He/She Poems

More Writing Prompts…And they are Fiction!


He/She Ran; She/He Scrubbed; He/She Shopped; and The Nuns Strolled… UCR Inland Empire Writing Project weekend at The Mission Inn, 2012



Ran



He ran through the November rain, splashing geysers

Willing his feet to take him to the four wheeled drive, humming warm strength

Ready to leave--far away

From the gloomy and very dead bodies behind him



She ran through the November rain

Splashing geysers

Her freezing willing feet taking her to the humming warm Jeep

Her most expensive investment

Far from Ugliness





Scrubbed



She scrubbed with the determination of her father and every other unclean person who couldn’t bear the invisible trace of sin upon their too sensitive pink and freckled hands



He scrubbed up the blood and took out the trash

Wondering if he’d be able to find a glass shop open on Sunday so he could put in a new window Before

He lost the dog who always jumped

And the house filled up with flies and everything

Just went to hell





Shopped



She shopped as if the welfare of her family depended

On each member receiving just the right gift

Visualizing the moment that each was unwrapped,

Objects infused with warmth

Eyes lit up with joyous surprise

And she was sure that this year

Everyone would love her in the way she so deserved



He shopped as if he would never work again and each item was a deduction from

The retirement account he did not have

Angering over the excessive silliness of things no one needed and his vow to give love not gifts That he had been forced to leave behind

Just shy of his bank account he bent over and grabbed a jar of olives





And the Nuns Strolled



The nuns strolled

Tucked inside their habits

Apparently without feet that touched the ground

So

I should have been surprised to see

One of them

A bit out of step

With her hand held up to her head dress

A black rectangle cupped in prayer

As she spoke in quiet tones

To the sister she left behind