Octaves

I always get in trouble with octaves. My fingers are not designed to stretch out far enough and I end up with pain at every single attempt. The tune they make is clumsy either and I stumble on each cascading key. I remember, once, my tutor told me to slow down and to not make haste. To stop trying too hard to reach the keys because only time, he said, can tell when I’m ready. My fingers will learn the rhythm like  a heartbeat and if they still can’t stretch, I must not give up.  The piano has 88 keys and a hundred more possibilities.

I had to laugh. I thought we were only talking about octaves.

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It’s a rainy holiday season here in PH and the bed weather pulled the keyboard and I closer these days. I still find it a challenge though to play with octaves. Haha. Them little hands. So here goes something. 🙂

Writers Quote Wednesday: Goodbyes

And every time you hurt me, the less that I cry
And every time you leave me, the quicker these tears dry
And every time you walk out, the less I love you
Baby, we don’t stand a chance, it’s sad but it’s true
I’m way too good at goodbyes

Have you ever been through a lot of goodbyes that you eventually become too good at it?

However poetically beautiful goodbyes may be, most of us here prefer the opposite. Nobody wants the dreaded separation from a fond moment or a person— for a while or for good.

I haven’t been through a lot of goodbyes (and I would like to keep it that way) but I think I’ve been through a number of unsaid ones. Those silent goodbyes that likens to letting go of a hand that you never held. Like the setting free of someone or something that wasn’t yours in the first place. You see, I learn my lessons slow and I’m only good at one sigh at a time.

Maybe this is why I’ve been replaying this certain song lately. Too Good at Goodbyes is a single by English singer-songwriter, Sam Smith, who has been away from the limelight for two years. The song just shoves depths of melancholy. It’s sad and hopeful intertwined.

Hope you enjoy it. 🙂

Spilling Whiskey and Secrets

Spilling Whiskey and Secrets

Sleeping at my doorstep
Dried tears on my cheeks
Another whiskey down
Whisking memories out
Another night of tale-tells
Of drunken soliloquies
Won’t anybody listen?
Won’t anybody care?

There’s a story at the bottom of this bottle…

Let’s spill the night
With secrets—
You be the legend,
I be the pen.

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In response to dVerse’s Poetics: Musical Muse. Today, Mish asks us to choose some lyrics, preferably one line from a favorite song and grow our own poem from it.

Just recently, I drew the image above with the lyrics from one of my favorite punk rock bands, All Time Low. The song is entitled, Dear Maria, Count Me In, which they said was inspired by a stripper named Maria. *chuckles* Here’s my take.

Head over here to join the fun!

Unceasing

Unceasing
A Realistic Fiction

A piano sits in the empty room where Amy used to play with her heart poured in every key, her fingers tapping to the tune of Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, and Debussy. But one accident and, in the blink of an eye, those days were gone.

“Do you know the first thing I did after I find out I have ALS?” A voice came from behind and she turned to find her mother’s weak smile. “I started swimming. I lived my life doing the thing I love the most. I swum rivers, beaches, and pools until this disease finally took away my strength. That morning, I felt like I died a thousand times and all those years of fight were pointless.””

Her mother paused, catching her breath. “But there are things that even death cannot take.” She walked slowly towards Amy, with eyes brimming with tears. “Love. My love for water never ceased… And so should your love for music, my child.”

Word Count: 162

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Here is for Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers prompt. This week’s photo prompt was taken from a hidden paradise near our place. It was not until last year that the locals discovered how beautiful this river was.

P.S. My deepest condolences to PJ and her family. You have my prayers and love. Please take care and stay strong PJ. ❤

Enjoy more stories here:

A River Flows in Me

River Flows in Me

I dipped my feet in the river
Where our love was baptized
Felt the rush of the water
I was left hypnotized

What could have gone wrong?
What could have we done?
When all we have was one love
Under the shining sun
Was all the fight not worth it?
Where was the love we breathed?
Have let go of our fate?
And succumbed to hate?

I thought our love was endless
Like the river to the sea
But while streams thread the mountains
A river flows in me…

© 2017 Maria. All Rights Reserved.

Image Source:  Favim

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In response to dVerse’s Poetics: The River hosted by our guest, Paul Dear.

At first I was thinking of writing about my recent trip for today’s prompt but a single speck of dust that goes by the name of Gina has already wrote what my heart would want to say. Please shower her some love and read her piece, The River. 🙂

Meanwhile, this piece is inspired by one of my favorite music from Yiruma entitled, River Flows in You. This song, though only played without words, begins and ends with so much emotion in every key. Have a lovely evening! ❤

Head over here to join the fun:

The Soloist

The Soloist

Deeper than the ocean
Higher than the sky
Fighting laws of motion
When there was you and I

You’re the force to my inertia
Heartbeats accelerate
Our actions and reactions
Are signed and sealed by fate

Alice couldn’t help but smile at the sound of the man’s voice. She knew that soulful tone for as long as she could remember. How could she not when she calls her ‘dad’?

They are not homeless nor do they live a pitiable life. But her dad has always been a great man. He would rise early in the morning and take out his guitar ensemble out to the center of the town.

“This world could use some music”, he would say.

Looking at the audience gathered around the soloist, she does agree.

Word Count: 130

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Here is for Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers prompt. This week’s photo prompt is provided by Sunayana MoiPensieve. Thanks PJ for hosting another fun prompt.

Enjoy more stories here:

MAGDALENE: The Ritual

A moth to a flame, they dance the night
A bite to a sin, the fire ignites
Hazy eyes from burning desire
“Hallelujah”, sings the choir

Carnal pursuit— a worship to Eros
Thorn-laced soul to taste a rose
On a moonlit night, waltz to paradise
At the break of dawn, pay the price

© 2016 Maria. All Rights Reserved.

Image Source: Favim

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Written for November Notes hosted by two lovely and awesome writers, my dearie Rosema of A Reading Writer and Sarah of Heartstring Eulogies. Come, join the musical fun!

Music Prompt for Day 11: Paradise Circus by Massive Attack. This one is also inspired by the previous poem, Magdalene.

An Inch Closer: Renegades

Perhaps an inch closer is all we need. Let’s be two renegades running away from a world of reason— forget chasing the secrets tomorrows hold and live the now. We need not let our minds speak for silence speaks louder under the moonlit sky. Let’s meet halfway where silhouettes dance around a bonfire. And if this world deems ours is but a dream then let’s dream harder tonight. Let the colors burst from our eyes brighter than neon lights. So, baby, how about you take your first step and I’ll take mine?

© 2016 Maria. All Rights Reserved.

Image Source: Favim

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Written for November Notes hosted by two lovely and awesome writers, my dearie Rosema of A Reading Writer and Sarah of Heartstring Eulogies. Come, join the musical fun!

Music Prompt for Day 8: Perfect Strangers by Jonas Blue. This one’s also inspired by my previous poem, An Inch Closer.

Stargazing

Tell me how you see the universe
Show me what ignites the fire within you
Take me to the spot where the sun kisses the horizon
And to the darkest dark where your demons reside
Do not dread that I may leave or run from fright
For I will bleed myself dry just to gaze the stars
And see how they shine from your very eyes

© 2016 Maria. All Rights Reserved.

Image Source: Favim

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Written for November Notes hosted by two lovely and awesome writers, my dearie Rosema of A Reading Writer and Sarah of Heartstring Eulogies. Come, join the musical fun!

Music Prompt for Day 7: Yellow by Coldplay.