Comes the Springtime

/ Liz H-H

Wings around a heart with halo

I’d taken to the deepest forest,

Slipping under darknight canopy,

Desperate for a glittering mask,  

A gilt-net bag of Turkish Delight,

Strands held tight in concealing ice.        

***

Climbing into the sleigh,

I’m swept away,

My heart shrinks sere in rushing wind,

Until nothing is left

In my hollowed chest.

***

Gazing sidewise, longing-wise,

Eying pomegranates and ice wine,

To become forever stilled.

***

Then you come for me,

Warm, fierce, laughing and apologetic,

On that damned polar bear:

Furs and fishy breath,

Less than perfect.

***

My heart melts,

Grows toward your light,

Still there, after all.

Because Turkish Delight never satisfies.

© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2024)

Two challenges, two prompts:

This? Write a story in exactly 6 sentences based on Denise’s one word prompt: HEART. Visit, comment, and write & post your own on Six Sentence Stories

And the other?

Carrot Ranch Prompt (02/13/2024): In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about an intolerable mask. Who is wearing the mask and why? What is so intolerable about the mask? Is there empathy for the one behind the mask? Go where the prompt leads!

22 thoughts on “Comes the Springtime”

  1. Pingback: The Intolerable Mask Collection « Carrot Ranch Literary Community

  11. Love your incorporation of Turkish Delight, a Narnian nod to transformation. The warmth we feel when the mask slips way to behold something real, authentic.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

Hello!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.