A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song. ~Maya Angelou

Twenty Creativity Exchanges. A rather dull name for a fun bit of mental stretching. Twenty of them are proof enough for such a claim.

 

This monolithic touchstone deserves an itty-bitty bit of pomp which comes dressed as a responder's paradise. Yet at the heart, it remains, Creativity Exchange. Create, swap and respond, swap and respond instead of the create, swap and respond two-step we usually do. A little extra effort for a little extra specialness for a great big moment.

 

Twenty.

 

TheRacket did something a little differently than I. You must go to his blog and see his responses. Below you will see mine. As long as you are not fooled into believing you are seeing the same Exchanges on both of our pages, you will see how differently we handled the simple "create, swap and respond, swap and respond".

 

(Words by theRacket, images by Nomad.)

 

[the cruel fisherman] 

a full eggshell moon
behind green willow streamers
a cataract eye
watches the secret scene unfold
through a waterfall of witch’s hair

a maiden’s stolen heart 
dangles from a warlock’s wand
a hookless lure
tied to the splintered tip 
of the cruel fisherman’s pole 

broken bait
twirls in the night breeze
draws her twisted fingers
toward the unseen stars

just beyond her reach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

[attacks of whimsy]

there is no defending
myself from her
attacks of whimsy

my crazed muse
 
clutching my throat
between
her tattooed fingers
 
shake shake shaking
the last bits of
creativity out of me

like loose rusty coins
from holey pockets or
upside-down piggybanks

gurgling
maniacal cackles
at my turn of fortune