# Anonymous May Challenge: "Necessary Lies"



## Chesters Daughter (May 1, 2016)

The prompt for this month's *anonymous* challenge, as chosen by Tealynn is: *Necessary Lies*

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.

*Your entry must be submitted anonymously and therefore should be PMed to me*, *Chester's Daughter**, **so that I may post it for you. Please be sure to indicate in your PM on which board you prefer your work posted, PUBLIC or WORKSHOP.

**All identities will be revealed upon the close of the poll. IF YOU WISH TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS, PLEASE SPECIFY IT WITHIN YOUR ENTRY PM.
**
***VERY IMPORTANT*** Kindly make sure your entry is properly formatted and error free before you PM it to me as you will be unable to edit your work once I have posted it. 


The inclusion of explanatory text or links of any kind within an entrant's Challenge entry is prohibited. As always, only one entry per member is permitted.

PLEASE ALSO NOTE THAT ANY ENTRY POSTED DIRECTLY TO THE BOARD WILL RESULT IN THAT PARTICULAR WORK BEING DISQUALIFIED, AND YOU WILL HAVE TO SELECT ANOTHER WORK TO ENTER ANONYMOUSLY THROUGH THE REQUIRED CHANNELS.

Do not post comments in this thread. Any discussion related to the challenge can take place in the Bards' Bistro.

Now that the 'like" function is again blessing us with its presence, we respectfully request that you refrain from using it until this thread has been closed and the poll has been opened.

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


**Important notice:* I've been a neglectful wretch and welcome any scathing comments I've clearly earned for not making you all aware of what I'm about to say in a more timely fashion. In my defense, I was loath to steer focus away from the Grand Challenge voting. Entrants will remain anonymous for both May and June as a single month was insufficient for us to truly get a feel of whether or not it works best for us. Upon announcing our June winner, I will create a poll for everyone to vote on whether we should continue with anonymous entries or not. The results of that poll will determine how we proceed in July. Thank you for your attention.


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## Chesters Daughter (May 2, 2016)

*
Be With Me*


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## Chesters Daughter (May 4, 2016)

*Sarah*


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## Chesters Daughter (May 5, 2016)

*
Necessary Lies*


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## Chesters Daughter (May 5, 2016)

*Endangered Species*

_You wiped your feet on my shame
fed your sickness with my pain
as you unfurled my trembling wings
you said "It's ok Baby, I love you"

You penetrated my silken cocoon
an exotic trophy Butterfly
pinned to your bed
you said 'It's ok Baby, you know you want it"

You sipped the essence of my tears
confused me with your touch
hushed my denial with your kisses
and said "It's ok Baby, you like it like this"

I tried to escape but could not fly
my wings were shackled with fear
utter humiliation blinded me
and you said "It's ok Baby, you asked for this"

Wounded I curled inside myself
wrapped my shame with my bruised wings
I drifted away as insubstantial as forgiveness
and you said "It's ok Baby, you got what you deserved"_


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## Chesters Daughter (May 9, 2016)

*Necessary Ink*

A measure taken, crown to toes, the tip of a chin.
A smirk and a shrug saying nothing, saying all—
A battle, two sides and only one allowed to win.

Raised reading of fabled green gables, alpine goats,
a black horse with a three penny spot, a lost shoe,
djinns, seven swans, and a girl in a rough skin coat.

Necessary lies, these stories captured in faded ink.
No truth in the words, just nonsense to illustrate—
by word, by deed: Try, yet take the time to think.

Empathy, learned through the eyes of these lies,
alongside the truth, by turns beautiful and cruel,
endowed her with the ability nay, a right to try.

Bright and swirling, both the dress and the mind,
she peered from her shell, a bubble circumscribed.
Naïve, yes, but only fools give trust that is blind.

Trust, more precious than gold, harder to earn.
By word, by deeds, secrets in the little things,
sensed, seen. A hand in trust offered in turn.

But there are those, who never sought to learn.
Folk clad in naught but ignorance seek to take,
lashing out when denied, advances spurned.

A lacquered bubble about her, a living shell—
fluid and breathing. A hint of a shimmer, there
in her eyes, the workings of some illusory spell.

It wasn’t much, but enough, to garnered a look.
He came striding up, a spoiled, polished tough.
Not of the tribes that earned, but those that took.

She might have been the first, no way to tell,
but being raised among those who seek to earn,
she told him no, gave him a look: _What the Hell!_

A hand was offered, but not one of earned trust.
Furor rising at a plain spoken no, he struck out,
leaving her, eye blackened, sprawled in the dust.

The parallels she drew, those thoughts that flew,
shock dwindling to deep seated pain—Breathe!
The tears, the price of a lesson only takers knew.

Laughter filled her ears, as she rose, wiping tears.
Spine straight, bone shattered ‘neath a purple mar,
she wouldn’t let their golden boy have her fear.

Necessary lies, those stories captured in faded ink.
Journeys come full circle, facing pasts and fears,
The axiom: Try, yes but take the time to think.

A measure taken, crown to toes, the tip of a chin.
A smirk and a shrug saying nothing, saying all—
A battle, two sides and she did not let him win.


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## Chesters Daughter (May 9, 2016)

*
Have you Ever ... ?*


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## Chesters Daughter (May 9, 2016)

*Mom's Crop*

I found Mom out back,
resplendent in a battered lawn chair,
admiring her crop
of eight yellow inhalers
(good God, she's hoarding empties),
lovingly planted
in freshly turned soil
as dark as my dread.
Orange caps
resembled warped blooms.

Dirt-encrusted 
inhaler number nine
was loosely held
in her muck-covered hand,
her mouth smeared
with loam lipstick.
Seemed exertion encouraged
enough lucidity
for her to realize
she needed a puff.

Sunlight glinted off
thick glasses
sadly magnifying clueless eyes
of brilliant blue
once as sharp as a hawk's.

Within three hours,
a new regime came into power
lorded over by illustrious
Dr. Everything Gonnabealright.
Wearing a smile of cubic zirconia,
he deftly scribbled a scrip
with a dainty hand
as pasty as fresh plaster.
One tablet b.i.d.,
with a full glass of water
if you please.
Hearty claps upon our backs
ushered us out the door.

She never knew
what the pills were for -
no answers could be coaxed
from lips sealed with cement -
"Just vitamins.", we told her.

Her intense dismay
at a three syllable word
found on page 
twenty-six 
of her paperback Webster's
tethered the truth
well within a corral of empathy,
its swinging sign proclaiming
"Leaky lips need not apply
nor are welcome."

Four years later,
I approached the subsurface abode
which was hers to share with Dad,
an almost empty vial clutched 
(practically crushed)
in a clammy claw.

I tossed a perfect pink rose,
its petals still warm with 
the breath of my final farewell,
onto ebony soil
recalling her plastic garden.
My sister wrestled the bottle
out of my death grip
whispering
"She doesn't need them anymore."

Most of her traits were buried
long before her body.
She passed never remembering
she had ever forgotten
and without the stigma
of a capital a
emblazoned into what remained
of her brain.

Our silence had ensured her peace
and protected what little was left
of struggling cerebral cells.


I've never once regretted it.


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## Chesters Daughter (May 9, 2016)

*
Everything's gonna be Alright*


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## Chesters Daughter (May 12, 2016)

Strong to the Finish
eat your spinach
don’t you want to grow up strong?
popeye is watching


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## Chesters Daughter (May 12, 2016)

*
Daddy, Please Come Home*


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## Chesters Daughter (May 15, 2016)

*Complicity*

seems, he didn't mean
another thump, covered up
with foundation cream


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## Chesters Daughter (May 15, 2016)

*
[sauce for the goose … ]​*


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## Chesters Daughter (May 15, 2016)

*
-re: c(h)root-*


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## Chesters Daughter (May 15, 2016)

This challenge is now closed.


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