The Shine Journal
Exceptional Flash, Poetry, Art and Photography!
Three From Rhonda Parrish
Headache Rictameter
Headache –
Incessant pain
Throbbing in my temples
Like a jackhammer in my brain
Gouging out sticky chunks as it burrows
Down deep behind my right eyeball
No pill can reach it, but
A bullet might
Headache.
An angry old man
With eyes as cold as space
Wonders aloud why Time's brought him
To this place.
Mind and body both
Gnarled and brittle
Twisted by life and pain
He stares from his window
At a world he doesn't know.
A teenage girl in low-rise jeans strolls by
And the useless meat between his legs
Twitches in response—
For just a moment reminding him
Of all Age has stolen.
"Slut! Slattern!" he yells,
shaking a feeble fist
at the window.
Uncertain whether he means her
Or himself
He sinks, wilted, back into his wheelchair.
The angry old man
With eyes cold as space
Feels a seering hot tear
Creep down his wrinkled face.
The elevator doors opened. Joe, assumed that meant the elevator had arrived and walked through them.
His funeral is on Saturday.
RHONDA PARRISH doesn't much like writing her biography because she loves writing just about anything else. She lives in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada with her wonderful husband, exceptional daughter and their "zoo". She writes every chance she gets and can be found all over the web including:
www.rhondaparrish.com
www.midnyte.ca
www.niteblade.com <--Rhonda's own fabulous publication!
MOTIVATION:
Headache: I think the inspiration for is pretty obvious.
An Angry Old Man: I'm not really sure where that came from. The poem started with the phrase 'with eyes as cold as space' and it sort of grew from there. I wish I had more insight to offer but often my inspirations are so fragmented and obscure that even I'm not sure what they are. Sadly, that is the case here.
ASSUMPTION:This bit of flash wrote itself. I wanted to enter a contest which challenged writers to start a story with the sentence 'The elevator doors opened' but I couldn't come up with anything. Then, I was talking to my husband and this piece came out of our discussion. I didn't enter it in the contest, it was too short, but I am quite fond of it just the same.