Beneath blood-red sunset
she met her ex.
Tinction blotted sky
with angry cloud canopy,
festered over sea.
She should have known.
Fatal mistake.
His, not hers.
His passion revealed in fists.
Her dignity recouped,
but at a price.
Life sentence.
Sky now cement blocks.
Posted to dVerse, the virtual pub for poets, where today Linda asks us to use the word “extinction” or a form of the word, in the body of a quadrille (poem of exactly 44 words, sans title). Extinction does appear in Lifer. Do you see it?
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines tinction as the act or process of staining or dyeing: coloring matter.
Photo taken in Provincetown, Cape Cod.
lillian the home poet 
To me it seems like there were a choice of two kinds of life sentences…. her choice was the one of preserving her dignity.
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Wow Lillian! What a story here in only 44 words. Bravo.
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Being battered with a fist is one of those irreversible moments, like having a limb severed. You know things will never be the same. Whomever was battered has my sympathy for the grief you capture here in your poem.
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I like the description of “life sentence”.
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Oh my Lillian, that’s some powerful, and costly retribution. But one’s gotta do what one’s gotta do.
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That’s a heavy price to pay but some do make that choice. Powerful little story there, Lill. And yes, I finally saw your use of the word, at first I thought you hadn’t used it! Silly me… 🙂
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Such a dramatic and powerful theme Lillian – what a price indeed. And I love that photo – spectacular sight.
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A sad extinction for sure!
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Wow. You packed a lot into that 44. Loved the full circling of the skies in this. Well, her life is sentenced but not extinguished.
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Clever use of the prompt word, Lill! I love the way you sandwiched the story between two types of sky, and the pathetic fallacy of the opening lines is stunning.
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wonderful read/write, Lillian, so much and so compact, especially love the way you used extinction.
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This is a powerful poem, so briefly and well written.
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Harsh. but then life sometimes is. (K)
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