cathyallheart

The word list is

Truth
Impulse
Ominous
Elixir
Time
Culture
Wonder
Independent
Bittersweet
Should


500 words, give or take a few.
deadline: March 17

marg

Great word list, cathy.. I'll see if I can put something together, but I probably won't have time for all 500 words

Qsilv

Congratulations, cathy! And yes, what marg said... that's a tempting word list. I'll be back around for it. ;>

Qsilv

Truth is an impulse… ominous, if sweet… Sweet the elixir… in time with the beat…
Beat back each culture… and wonder indeed… Indeed Independence… should it be bittersweet?

Truth, a rare impulse… ominous, dour… Adore no elixir… nor time now for fear…
Fear-filled, a culture can wonder no more… More independent… and, should Bittersweet roar…

then Truth --slice the dream! Impulse take o’er… Ominous Elixir… Time for what could…
should Culture and Wonder… independently blunder… to be all Bittersweet Should…

anotherronism

"lab rat" by Ron

The elixir bubbles from the culture dish. I wish I had more time. An independent lab will expose the truth. The vapors rise to an ominous cloud. Klaxons scream. Lights flash. On impulse I push the log book aside. I breathe deeply. The noise and lights fade. It’s bittersweet to know my weapon works. I wonder if

bluemoon

He was able to be independent now and it was bittersweet . He wondered if time was what he needed in order to quell the impulse to contact his former home. Should he wait until her birthday and use that excuse to call, or should he tell her the truth that he had discovered an elixir that could change him back into a human. Perhaps, he thought, I shall just remain outside of her crazy culture and try to keep free in this form. Eventually though he felt the threat of meeting others like himself made that an ominous choice.

marg

oh, ouch !

..what, three brilliant entries in a row.. give us normals a break, will you ?

chelydra

Truth is beauty and beauty truth.
Exuberance is beauty.
Ergo what is true is exuberant, and exuberance is true.
Better to strangle an infant in its cradle than squelch an impulse. To impel is to exube. Tuty is breath.
This is getting ominous.
Where did I stash that $%^& elixir. Like cops. Never there when you need ‘em, elixirs.
Time is money and money time. How did it all come down to this, of all things?
Oy. What have we ever done to deserve such a culture as this. I wonder, can you even call it a culture? Say there’s some kind of delegation of independent observers, sent out to check up on planets to see how they’re doing — what the #@°fi‚fi% would they report back about this one? A bittersweet tang in the air, like autumn smoke, a faint whiff of impending doom permeating every street, an undertone of chattering dementia within every conversation, let’s get the &%ª¶ outa here, man. But how should we put that into the kind of bureaucratic prose they want back at headquarters? ¶§∞¢ it, man, say we ran outa gas and had to skip this one, we were running late or something. Whatever. Let’s go, c’mon. Now! Pass the elixir, I need a hit after this place.

Five hundred. More or less. Mostly less. Less is more. More or less. Good lord. Stop already.



Apologies to Blake, Keats, and whoever else slipped through the net.

chelydra

Important footnote: That baby-strangling bit was in fact a (mis)quote from one of William Blake's aphorisms.
Here's an internet reference (the first one that popped up):

Kevin Godbout (Western) – Awkward Laughter Provoked Through Piercing Aphorisms: A Look at the Masters of Exploiting Infanticide ---
. . . The power of the aphorism is manifold, but it operates at its finest when its reader, by virtue of the aphorism’s parsimonious language and bluntness of expression, laughs out loud, often against their own better judgment and moral taste. At times, the subject matter of the aphorism provokes this laughter at the complete expense of propriety, such as when Blake says he would “sooner strangle an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires” . . .
http://mllgradconference2013.wordpress.com/abstracts/session-viii-panel-b/

I hope that allays any distress I inadvertently caused... I carelessly assumed that aphorism would be familiar to everyone, but of course it isn't. And given the notorious viciousness of the chelydran species, who knows what dreadful thoughts may have passed through the gentle minds here gathered...

ladyhwin

Still working on my entry..... hopefully it will finish itself yet this evening..... xx

cathyallheart

deadline time! thank you everyone for entering. i will pass the baton to Qsilv, though way less than the wordcount, it gets bonus points for including all ten words in every stanza.

marg

hiya cathy - great challenge and sorry I couldn't get around to competing -

Congratulations to Qsilv - that entry is just so good that I still haven't quite 'grokked' it ..

Qsilv

OH! ...pfft.. okay why do I keep getting surprised by these things?! I knew darn well I was ridiculously below word count, so it never even occurred to me that I'd be in the running... but... heh heh... to tell you the truth, I love getting the chance to run one of these! Thanks Cathy!!

(oooh flattery, marg ;> ...it's "art" so it can be anything you bring to it!)