3/30/2010

100-Word Challenge: Swollen

This is my submission for Velvet Verbosity's 100-Word Challenge, temporarily hosted by LouCeel here

Stop by and look in the Comments for links to more 100-Word entries. As Lou said, “These people are GOOD.”

The word for this week’s challenge is swollen.

Swollen with Tears

She didn’t ask for much, only an hour.
Just one hour with the lights out.
One hour of opportunity to sit in the dark and talk about her plight.
One hour with the family to discuss ways to help her survive.

Many of her children never even heard her plea for support.
And, of those who did, most just couldn’t seem to manage it.
They were too busy, had things to do.
They couldn’t spare the time, even one hour, to help.

So on March 27, Earth Hour came and went,
While the lights stayed on.

And Mother Nature wept.

************************************************* 

Photos by Boston Globe Staff Photographers

Governor Patrick again declares emergency; Guardsmen on flood alert
By David Abel, Boston Globe Staff  |  March 30, 2010
The third heavy storm of this month’s massive rains prompted Governor Deval Patrick to declare a state of emergency yesterday for the second time in March and activate National Guard units to stem the damage of more flooding in the waterlogged state.
As of late yesterday afternoon, more than 11 inches of rain had fallen in Boston this month, making it the most rainfall in March on record and breaking the city’s record set in March 1953, said a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Taunton.
Almost 3 1/2 inches of rain fell yesterday, and another 3 1/3 inches are expected before the storm tapers off tomorrow.
 

8 comments:

  1. nice. i like your 100 words...a sad tale indeed...too many an ear falls deaf...

    could not resist popping in. will be back fully tomorrow.

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  2. Wow I loved your 100 ... Some people live with blinkers on & live so selfishly. This is world is not just for the world of today but also the world of our future generations. Our children, our children's children & so on. What we do now can make a difference to them. It's a very sad thing, that they couldn't just take their blinker off for this one hour!!! Very sad!

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  3. What if we made decisions with a view to 7 generations hence?

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  4. I made myself wait to read yours until I finished mine- I enjoy your writing so much that I was worried I would absorb it and echo it, somehow.

    This is so well-constructed, Patti. A fierce message from Earth to us, by way of You.

    Thank you for this.

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  5. Brian: Thank you for taking a moment out of your well-deserved time off to "pop in" and comment. I value your visits.

    Katherine: I agree. I was distressed to realize that my own grown kids, who are great at preaching green, did not answer the call.

    Grandmother Mary: Sadly, I think that is just what we are doing. Heaven help our descendants. They may live in a world that looks like some post-apocalyptic movie set: dark, dry, and desperate.

    Ti: I hear you. I have the same... (Hm, not sure what to call it. Problem? No indeed. Danger? Nope. Issue? Maybe.) I have the same issue when reading your words. They often feel like they are coming out of my head. Must be genetics.

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  6. You gave such a human feeling to Earth Hour, I never thought of it this way before... thank you!

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  7. Loved your taken on this prompt! A great, interesting, sad take on this issue. Good job.

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Thoughts? I would love to hear from you.