Magpie Tales #69

          If you want a weekly reason to write, go to Magpie Tales. The terrific Tess Kincaid provides a photo/illustration, and dozens of poems and vignettes come pouring out from all over the blogosphere.

       Write one, link it via Mr. Linky, and then read and comment on the other Magpie Tales.

too late for the phalarope
too late

a man destroyed,
a family slayed,
soil red-brown with blood
and damp from tears

too late to turn back
too late to wail in warning

a brick house crumbles,
turning to sand in an hourglass
that disappears

too late to avoid
the inky-black night

too late for the phalarope...
too late

Note: The seashell made me think of Too Late the Phalarope by Alan Paton. It's a book about a family in South Africa; they were destroyed because of apartheid. One single seashell took a man from his family forever... (The phalarope is a South African bird.) I won't say it's a feel-good read, because it certainly is not, but the rhythm of Paton's writing style, the fact that it is a window into what was life like then in South Africa---it makes for a worthy read.