I think I have the avian flu
The what?
The bird flu
Why would you say that?
Because I need to fly
Fly to where?
Anywhere away from you.
(Exactly 29 words)
Written for Sammi Cox’s Weekend Writing Prompt, where the word is “avian” in exactly 29 words. Photo credit: becuo.com.
It’s hot in the East Bay, where I live, in the summer. High temperatures are typically in the low to mid nineties with an occasional foray into triple digits. The operative word is “occasional,” and when those occasions occur, they usually last a day or two.
But those days of the low to mid nineties being the norm and triple digits being a relatively rare exception seem to have passed us by, as can be seen by the forecasted temperatures in my town over these next six days. And this is likely to get worse due to — dare I say it? — climate change.
In his Editor’s Letter in this week’s issue of The Week magazine, William Falk wrote:
The contention that climate change isn’t real has gone poof! in a wisp of smoke, like a piece of paper held under a magnifying glass on a 100-degree day. But there are still those who contend that rapidly reducing the use of fossil fuels would be too painful a price to pay, and that rather than succumb to “alarmism,” humanity should learn to “adapt” to a hotter planet.
Falk goes on to give a number of examples of the devastating effects of climate change around the globe. He adds, “All this comes after just 2 degrees Fahrenheit of warming so far. Without a dramatic reduction in greenhouse gases, we may be heading for a rise of 3 degrees F in two decades, with more to come.”
As the pandemic has shown, our species is prone to kicking the can down the road, to selfishly putting off the change and sacrifice needed to avoid collective future catastrophe. But what if the future shows up early?
As the late George Allen, the great head coach of the Washington Redskins football team said when he was named head coach in 1971, “The future is now.” But unlike his football team, the future of our planet looks pretty bleak.
Deb, over at Nope, Not Pam, has this weekly challenge called A Letter a Week, where she gives us a place, an emotion, an adjective, a verb, and an animal all starting with the same letter. Then she asks us to write a post using those items and the letter she has given us, which this week is the letter W.
Here are Deb’s W-words:
Place – whirlpool
Emotion – willful
Adjective – worldly
Verb – warp
Animal – weaver
I have to admit that I had a crush on him. He was so worldly, so wise, and oh so handsome.
My friends tried to warn me about him, but I was a willful young woman who was caught up in a whirlpool of emotions.
As I look back now after all these years, I realize that my perspectives about him were a little warped.
All he wanted from me was a piece of ass. All I wanted from him was for us to build a nest together. A modest nest for him and me and our family. A cozy nest like that of the little weaver bird in the tree that I can see just outside of my room window in the nursing home.
For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday, Jim Adams has given us a theme suggested Di of Pensitivity101. The focus is on songs involving Sounds, Talk, Voice, or Words. I chose to go with the song from Elton John titled “Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word.”
“Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word” was written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin. It was recorded by Elton John and released in 1976, both as a single and as part of the Blue Moves album. It was John’s second single released by The Rocket Record Company. The song was a Top 20 hit, reaching number. 11 in the UK, number 6 in the United States, and number 3 in Canada.
Elton John began writing this song in 1975 in Los Angeles. Normally Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics first then Elton added the music, but in this instance Elton wrote the melody and most of the words as well, with Bernie finishing them off. As Elton explained, “I was sitting there and out it came, ‘What have I got to do to make you love me.’”
The song is a mournful ballad about a romantic relationship which is falling apart. Taupin said, “It’s a pretty simple idea, but one that I think everyone can relate to at one point or another in their life. That whole idealistic feeling people get when they want to save something from dying when they basically know deep down inside that it’s already dead. It’s that heartbreaking, sickening part of love that you wouldn’t wish on anyone if you didn’t know that it’s inevitable that they’re going to experience it one day.”
Here are the lyrics to “Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word.”
What have I got to do to make you love me What have I got to do to make you care What do I do when lightning strikes me And I wake to find that you're not there? What have I got to do to make you want me What have I got to do to be heard What do I say when it's all over? And sorry seems to be the hardest word It's sad, so sad (so sad) It's a sad, sad situation And it's getting more and more absurd It's sad, so sad (so sad) Why can't we talk it over? Oh it seems to me That sorry seems to be the hardest word It's sad, so sad (so sad) It's a sad, sad situation And it's getting more and more absurd It's sad, so sad (so sad) Why can't we talk it over? Oh it seems to me That sorry seems to be the hardest word What have I do to make you love me, oh What have I got to do to be heard What do I do when lightning strikes me What have I got to do? What have I got to do? When sorry seems to be the hardest word
It’s September 4, 2022. Welcome to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (U.S.).
Today’s word is “selection.”
Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.
Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.
And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. Show them some love.
This, That, and the Other 