Our Colette, His Colette

His only instruction, wear orange, not her favorite color, but Colette would wear dresses of burlap if doing so captured Theodore’s heart. Our Colette spent many francs, she wouldn’t divulge the number, on pearls to decorate the crown of her auburn hair. Another unknown sum purchased a dram of rose-scented oil to draw her lover to the hollow just below her ear. His lips met the mark. Oh, what pleasure.

Theodore’s Colette, now heavy with child, wears stained cotton shifts and oversized shoes. The mistress of the house watches Colette slip in snow while fingering pearls gifted by her husband.

 

Lake Whatcom Divorce

when we met
you said you would do
anything to get money
in order to take care of me.
you bought me furs, diamonds,
two, no three, trips to paris.

i never asked how you paid.
why would i?
why should i?
i was hopelessly
ecstatically in love.

marriage was never mentioned.
i didn’t reveal
boring, unimpressive tom.
avoided asking if you had a wife
or children.

today, flying high over the lake
you, at last, reveal your secret.

tom, you say, is tired of me.
has paid for everything.
you inform me
the final payment arrived today
then shove me out the door.

 

Lake Whatcom is about a half-mile from my house.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g58350-d2527907-Reviews-Lake_Whatcom-Bellingham_Washington.html

Sad History

Today Pegman took us to Poisson-Blanc, Quebec. I scrolled around and found a man holding a half-fish! This is what happened next.

Long ago our sons,
tangles of muscle, brain
laughter and kindness
used two-foot long arrows
to fell stags with antlers
large enough to support
every wall of our homes

Our daughters
slim, strong
and
more beautiful than a
single
crimson
rose
hooked fish as long as their arms

Then you came
with armies and inventions
and words that meant
everything
everything
everything
before they simply meant nothing at all

You gave us
automobiles, planes
and power plants powered by poison
while we shared our bounty
and welcomed you into our homes

Look what happened
Look!
Now!
and, finally, look again

With every landslide
earthquake and change of tide
we
the original people
pay the consequences while
you
the intruder
move on
with a bag full of a thousand empty promises

An InLinkz Link-up

https://static.inlinkz.com/cs2.js

Deceit

Once again, Wednesday has rolled around. With some bits of fussing and fact checking, I have come up with a 102 word story for FF.

The tinkle of glasses. Laughter. Music. Charleston – her favorite.
And candlelight everywhere.
A splash in the pool.
Daisy checks her plum lipstick once, twice, again. Perfect.
Hair? More than perfect.
Still – she slides her hands over the exaggerated blonde finger waves.
Just to make sure.
A rap on the door. “Coming, baby?” It’s Tom.
Beads rustling like wind in bamboo, she turns around, looks at her
exquisite rump beneath the rose colored dress.
The V-cut in the back is almost too low. Almost.
She opens the door. Ignores her husband.
Glides across the seat of the yellow car.
Bright with nickel.

An InLinkz Link-up