A Mirage

January 13, 2019January 13, 2019 ~ whisperingsbyjkl ~ Leave a comment

~ photo by Stephen Radford

A Mirage
by Jenny Katherine Luu

It was a moonless night
on the Las Vegas strip.
The pleasure hotel was hidden
behind a magical mirage of smoke.

The stripper who looked like an angel
looked in the mirror with regret.
Her face glistened under the candlelight.
The flames danced in her eyes –
her eyes smothered with mascara.
The rose she held in her hand
glistened with her teardrops.

Petal by petal, the rose fell –
Her regret reflected in the glistening mirror.
Her face was that of oblivion.
She struggled to breathe
under the smothering smoke.

There was never pleasure.
There was always regret.
The angel stripped away her clothes
and disappeared into the smoke.

The hotel smothered in flames,
burned to the ground
hidden behind the mirage.

There was never pleasure.
There was always regret.
Nothing glistened.
Nothing glistened
in the moonless night.

(poem based on a writing exercise using repetitive keywords)

Writing Prompt

July 31, 2017July 31, 2017 ~ whisperingsbyjkl ~ Leave a comment

A few weeks ago, I attended Poets at Play and the proctor provided a writing prompt. I didn’t follow the prompt that day, but decided to try it out while I was relaxing at the beach the following day. I’ve listed both the prompt and my poem below 🙂

The Prompt:
Make a list of the following things and include them in your poem

3-4 colors
3-4 sounds
3-4 flavors
3-4 parts of the body
1 factual statement
1 command
1 thing you lost
1 particular question
1 abstract question
several locations
several objects
1-2 living creatures
2-3 kinesthetic adjectives

My Poem

I arrived at Seacliff Beach
in my metallic baby blue minivan,
dressed in a neon pink shirt,
a flapping lavender skirt,
and modern happy black sunglasses.
I can’t stop… dancing to the music.

Birds chirping in the sky,
dolphins swimming in the ocean.
The scent of smoked sausage
drifts in my nostrils
and I can’t stop
popping flaming hot
cheetos into my mouth.

My big toe caresses the sand.
I am writing a poem at the beach,
sitting in my camping chair,
tapping my knee cap
as visions of the past
drifts into mind.

“What time is the turkey done?”
my grandparents asked
over the loud hum
of the refrigerator
as I stood on the balcony
eating mint chocolate chip
ice cream,
watching the dog’s leash
get caught on the tree trunk.

A fly buzzed by
my ear lobe just then,
just like the time
at Levi’s Stadium.
I was so distracted,
I hit my funny bone
and dropped my nachos.

Nothing was as bad
as discovering bed bugs
in our room
on the cruise ship
and hearing the fast
clickety-clack
of high-heeled shoes
on the dock
every hour, every night,
more annoying
than the loud rev
of a Harley engine starting.

Is my sanity worth more
than human compassion?

A tangent of images,
a tangent of thoughts
based on a list of words.
Maybe it’s time…
to leave the beach.

Please note that majority of events and locations (other than me writing at the beach) are entirely fictional.

Frienemy

February 9, 2017February 9, 2017 ~ whisperingsbyjkl ~ Leave a comment

I haven’t been writing much these days, so in order to inspire myself to pick up a pen and write, I have decided to spend some time with The Poet’s Companion. If you haven’t heard of this book, I highly recommend that you check it out. It was a book that I bought for a college poetry class and it teaches you different writing techniques, and at the end of each chapter, it provides you with a list of writing exercises. Every time you revisit the book, you are bound to write something new, as your thoughts, experiences and perspectives will change over time 🙂

I read the first chapter yesterday and did the first exercise, which was to list out memorable events from your life (big or small) and write a poem about it. I ended up with this poem.

Frienemy

They run in a frenzy
from the cement to the grass,
from the grass to the cement.

A blur of black and white rushes
past you as fur brushes
against your leg.

Paw scrapes against cement.
You see a tuft of cotton
in his canine mouth.
Your heart skips
a beat.

Snow white fur,
no signs of blood,
but could he?
Would he…
take a life?

The chase continues –
Happy inches away,
just inches away,
from Hopper.

Exhausted,
Hopper collapses
in the wet grass.

Happy pounces…
his two front paws,
a mix of brown and black
over Hopper’s white body.

Content at his victory,
he simply lies there,
listening to the bird’s chirp.

The wind rustles their hair.
What a beautiful day…
with a frienemy.

Image from Google

Writing Workshop

February 3, 2017April 15, 2017 ~ whisperingsbyjkl ~ Leave a comment

I attended a writing workshop at the Burning Tale recently and had a great time. We did some exercises and then listened to mysterious poetry in the dark of the night.

Here are a few fun pieces that I wrote during the workshop. I hope you enjoy them! 🙂

Short, Short Story

The egg rolls were twitching and screaming as they were lowered into the sizzling pan of oil. They wanted to remain uncooked and uneaten, forever smelling like dough. But alas, they have turned into a crispy, golden brown, no longer twitching, but still.