http://slow.writerscafe.org/BGiven07 The original writings of author Brad en-us Copyright 2026 WritersCafe.org 1775964426 WritersCafe.org RSS Generator 15 They are still thereThe places that matteredWhere you were moldedWhere you were aliveWhere now you are a ghostFaces, names, memoriesWhat you’d never forgetMoments that were foreverForever only momentsSlipping away quietly Into the fog of yearsThe future .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2878556/ “I did the best I could”An arrogant lie, more likeI did the best I wanted toMemories haunting, envelopingSmotheringGod grant me do-oversThey can’t be changed Learn and move forward!Is no comfort but despairWhat have I missed?What have I lost?.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2866458/ Blessed!  Blessed isthe hook that catches Not the mouth but the soulHigh fantasy, delightfully woven!  Making real the places that aren’t But always have beenNot read but lived!The heart carries the Ring, awaits ArthurSails to Roke, opens the wardrobe.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2861304/ The knight slumped against the moist wall of the cavern andopened his visor.  His ears were stillringing from the deafening crash of the entrance caving in behind him.  His torch weakly sputtered in the nowstagnant air.  “What foul luck!” he saidto himself.  T.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2860050/ He’s building a house out of paper macheOn a hill in a land where it rains every dayWhatever is finished dissolves in the mistHe knows it is useless and yet he persistsHe could build out of wood, he could build out of stoneBut over and over he rebuilds, alone“The .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2860049/ A trip to the doctor goes horribly wrong http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2838889/ Our friend who left too soon. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2838123/ Written as the pandemic unfolded http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2172550/ He stands on a sticky stage in a dingy clubAlone with his guitar and his dreamsHis voice and soul poured out in every lineThe cheap sound system weakly projectingIdle conversation drowns him outGone are the crowds and contractsHe sings to tens where once was hundredsThe a.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2171995/ Stay with me child, for the forest is close!             Our path is perilous, narrow, and easily lostThe dark all around hides danger and fearStay with me child and we’ll make it through here! Run with me Dad.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2169333/ What comfort naivete! What a curse to know!To know is to know that you don’t knowThe one that knows cannot not know, and so pursuesThe things that make us and hold our heartsWhere the soul rests, the more they are lovedSlowly grow until the pattern cannot hold th.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2159257/ The slugger digs in, with a grin for the pitcherHis sturdy hands crush the bat handleSawdust squeezes between his knucklesThrough a cheek full of seeds, he calls out his challenge“Give me your best shot old man!”The fans fall silent, anticipatingFrom the mound, .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2152778/ The pink coat and yellow hat careen back and forth over thepathMy little duck, giggling, searching for dandelionsAnnouncing her finds, bringing them to me for safekeepingNot weeds today, they are flowers for mama http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2148700/ Sounds of wind and road coalesce into a formless musicTrees loom on either side, a darker black-on-black againstthe night skyThe world is shrunken, reduced to what the headlights revealI am in no hurryI am free http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2147920/ The blast of a rocket you’ll never hearFamilies in a building you’ll never set footMurdered by circumstances you’ll never encounter The drowning of a man to whom you’ll never speakWith his daughter in a river you’ll never wadeMurdered by.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2126948/ The fog blanket, thick and impenetrableSurrounds the lifeboat, adrift, utterly aloneThe only sound the slap of waterI row because I must, though I don't know where I'm goingTo rest, to lay down the oars, and let the Sea have its wayWould be sweet, my weary labors unavailingIn.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2120144/ Give me a boat on still waterA forgotten book and fishing poleSlipping from relaxed fingersWhile birds and insects sing a lullabyGive me a scenic overlookTrees one-sided from prevailing windA view down distant valleysDissolving into purple mistGive me Little League gamesFaces sticky, dirty, and redT.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2118089/ I laughed too loudlyDid you hear me?I lingered in the corner of your eyeDid you see me?I left and returned with feigned purposeDid you notice me?I sat so that our knees might touchDid you feel me?I said “Good Night”Do you love me? http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2117773/ Short story fantasy http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2117462/ Your title is stupidYour idea is contrivedSays the VoiceYour word choices weakYou’re trying too hardDon’t bare your soulDon’t show your painNobody caresIf you share what you makeAwkward questions awaitSo, aborted dreams and withered stori.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2117460/ The Earth quakes unceasingNot, though, from colliding continentsGrinding along their tectonic journeyNo! Her circumference is concussedRockets, bombs, vests of deathSoulless drones, bullets and gasSuffering indiscriminate, sparing noneShe receives her children, to dus.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2117459/ Remember, ye who tread the high placesRejoicing in their splendor and majestyBreathing the air that bathes the starsThat mountains are born of tormentThe collision of tonnage unmeasuredMighty peaks belie dreadful precipicesGlistening virgin snow becomes the avalancheThe.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2117456/ The weed bucket sat in the hot, humid soilAwaiting the gardeness’s returnEager, his duty to performAt last, here she comes!Laden with Spring’s usurpers, dandelions and thistlesBut what’s this?She freezes mid-step, turning on her heelFlinging down his pur.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2117454/ Mighty Sol risesKindling the sky in silent flameDarkness banished, the stars put to flightApollo’s chariot, last fruit of LaurelinPerilous to beholdSustainer of all life knownBut in the panoply of heavenMerely dust, spinning through eternity http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2117452/ My captors degrade my beauty and pawn my wealthTheir forked tongues deceive my people with false promisesThey have no plan for us!We are a means to an endThey labor for the enrichment of distant mastersDesiring their patronageTheir legacy will be pits and ashesBut my .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2117451/ The dirt andgraveled path, ribbed with reaching rootsWinds awayout of sightA shaft ofsunlight eludes the canopy’s leavesAnd strikesthe mist, furling, about the dew-soaked treesThe birdschatter, the brush rustles,The smell ofthe Earth risesSuddenly,.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2117450/ Throw your days into the airSee them spiraling down like maple seedsTell one from another, if you canDo they all weigh the same?Grasp for them as they passChase the wind http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2117448/ This was a metaphor for the difference in outward appearances and internal conflict I felt when I started to try to work though my mental health issues. No one knows what is inside. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2117447/ Almost HeavenVandalia of the rhododendronsBorn from Civil War, and the better angels of our natureHer Sons and Daughters came from nothingMade their lives from nothingBut it was their nothingAnd they didn’t ask for moreThough they owed their souls to the company.. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2117442/ A trail of tears connects every corner of the landSmallpox blankets and massacres with names200 years of original sin, whose insidious echoesreverberate stillA nation of immigrants, a melting potWith each new wave of the dispossessed, seeking the hope weclaimFinding only .. http://slow.writerscafe.org/writing/BGiven07/2117441/