As the shadow of dark roots re-appeared, my #dark thoughts would creep back in. I warded them off with a touch-up of bleach. But my roots are turning silver now. And the thoughts are changing. The silver whispers magical ideas. I cancel the appointment. Let it grow. #vss365

Your #vss365 #prompt for Feb 12 is #dark "Dewdrop, let me cleanse in your brief sweet waters... These dark hands of life" 'Dewdrop, let me cleanse', Matsuo Basho #12

We all used to #touch the old oak “for luck.” Illness, job worries, break-ups - we whispered them into its bark & let it hold what we couldn’t. Until it couldn’t. Old Ron was the last to touch it. He didn’t notice the crack. Now he’s saddled with all our darkest fears. #vss365

Your #vss365 #prompt for Feb 11 is #touch "There is some kiss we want with our whole lives, the touch of Spirit on the body. Seawater begs the pearl to break its shell. And the lily, how passionately it needs some wild Darling! At night, I open the window and ask the moon to

The diary was helping. Each day, the #ache in my chest stopped when I wrote in it. “But you didn’t have an ache before you got that diary,” my friend said. I skipped a night to prove her wrong. I felt fine the next day, but my friend was in agony. “Write!” she screamed #vss365

Your #vss365 #prompt for Feb 10 is #ache "Tigress adored, indolent fiend, lie there, There on my heart now, merciless and strong, I wish to run my trembling fingers long Through the black tangles of your heavy hair, To plunge my aching head amorous of Your skirts as into secret,

He smelled his ex before he saw her. That cloying scent that she used to spray all over the house. Here it was now, in the frozen food aisle. It chilled him to the #bone. Then a hand clasped his shoulder. “You look good,” she whispered, and popped him into her trolley. #vss365

Your #vss365 #prompt for Feb 9 is #bones "i like my body when it is with your body. It is so quite new a thing. Muscles better and nerves more. i like your body. i like what it does, i like its hows. i like to feel the spine of your body and its bones,and the trembling

The therapist removed the pen from Harriet’s hand, leaving her name unfinished- i undotted, t uncrossed. “Sit with the discomfort,” she said. On the therapist’s lap, ink leaked from the nib, bleeding dots & slashes across her #pale skirt. Harriet sat back & exhaled. #vss365

Oof, so I’m putting my vulnerability hat on and sharing a recording of these lines. Thank you for listening! 🙏

Your #vss365 #prompt for Feb 8 is #pale "The light wraps you in its mortal flame. Abstracted pale mourner, standing that way against the old propellers of the twighlight that revolves around you. Speechless, my friend, alone in the loneliness of this hour of the dead and filled

Ex-Sup’t Carol went for a #blood test. “Relax,” said the nurse. Carol stiffened. The vial remained empty. She fixed the nurse with her famous stare. “Where did you train?” “King’s” she gulped. A drop flowed with each answer. “I’ll have your results in 3 days,” said Carol. #vss365

Your #vss365 #prompt for Feb 7 is #blood "A gracious spring, turned to blood-ravenous autumn, A turmoil of wars-men, spread over the middle kingdom, Three hundred and sixty thousand, And sorrow, sorrow like rain." 'Lament of the Frontier Guard', Li Bai #7

Everyone in A&E on Friday night compares #wounds. “You should see the other guy,” the woman with the black eye laughs. The waiting room falls silent. They all look at the husband. He hasn’t got a mark on him. Yet. #vss365

Your #vss365 #prompt for Feb 6 is #wound "To thrust all that life under your tongue!— that, all by itself, becomes a passion. Death’s a sad bone; bruised, you’d say, and yet she waits for me, year after year, to so delicately undo an old wound, to empty my breath from its bad

The #lambent light at golden hour is a soft-focus filter. It’s the only time she lets anyone see her these days. At sunrise she flees like Cinderella from the ball, skin mottling, eyes dulling. She lost a shoe once in her rush. Not a glass slipper. An orthopaedic one. #vss365

#vss365 There's something burning behind her eyes. Is it the #lambent glow of desire, or the embers of anger? He places each of his words in a sky lantern, and lights their wicks, sending them aloft. He hopes they will find her, enter her dreams, and speak to her, when fear has

His phone beeped as he arrived home. “Great night. When shall we do it again?” He ignored it. Best way to deal with needy women. Turning to the mirror, he gasped. His reflection was fading like smoke. His phone beeped again. “Oh, and I always #ghost people too. Soz.” #vss365

Your #vss365 #prompt for Feb 4 is #ghost "But that isn’t all. Some of my ghosts are planets. Not bright. Not young. Spiraling deep in the dusk of my body as saucers or moons pleased with their belts of colored dust & hailing no others." 'Ghosts', Kiki Petrosino #4

They’ve resurrected that old perfume we all wore in the late 80s/early 90s. I ordered it, inhaled, and it all came flooding back. Bros. Roller boots. Shell suits… …And the #pain of bullying. The scent will fade. But those old taunting voices? I’m scared they won’t. #vss365