I’m pretty happy with this chapter 🙂 Ten minute read Tom grinned when Sasi waved and called to him from her balcony. He returned her wave and walked faster. When he looked again she had gone. He pushed through the revolving door and strode through the lobby to the elevator. The clerk called to him but the words didn’t register. The elevator doors opened and … Continue reading Sasi and Tom, A Wished-For Love, Chapter Twenty-One
From Chapter Twenty-One of A Wished-For Love She turned to face the sea and he joined her, standing so close that their shoulders bumped. He inhaled the thick, jasmine scent of her perfume. The nearness of her body sent a thrill through him, lifting the hairs on the back of his neck. The thrill passed, but the feeling remained, a warmth that seemed to buzz … Continue reading Sasi II
Character may falter, but forgiveness never forgets. Continue reading Character
My heart is breaking, coming apart in pieces I see the top of her head, seventeen-thousand heartbeats away We spoke in line, waiting for the call to board She stood next to me, reading mail on her phone I pretended, under the spell of her nearness, to be her boyfriend and Stood close so others would not jostle her We laughed and joked, silliness between two … Continue reading The Girl in 16E
Chapter Twenty-two from “A Wished-For Love.” 2,929 words. Tom looked up to Sasi’s balcony on the top floor directly over the pool. He wasn’t surprised to see her waving and calling to him. He returned her wave and walked faster. When he looked again she had gone. He pushed through the revolving door and strode through the lobby. The clerk called out but Tom ignored … Continue reading Tom and Sasi
They bury their dead in vaults. Long rows of casket-sized holes stacked six bodies high. Mourners shuffle along behind the men struggling beneath the weight, the dead weight, inside the casket. Mostly, they do. Her casket was featherlight, the body inside so nearly weightless it seemed heartless to call it dead weight. The men carrying her body stood ramrod straight, as men are wont to do … Continue reading The Wedding Band
Tom had the cavernous C-130 cargo bay to himself. He wrapped a wool US-issue blanket around his shoulders and stretched out on the webbed jump seats to read. The low hum of the turboprop engines lulled him to sleep after a few paragraphs. He woke to the loadmaster shaking his shoulder. “Hey.” The crewman raised his voice over the sound of the engines. “We’re twenty … Continue reading George, Part I
After finishing the letter, Tom unpacked and showered. Refreshed and dressed – jeans, loose shirt, flip-flops, and sunglasses, he stepped out of his room and walked to the lobby. A new desk clerk was on duty. He gave her his room key. She was beautiful, tall for a Thai woman. Her black, braided hair was wrapped around her head. She smiled at him. “Yes, sir?” “May … Continue reading Sasi Part I
“You’ll have to tell me how to make a gimlet.” Tom spoke from behind the bar as he opened the refrigerator. “I may have tasted one, but I’ve never made one.” He removed a pitcher of sangria and poured a glassful. “I think I’ll have sangria instead of beer.” “One part sweetened lime juice, four parts gin,” Sasi said. “Add a slice of lime too. No rocks. … Continue reading Sasi Part II
Is she the one, Susanna? I do not know, Tomás You must know, Susanna. Why, Tomás? She makes me think of you. She is not me. I want you back, Susanna. I’m dead, Tomás. You died too soon. Yes. Why? Why? Tell me. It was my time to die. It isn’t fair. Life is not always fair. Sasi makes me feel the way you did. … Continue reading Susanna IX
Originally posted on The Writings of William C. Pennington:
I read music in your eyes, Delicate chorale filled your voice, The melody of your soul, Breathed hymn into my life; Each movement measured note by note, Dancing fingers played across my keys, ‘Twas not a symphony filled the silence, But a quartet caressing strings; Hosannas rose into the night, Angelic host proclaimed, Cantata filled my… Continue reading The Melody Of Your Soul
One day, close to tax-filing deadline, dad was sitting on the edge of his bed. He was sorting W-2 forms. There must have been twenty of them. Maybe more. Twenty jobs. Five children to feed and clothe. Dad was the ninth of ten kids. He was born in the middle of the depression. I never knew we were poor. Continue reading Rich
She looked for things. She looked for hours, days, sometimes weeks. When she found them, She reported to others. The others would take care of them. Sometimes, the others would tell her to destroy what she had found. But, she always found them. For thirty-seven years, she had looked for things, she and her crews. Her crews came and went, but she was always there, … Continue reading The Boneyard
Lying in the grass Jasmine and pine Gently, I stroke his soft, black fur Night shadows hide the gray muzzle A loon calls Stars twinkle steadily Continue reading Yoshi
Lines, creases, crinkles Wrinkles, crow’s feet Haunted eyes Joyless smile Emptiness and sorrow The wonder whys Regrets Mirror receives them all Graying hair, Bags Dark circles Neck once nuzzled by Lovers and babies Sagging skin Sinking heart Withering hopes Curse the years Look at me Look at me See? See? You are what you see See beauty See love See wonder Hold your head up … Continue reading Mirror
Cubism Angles Corners Planes Perspective Front Back Side Side Up Down Above Beneath Inside Outside Around Within Without Through Trans-dimensional Complex Permeable, Impenetrable Fixed, Moving Opaque, Transparent Open, Closed Masked, Unmasked Active, Still Lost, Alert Quiet Quiet Quiet Loving, Hurtful Laughing, Crying Frowning, Smiling Joyful, Sad Gloomy, Gleeful Ecstatic, Pained Tears joyful Tears hurtful Tears sad Tears Tears Tears Tears Tears Smiling Loving Angry Loving … Continue reading Cubism
She dances without moving Sails billow without wind Cannons, crossed, are silent Ship’s anchor is aweigh Inked in black, his life Forever tattooed in my mind. Continue reading The Sailor
If I don’t miss a part of you you are not apart from me. Continue reading I Can’t Breathe When You Are Away
Two blogs that bring me great joy for their beautiful poetry and prose are Green Ink and A Short Conversation. Check them out when you need a break from writing and want to clear your head. I know you’ll find they go well with your morning coffee 🙂 Continue reading Two Blogs to Visit
Exquisitely painful and beautiful. For a moment, echoes over the ocean sound your obituary — these jagged cliffs are your gravestones, and perhaps the algae the rolling waves offer to the shoreline is the water’s apology. For sending your casket deep into the corals. For seasoning the ocean salty with your panic. For surging your lifeless limbs away from […] via Elegy for a Drowned Girl … Continue reading Re-Blog: Elegy for a Drowned Girl
Why do you torture me, Susanna? It is not I, William. It must be. I feel you watching me. I feel you watching me. No, William, I’m not here. I’m dead. You know that. Yes. I killed you. I left you in the cold and the rain. No, my love. I died of pneumonia in the hospital after the car accident. I couldn’t find my way … Continue reading Susanna VIII
Funny that, how the heart bursts the same way in grief and love. Continue reading Heartbrache
In the forest, I walked with my head down, It was easier so, ‘neath my burden; My boots were muddied and scuffed; An eyelet rode free on frayed lace. The winding path was hard-packed From years of heavy, burdened travel; Pebbles and stones ground-in and smoothed By soles, and the wind and the rain. The soil varied in color, Brown, black, and gray, and tan; Grass … Continue reading Each A Vignette Of Life
I’ve recently found two blogs I love. Carly Hood and Freed Thoughts write such wonderful prose and poetry that I look forward to waking up each day just to see if they’ve posted again. Please join me in visiting their sites and starting the day off with a smile and a sigh. Continue reading Two Blogs to Visit
Your head rests upon my shoulder. The sun dips beneath the sea. Emotion rises from a rich, deep well, A soulful sob that catches in my throat; My heart bursts with love that swells my chest; Tears fill my eyes and a rapturous heat warms my face. Ono, my angel, I want to tell you how I love you But Heaven binds my tongue. Continue reading Heavenly
The house I wrote of yesterday stayed with me all day; I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I had intended a completely different point, about how we tear people down much easier than we build them up – people we disagree with, for example. We’ll stand in line to pick people apart for their flaws and shortcomings, their tastes, their politics, their looks. … Continue reading Home. All of Them
Take my hand. Walk with me. Lust, fleeting. The cocoon nurtures the butterfly before its wings may spread. Continue reading I Loved You, Before I knew You
Dad and I used to go the movies together when I was a kid and we were stationed in Soesterberg, Netherlands. Thursday night at the Camp New Amsterdam Air Force Base theater was westerns and war movies. All my buddies and their dads went. Mom would make grilled cheese sandwiches for dad and me at home, then we’d have popcorn and soda – and candy … Continue reading Thursday Nights with Dad
I’m making a joyful noise! Well, I don’t know if I would call it a joyful noise, but I’m teaching myself to play the recorder. I haven’t played an instrument since the cornet in Junior High School, so it feels nice to take up music again. I’ve longed for many years to play the piano, guitar, and cello, and the recorder is a great way … Continue reading Soul Time
“This is an essay Sam wrote after Susanna died. I asked him if I could keep it as a reminder of the two of them. He asked me not to share it, but he would have wanted you to read it. This is how they were, the way they acted with each other. Sam didn’t glamorize their relationship; he described it perfectly. I’ll read it … Continue reading The Love of Sam and Susanna
When two hearts break, it’s a compound fracture with all the ugliness of a leg bone sticking out awkwardly from torn, bloodied flesh, a crippling injury that takes a lifetime to heal, if it ever really heals without leaving memory of an exquisitely harsh pain, a bruise of purple and black on the soul, and a reflex action against falling in love again. Continue reading Breaking Up
I am constantly amazed by the success of self-help books. I often wonder what makes people like you and me so needy of advice from others when we hold the answers ourselves. My immense lack of training makes everything below this paragraph opinion. It is true, however, that I took my own advice many years ago and changed the way I perceived myself. It has … Continue reading Software Updates for the Soul
I found the rainbow while you searched for the gold. Continue reading All That Glitters
“I think I fell in love with you this morning, dear lady.” “You think you did? You are not sure? Perhaps we should try again. Shall we meet for an apple in the morning?” “I had already planned to meet you for an apple tomorrow. And the next day, and the next, and the next, and every day until….” “Every day until what?” “Every day … Continue reading Susanna Avila
“To thine own self be true.” William Shakespeare. If you are not true to yourself, you cannot be true to others. You are only serving them. Do not let others be your master. Continue reading Self
The key to love is undivided attention. That’s all she needs. Is that asking too much? Continue reading The Key to Love
I Love you, you love me not. Continue reading Heartbreak
William? Yes, Susanna? Why are people so angry? Why are people so angry? Yes. Why are people so angry? Why do you ask, Susanna? Because, William, I see angry people everywhere, and it hurts me. How does it hurt you? Anger hurts my heart. Why does it hurt your heart? Because anger gets in the way of love, William. It does, Susanna? Yes, William. How … Continue reading Susanna Avila VII
I long for intimate conversation Two people, Leaning over cups of coffee. A small table in the coffee house Around the corner. Eyes only for each other, Oblivious to the buzz of life surrounding them. She smiles. I love the way her lips curl, The delicate filigree of her ear, Revealed when she brushes her hair back, The fragrant puff of breath as she laughs … Continue reading The Coffee House Around the Corner
What is in a kiss, William? What do you mean, Susanna? What do you feel when you kiss me? Oh… I feel the sensual moisture of your mouth; the Tender bumping of your nose; the Tickle of your eyebrows, and the Tingle in my toes; I feel the texture of your lips, and the Curve of Cupid’s bow; I feel the softness of your cheeks; … Continue reading Susanna Avila VI
We worked at Busch Gardens and saw each other often at the Festhaus. Freyja enchanted me from the beginning. Twenty years old, short blonde hair, bright blue eyes, pale skin, red lips, cherry cheeks: a petite Teutonic Goddess. Freyja worked as a server, while I delivered food and dry goods from the food service warehouse. We were on smiling terms but not much else, although she seemed … Continue reading Fall From Grace
Why do you love me, William? Because you’re beautiful, Susanna. Is that the only reason? Because you’re a perfect fit in my arms. What else? Because I can carry you as I run. Oh? You weigh less than a feather, Susanna. Oh. Because you’re a wonderful cook. Yes? Because you meet me at the door when I come home from work. Because you sing when … Continue reading Susanna Avila V
I closed my eyes and fell Through a shimmering curtain Of notes that climbed like a spell And blew through my spirit Like music wafting me away On wings of heartbeats As the sun grew full and bright And the moon a crescent smile of white That floated me on a sound of color That trilled through my skin With the breath of time And … Continue reading A Million Times I Love You
Whisper wisp, O Soft and lithe, so Fragile, frail, a Sense, a Sense; Fleet, fly, O Whither gone? But, Always away, a Day, a Day. Continue reading Whisper Wisp, O
I stepped down from my cloud, watched nine years slip away; My mind was filled with doubt, that you’d ever felt the same; I thought about that dance, when you said you’d had enough, You looked me in the eyes, your voice was harsh and tough; I knew then what was coming I’d seen it in your face, My head began to spin, My pulse … Continue reading When You Turned And Looked My Way
I wonder what kids, when they become adults and recall their youth, will remember? Will they recall the hours spent gazing at smartphones while riding their bikes, waiting for the school bus, dining out with their parents? I can’t imagine spending on a smartphone all the time I spent reading as a kid, playing in the woods, swimming in the pond, fishing the river with … Continue reading Remember
My Daughter My heart melted when I saw her pink, chubby face and heard her cries for the first time. I felt no shame at the tears that trickled down my cheeks and threatened to drown my shoes in a pool of warm saltwater. The doctors and nurses were invisible. I had eyes only for my daughter. My life had changed in the last … Continue reading Happy Fathers Day. I wish.
Dreams are bad news. Good dreams or bad dreams, it doesn’t matter. When you awaken you are the same person, only sadder. You wake with less happiness, less hope than before you laid your head on the pillow and closed your eyes and sleep took you to that place you yearn for but hate with hot tears when your eyes open again. The place you … Continue reading Dreams
*Third line of each stanza is read rapidly without pause. Smiles are bright on brown faces I have known, eyes crinkled against the sun; Home is a shack with thatch for a roof and a barrel that caches the rain as it runs; An old woman sifts rice in the shade of acacia as her husband and sons fish from a boat not far from … Continue reading Lamao Limay
I trembled as I reached for Susanna, my Spanish Madonna, and touched her hip. My palm pressed against her soft, smooth, white flesh and her warmth spread over me until my face flushed and the burn of rising excitement engulfed me. I rubbed my hand across her shoulder and trilled my fingertips along her spine, raising goosebumps from her skin and causing her to shiver. … Continue reading Susanna IV
The Writings of William C. Pennington 