# May Challenge: "Choices"



## Chesters Daughter (May 1, 2017)

The prompt for this month's challenge, as chosen by sas is: *Choices*

You are free to interpret the prompt in any way you wish, though of course, site rules apply. If you are unsure of the challenge rules please read the 'stickies' at the top of the board. *Please note that all entries* *are eligible to receive critique in the voting thread.* 

*The inclusion of explanatory text or links of any kind within an entrant's challenge entry is prohibited and will be immediately removed upon discovery. As always, only one entry per member is permitted.

*As previously announced, anonymous entries have been abolished, therefore, entrants must post their own entries in this thread, or if you desire to protect first rights, please post your entry in the *workshop thread*, and then post a link to it here in the public thread. *Failure to do so runs the risk of your entry being disqualifie**d*, so if you require assistance with the task, please PM *me*, and I will gladly help you.

If your entry contains strong language or mature content, *please include a disclaimer in your title.**
**
*Kindly make sure your entry is properly formatted and error free before you submit. You have a *ten minute grace period* to edit your piece, but anything edited after that will likely see your entry excluded from the challenge. 
*
Do not post comments in this thread. Any discussion related to the challenge can take place in the Bards' Bistro. 

Everyone may now use the "Like" function whenever they so choose.



This challenge will close on the 15th of May at 7pm EST. 
*


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## The Fantastical (May 5, 2017)

"Modern"


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## jenthepen (May 5, 2017)

*Sidelined    *


More roads untravelled than trod
 unlocked doors avoided
 options that dwindle with empty years
yet still the fears linger in fingers that fumble
 with choices in shadows of gain or of loss.


 Courage that falters in the face of
 no consequences
 bravery beaten  
 by the undisclosed.


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## ArrowInTheBowOfTheLord (May 8, 2017)

[FONT=&Verdana]*Gummy Soul*

One, and I’m[/FONT]
blowing pink bubbles
through vampire fangs,
a rosy-cheeked sniper
with a [/FONT][FONT=&Verdana]viper in my ear.

Two, and I’m
chewing the banana gum
sold at the station,
tracing the Wrigley’s logo
along my high-boned cheek.

Three, and I’m
climbing on the spirit train,
all aboard now!
ride to the track split
in a cozy leather seat.

Four, and I’m
cruising, fast and faster,
towards the turning point;
minutes pop like bubbles
of sticky pinky stuff.

Five, and I’m
there at the crossroads,
time to get off,
me and my ghosties
wave [/FONT]_bye _[FONT=&Verdana]to the train.

Six, and I’m
walking on the tracks
that go down, down down.
(somehow, the better way
didn’t sit with me)

Eight, and I’m
wait, no, I’m
Nine. Ten. this track’s
like teeth,
stretches me real long,
real long (Eleven) and squishy
Twelve, and I’m. . .
real thin, snakes all
around me,
[FONT=&Verdana]the bubblegum boy. Thirteen.
[/FONT]|||||||||||||||||||[FONT=&Verdana]Fourteen.
[/FONT]|||||||||||[FONT=&Verdana]Fifteen.
[/FONT]|||||||||||||||||||[FONT=&Verdana]Sixteen.
[/FONT]|||||||||||Seventeen (etc. etc. etc.) . . .
[FONT=&Verdana]
[/FONT]


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## Nellie (May 9, 2017)

*Incident*

As accidents happen
I had no choice,
since it did happen
please hear my voice.

I fell into the pit
unaware, before
I could truly submit
on the ground floor.

Uppers needed downers
to ease my path,
yield my super power
spare the great wrath.

The price was paid
for the choices I made,
now the coroner waits.......


​


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## Chesters Daughter (May 11, 2017)

*Choosing Life (Mature Content)*

I stumbled upon
a place of peace
abandoned by breathers
where drunken stones
whisper wistful stories
in silence.

The heavily pregnant heavens,
equally leaden
as the weathered marble
that begged me 
to fill in the blanks,
seemed to caress my scalp
with a weighty promise
of burgeoning rebirth

and I wondered 
if that oath extended
to those deeply asleep
beneath hard-packed earth.

Morbid fancy, that,
I realized
as I envisioned
bleached digits
clawing up through dirt.

Retired bones
are best left to lie,
but what of mine,
was I here by design,
a chance encounter
or wake up call?

The frigid breath of late fall
coaxed me to resume
a quickened step
as the wind wrestled its way
into disinclined drums
with its desperate message:

"Peaceful or not,
you may not stall,
this place is not yours,
you're yet a breather,
after all.

Embrace my chill
with fully functioning sacs
and seek your solace
amonst the living,
your journey here
is corrupted by misgiving.

Death has denied
your shaky invitation

as he so detests ash
born of self-immolation.
It's time you left
and leave none bereft."

Cradled back to sanity,
I set my gas can down
upon a tipped tombstone,
inhaled deeply, 
and screamed to the heavens
of my restoration

only to burst 
both my lungs.

Alas the wind speaketh
with a forked tongue.

Or does it?

Amidst a verdant garden,
beflowered and free of serpents,
I now smile iiberated from sorrow

but had I another tomorrow,
with my resolve dissolved,
I would again have embraced my wish,
and that persistent wind knew full well
I'd eventually end up in hell,
if not by fire,
by rope, dope, or slitting my wrists;
my daily cycle
OF HIGHS
and lows
were not once missed

by the Voice in the wind
Who graciously saved 
what He'd housed
within 
my imperfect skin.


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## sas (May 11, 2017)

*
The Hard Stuff*


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## aj47 (May 11, 2017)

*The Choice*

It's to my younger self I pen this write;
you made a Choice (as feminists would say).
For you, it seemed to be the only way.
You knew that getting pregnant wasn't bright
and asked him on that hot midsummer night
while counting out what money you could pay.
He told you that he wasn't going to stay
regardless of your choice come morning light.

That past is gone; this future now is here.
Your son is grown now, with a lovely wife;
a PhD in Mathematics, too.
No, here's a tissue, wipe away that tear,
you have your letters and your normal life.
You only did what you thought best for you.


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## midnightpoet (May 12, 2017)

*
Dying to Self*


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## Tiashe (May 14, 2017)

Suspension

Time
stands still;
suspension.
Frozen in time,
I look back to the
past, where my memories
linger, beckoning to me.
But in front lies the future, with
its many mysteries and wonders;
I unfreeze time, throwing myself forward.


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## Phil Istine (May 14, 2017)

[dyed-in-the-wool]


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## Chesters Daughter (May 15, 2017)

This challenge is now closed.


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