Two "Reset" Poems

(from Writer’s Digest December prompts) 12.3.16 by acfonte

Reset Uno

Nothing is quite right today. It started with the porch light blinking in the dark—

A response to a feral cat, blustery breeze or errant footsteps?

Unsettling, my dreams were dotted with

Faces from the ashen past, names from an afternoon movie.

In the morning, my toast burned.  I put too much water in the plant pot

And water spilled to the concrete floor.

At the gym, as I bicycled in place,

My muscles trembled and heart fluttered.

Then, at the café,

My sample coffee was too sweet,

The room temperature shifted from heat to ac and back again,

My orange sweater was tight.

Finally, I laughed at the poetry prompt to “reset.”

Okay, so I have.

Can I get off that bicycle now?

Ovillejo: Reset Deux (a Spanish poetry form)

How can I stop trembling in place?

It takes less space.

I practice my balance with care,

Arms high in air.

Like a cactus of certain age,

Nature’s green sage.

She offers me another stage

Where fear is quiet and hope is high,

So I grab hold as faith flies by—

It takes less space, arms high in air, Nature’s green sage.

Wednesday's Win

[the next three "happiest words"]

Joy--gladness, delight, glee, cheer, sunshine, cheefulness (Roget's Thesaurus)

Successful--Last night we watched the movie "The Finest Hours". According to Disney who lost 75 million on the movie, it was not a success.  But we would argue that is was successful to us: it lifted our spirits into the cloudy night, amazed our eyes with its technical beauty, stirred our sense of hope in human perserverance through able acting, and distracted us (successfully) from the political noise on television.

Win--At what age do we learn that to win is better than to lose?  Does it happen before we start school, grades and ranking?  Do we learn it at home from our families, friends?  I am trying to recall when I first sensed that I would not always win (and that winning was happier than losing)--.  My memory goes back to playing jacks with my older cousin, Sarah.

Being older, her fingers and hands were more adept at throwing the ball and scooping the metal pieces into her hands.  I learned that "more" (jacks in hand) were better than fewer and the higher the ball bounced, chances to grab more jacks increased--to a point. But if the ball went too high or too far, all was lost.  I think I was four or five when I learned this.

And I guess I am still learning what it means to win....  Today it means a clean mammogram, results from blood work that need only modest tweaks in medication, and, of course a major win is waking up each morning and being able to breath, move, swim, write.