meaning.

I write a lot of haiku, and the ones shown run over lines because the paper is not very big. You should try writing this counted syllable form as a warm-up to more intense creation. The counts are 5-7-5, and there is no rhyme scheme. If you are a visual artist, you can still work on the exercise because when we write by hand, it is an artistry of its own.

I think that is as much as I have right now. I hope your day is full of blessings. Find the discipline you need to reach your creativity and fill your life until it overflows. Remember, you are forever loved. Be a star shining that you might lend another person light. Love, and then keep on loving more. This is why we are given life.

Please comment on, like, follow, and share this content. If you know others who might enjoy what is here, please point them this way. You are important to me; let’s be friends!

Always & Evermore,
Jo Ann

NoTiCe

Magnetic Poetry

Losing or Winning

When
Contemplating
The loss
Of most of
My worldly
Possessions
Because I have
No space
Here in Texas
And cannot
Travel back
To Georgia,
In any case,
My Heart Breaks.

My mind
Descends
Saying there
Is no life
Left for
You,
Take it,
Leave.
Suicidal
Ideation
Becomes pressing
The voices louder.
I fight –
A welterweight
Contending
For Existence.

I
Have
Been
Cleaning
Everything
In sight,
Keeping busy
To allow
My heart
Room
To Fight
A mind
Gone
Haywire
Once more –
Worst than
Every
Day
Here
Before.

I have
Purpose NOW
Even though my
Wayward brain
Would have
It, I forget.
Demanding
I quit,
But
It fails
To
Recognize
I
Never
Give
Up!
When
Ringed
Around
With turmoil,
Trouble,
I excavate
Digging deep
Where no
Killer impulse
Can go, grow.

I am
Expert
In Entertaining
Myself with
Loves
Which are
Forever;
And immersing
Myself
In Prayer.
Jesus
Washes
Me clean.
He has my
Victory!

Still,
And Still,
Time/Space
Are a vexing
Trial.
Consistent
Battles
Carry
Thunderous
Barrage –
Punching
Low, Below,
But I shall
Not Give In!

Win,
Beloved!
Do
It Over
And Again!

Fly high!

ASCEND!

Check Life

You do not want to
Join the journey here ever;
Check life at the door –
Enter places unlooked for
Dream forever, nevermore.

Positive gets more
Negative the deeper gone
Until one is drown
Beneath waves of ignorance
Foisted from all directions.

Time races through space
Stumbling over traps in haste
To reach grace’ estate
Reckoning too late, no way
To redeem redundant lives.

Shaken the quaking
Of unsteady grounds around
Harvest becoming
An invitation to look
Askance at days of darkness.

Bury the body
Under a rose garden,
Careful of the thorns
Life leaves crumpled, torn,
No one to become forlorn.

Footsteps in hurry
Take you far forward, away,
No time here for you
Go elsewhere double-quick now –
It is enough one is lost.

Visions demand a cost.