Sunday, October 17, 2010

100 WORDLE

The magnificently inspired and inspiring Rallentanda has put out a marvelous challenge. Write a wordle, using 100 words. All the words she has chosen must be included. A wordle is described as a cloud of words. I think it's like working a puzzle. You must fit all the pieces, or words, into one poem. Below is Rall's irresistible prompt.

The Seduction
1
On Monday she brought armfuls of delicate yellow
forsythia branches, pot plants of fledgling jonquils
nearly ready to burst into bloom, tight red rose buds
from the flower market, offered with a polite
kiss on the cheek, like the silky touch of butterflies.

2
On Tuesday she brought glossy wrapped boxes of chocolate
dipped cherries, fancy Primavera fig jam, freshly baked bread,
a cut-glass bowl spilling over with juicy Bangalore blue grapes
and passion fruit. For your lunch, she announced, her sweet laughter
escaping with the alluring appeal of distant tinkling bells.

3
On Wednesday she brought a dozen woolly sheep, their thick
fleece like clouds richly flecked with gold and silver filaments,
twelve young swans, long nape plumage glowing whitely, and
twelve plump sparrows in twelve wire cages, ardently chirping
arias. For outside your door, she said, blushing warmly.

4
On Thursday she brought an intricately designed marble frieze
of fanciful birds and animals; a tiny treasure chest thickly overlaid
with dazzling diamantes and a sterling latch; an acclaimed recording of a world famous choir of school boys singing Handel's Messiah. To make your heart happy, she smiled, touching his sleeve, while frissons of excitement fluttered.

5
On Friday she brought games to pass the time; gin, whiskey poker and dice, tricks of illusion and magic. She taught him to juggle three jet black balls. As she knelt to add a log to the fire, he admired her straight back, tapered waist. Her voice was softly modulated, her eyes the deep ultramarine of the ocean. Queen of macquillage, she was a spectacular beauty. With joy, he realized he was falling in love. Rough and urgent, he clasped her to him.

6
On Saturday, she did not come. He ranted, paced the floor, stared hopelessly across the dusty road of his life. He waited impatiently all day. Then it was night and he was desperate. The stars fell from the sky, a storm raged, lightning flashed. He vowed never again. In his loneliness, he had been an easy target. She had caused his downfall and he snapped. A hot tear trickled down his icy cheek.

7
Then it was Sunday, the damage done. Switch to wilted flowers, sheep grubby and tattered like his torn soul, the lavish food now pap, the cunning games drudgery. He had fallen prey to her fickle charms. There was no escape. His grief sat with him, it's heat thickening the still, moistly foetid air. Then relief came like a cool breeze wafting through the dark rooms of his mind. Gazing inwardly, he found her again in the stuff of his dreams.

10 comments:

flaubert said...

Marianne,
I love what you did with those 100 words. My that is quite the challenge. Thanks for visiting my blog. I have missed you.
Regards,
Pamela

Sheila Deeth said...

Wow! What a brilliant job you did with them, and what an intriguing challenge!

Anonymous said...

Marianne,what a clever distribution of those disparate words. You have told the story so well.

Doctor FTSE said...

Very clever treatment of the pot-pourri of words. Well done.

Rallentanda said...

Marianne, please leave a link to your poem in the comments section of my latest post. Thanks. Only a few days to go now!

Rallentanda said...

I enjoyed this so much. You did a fantastic job.Beautiful imagery,lovely rhythmical flow and an intriguing tale. Thank you for joining in and I look forward to reading more of your poems. Keep writing them Marianne.They're great.

Marianne said...

Rall,
Many thanks for organizing this intriguing wordle challenge! It was great fun to test my brain power in this manner!

Rallentanda said...

Congratulations on coming second Marianne. Please send me an address for your prize. This will not be published.

barbara said...

Really nice, Marianne.
Makes mine look like a pile of scrabble tiles.

Anonymous said...

Oh, lovely, a lover's version of the 12 Days of Christmas. Your prize is well deserved, Marianne.