Tag Archives: seasons

JIMMY MACK: The First Nip

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

There’s that distinctive sound freshly frosted fern fronds make when stepped upon. It’s different than the snap of exhausted twigs, or a bed of pine needles gathered for their winter sleep over.

It’s the sound of saltine crackers being crumbled into that first fall minestrone simmering on the wood stove.

Jimmy is a writer from Portland, Oregon. Having worked in the horticultural side of life for over 30 years, he is now working on a book about his backpacking adventures around South Asia in the early 1990’s.

DEBORAH TAPPER: Autumn Haiku

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , , ,

Summer lingers on,
in butterflies’ bright wingbeats
and bee-bowed flowers.

Succulent berries
ripen in golden hedgerows,
cobwebbed with dawn mist.

Birds seek southern sun,
while industrious squirrels
cache abundant hoards.

Brisker winds rattle
apples down: speckled, blemished,
but lusciously sweet.

Children kick through leaves,
giggling, hurling handfuls—
pretending they’re snow.

Deborah writes at an old desk surrounded by five hundred pet bugs.

MARIA MILLER: Summer Evenings

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , , ,

At dusk the fireflies light their tail torches announcing the Moth, a nightly collage of distinctive creatures gathering to soulcialize.

Standing on a toadstool, Ms. Frog reads her fifty-word story from a leaf(let).

Grasshopper saws his back-legged fiddle, offering up a jig as an ode to these gilded summer evenings.

Maria Miller gave up obsessive Solitaire for a much more satisfying 50-wording habit.

MIRIAM N KOTZIN: Infinitive: To Sublime

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

Frost ferns covered the windows near Margaret’s bed, and frost painted the sere, feathery grasses in the fields, all motionless in the windless morning until sun caught on ice crystals sparking rainbows, all silent until Margaret summoned a blackbird’s haunting whistle to a frost that would… soon… Margaret exhaled… sublime….

Miriam N. Kotzin writes fiction and poetry. She is the author of five collections of poetry, two collections of short fiction, and two novels—most recently the novel Right This Way (Spuyten Duyvil). Her 50-word stories have been published in 50-Word Stories, 50 Give or Take, and Blink Ink. She teaches literature and creative writing at Drexel University.

MATTHEW EICHENLAUB: Springtime in Maine

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

March.
Rutted, half-frozen, mud-soup-ugly
tailspinning tire tracks and grizzled snow
shapeshifting to angry slush clogging
the windshield spray nozzles
on my Tacoma pickup.

April.
Glistening wet branches, swollen green
buds popping, sinful yellow Goldfinches,
black humus, fresh plantings outside
the library, and my stealing a cat-glance
at the landscaper’s helper.

Matthew is fortunate to sometimes live near a lake in Maine where loons swim and sometimes yodel and hoot late at night. And sometimes on a day like this with few clouds in the sky and mountains in the distance a warm breeze will sweep across the lake and take your breath away.

DEBORAH TAPPER: Winter Haiku

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , , , ,

Winter clings tighter,
haloing the starlit moon
with glittering frost.

Trees become brushstrokes
sketched against uncertain skies,
their leaves departed.

Grey heron hunching
statue-like beside the ice
remembers swift fish.

Mist veils bare hedgerows,
spinning tangled stems into
lacy silhouettes.

One early snowdrop
braves this unrelenting chill,
promising the spring.

Deborah writes at an old desk surrounded by five hundred pet bugs.

JS O’KEEFE: Questions

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , ,

clickety-clacking is the tram
neighbors talking politics
it’s probably mid-morning
why’s it still pitch dark
or am I dreaming

no

turns out
I have yet to open my eyes

not bad
nice and soothing
what if I stay like this
also turn off my ears
will the world go away

J. S. O’Keefe is a scientist, trilingual translator and writer. His short stories and poems have been published in EDF, WENSUM, Roi Faineant, 101 Words, Spillwords, ScribesMICRO, 50WS, AntipodeanSF, Friday Flash Fiction, Spirit Fire Review, Medium, Paragraph Planet, 50 Give or Take, 6S, Satire, MMM, etc. See more at szjohnny.net

DEIRDRE SMITH: Expiration

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, ,

The forgotten pumpkins are black with rot.
Dogberries squish and bleed underfoot.
The trees have been battered, standing half-naked and disheveled, robbed of their beauty.
Brown leaves scurry across the pavement, finding refuge together.
The smell of death and pumpkin spice lattes is in the air.
This is the end.

Deirdre Smith has dabbled in writing for as long as she can remember. She is a part-time Guidance Counsellor and a full-time mom. She resides in the always colorful St. John’s, Newfoundland.

NICK YOUNG: We Pass This Way But Once

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

The sunlight’s slant has grown more acute, its dazzling mid-summer radiance muted. The late-afternoon breeze freshens, crisper now, swirling leaves grown sere, stirring the long garden chimes to a deep, dolorous melody. Unlike Nature, I resist this passage for I know without illusion what lies at the end of seasons.

Nick Young is a retired award-winning CBS News Correspondent. In addition to 50-Word Stories, his writing has appeared in dozens of reviews, journals and anthologies. His first novel, “Deadline,” was published in the Fall of 2023. He lives outside Chicago.

DEB DiTOMASO: Life of a Boat

Submissions, Touching, , , , , ,

An old boat dreams in a patch of brittle reeds, lulled by the elegy of summer passing.

Sentiments of paddle dips and skimming through duckweed. Giggles over water striders.

The plunk and bob of casting lines. Kisses from dazzle-dancing dragonflies.

Pining for a chance to chaperone one last moonlit romance.

Deb DiTomaso lives in Connecticut with her husband, a dog, and a bunch of chickens. She’s a career nurse with a lifelong passion for crafting stories. Her work has been placed as a finalist in CT Tassy Walden Awards for New Voices in Children’s Literature.