Single in the City

lillian

Perfectly happy
in her narrow galley kitchen,
she planed to outgrow it.
The oversized refrigerator
became her gallery of sorts.
Photos of him taped to the door,
ultimately yanked off in anger
before the catsup was even gone.
New boys appeared and disappeared,
friends she planned to feed into lovers.
Time emptied the tape dispenser.
No boys, just gummy residue.
So she walked in the rain one day
going store to store, on a magnet spree.
Colorful dots. Hearts. Fanciful sayings.
Two bright rainbows.
And one empty royal blue photo frame
she stuck on the far-right upper corner
of the freezer door.
She was, after all, an optimist
through and through.

 

I’m hosting dVerse today, the virtual pub for poets. It’s Tuesday Poetics and I’m asking folks to walk into their kitchen and peruse their refrigerator! Look inside. Look at the outside. What do you see that strikes your imagination that can be a jumping off point for a poem! Describe an object or use it somehow in a poem. Our refrigerator doors have always been a “gallery” of sorts with magnets and photos and sayings. So, looking at ours, I made up a young woman who uses her refrigerator door in somewhat the same way.
Pub opens at 3 PM Boston time.  Come visit and chill out with us today!

47 thoughts on “Single in the City”

    • lillian October 10, 2017 / 3:12 pm

      I’m sure she picked that up in her shopping spree! 🙂

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  2. marley raine October 10, 2017 / 3:31 pm

    I love this line so much: “Time emptied the tape dispenser.”

    Then the last several lines, especially this:

    “So she walked in the rain one day
    going store to store, on a magnet spree.
    Colorful dots. Hearts. Fanciful sayings.”

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • lillian October 10, 2017 / 3:33 pm

      Glad you enjoyed! 🙂 It was a fun one to write.

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    • lillian October 10, 2017 / 3:54 pm

      Thank you! Somehow, I felt like being light-hearted today 🙂 Glad you enjoyed.

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    • lillian October 10, 2017 / 4:05 pm

      Glad you enjoyed! Fun to provide some chuckles once in a while 🙂

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  5. kim881 October 10, 2017 / 4:23 pm

    Oh, this is such fun to read and a familiar scene – the fridge as a gallery. I love the lines:
    ‘Time emptied the tape dispenser.
    No boys, just gummy residue’.
    I have a fridge magnet that says: ‘The more I know about men, the more I love my cat’!
    Hooray for optimists!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • lillian October 11, 2017 / 8:48 am

      Glad you enjoyed, Kim. I had fun writing this one….creating another person. It’s been fun to read the takes on this prompt. Many chose the haibun route. I do think a fridge is a repository…of memories, likes, dislikes….almost a diary when you think about it!

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    • lillian October 11, 2017 / 8:49 am

      Yes, indeed! Thanks for stopping by, Jane…and for participating in the prompt.

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  7. peterfrankiswrites October 10, 2017 / 5:05 pm

    Such fun. the ‘gummy residue’ is so poignant and the ‘gallery of sorts’ is a wonderful pun.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • lillian October 11, 2017 / 8:50 am

      Glad you enjoyed! I do believe a fridge is a respository…of memories, likes, dislikes. Fun to peek inside the posts of dVerse folks for this one! Glad you stopped by and glad you posted too.

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  8. jillys2016 October 10, 2017 / 6:31 pm

    This is clever and cute and I think you should pitch it to the networks for prime time!

    Liked by 1 person

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    • lillian October 11, 2017 / 8:51 am

      Oh my! Thanks, Jilly. I did enjoy creating this character. I guess I really do believe a refrigerator is a respository of memories, likes, dislikes, and sometimes even a diary! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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  9. Charley October 10, 2017 / 6:35 pm

    A game show: The Empty Frame. No, a tragic sitcom… How I Didn’t Meet Your Father. I loved the set-up of this poem.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • lillian October 11, 2017 / 8:52 am

      Thanks for the smile this morning, Charley! Sipping my coffee reading your response. Love the Empty Frame idea….kind of a diary of her love life — inside and outside the fridge!

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      • Charley October 11, 2017 / 5:59 pm

        It could be big! A big, double fridge!

        Liked by 1 person

    • lillian October 11, 2017 / 8:52 am

      Thanks, Frank. After I read it aloud, I almost changed it thinking it made her sound like a vampire! LOL

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  12. Waltermarks October 10, 2017 / 7:49 pm

    They say the road to a man’s heart is through his tummy. Maybe she wasn’t a good paver.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • lillian October 11, 2017 / 8:54 am

      Hah! Good response 🙂 I do think the refrigerator door of many becomes a diary — or somewhat of a Facebook wall! 🙂

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      • Waltermarks October 11, 2017 / 9:42 am

        That’s the one part I never clean off, unless something really bad spilled there

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    • lillian October 11, 2017 / 8:55 am

      Indeed they do…a repository of sorts…diary…memories…likes…dislikes…chilly facebook of friends LOL

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  14. adda October 10, 2017 / 9:23 pm

    An very enjoyable read. I must be related, my refrigerator door is covered with images of family held in place by various magnets. ❤

    Liked by 1 person

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    • lillian October 11, 2017 / 8:55 am

      Hah! A chilly Facebook wall 🙂

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  15. Feelings and Freedom October 11, 2017 / 12:31 am

    What a great read! After reading the prompt at dVerse, I’d expected something on your refrigerator but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I love optimistic people 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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    • lillian October 11, 2017 / 8:56 am

      Optimistic…..the only way to be! 🙂 That’s why I decided to rejuvenate rather than retire!

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  16. Kathy Reed October 11, 2017 / 1:31 am

    People have distinct tastes when it comes to their choice of magnets. Optimism is universal and brightens the kitchen, as you say, but who’s face Will fill the empty blue frame? 🙂

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    • lillian October 11, 2017 / 8:57 am

      That’s the big question, right? I had fun with the write. Sometimes it feels good to just create some other character as I write…another person from my imagination. I do however, think that a refrigerator door and even the contents of the fridge, can tell a lot about a person!

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  17. sarahsouthwest October 11, 2017 / 7:10 am

    I love (and kind of fear) her relentless optimism. You’ve created someone real here – I feel like I know her just from this.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • lillian October 11, 2017 / 8:58 am

      Hah! She came alive for me as I penned out the piece. Sometimes I enjoy “creating” other people with words. They’re very easy and fun to dress! 🙂

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  19. Candy October 11, 2017 / 1:25 pm

    I love how the fridge shows how her life changes

    Liked by 1 person

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    • lillian October 11, 2017 / 4:13 pm

      Funny you should say that….in the first write, one of the magnets mentioned in the poem was I Heart New York…….but it was dropped in the final writing. Glad you enjoyed!

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  21. Susan Anderson October 11, 2017 / 3:17 pm

    Delightful! And we were kind of on the same page…but maybe a different paragraph. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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    • lillian October 11, 2017 / 4:14 pm

      Yep! 🙂 So glad you enjoyed and posted too!

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