Dark house, lights out,

Long night, alone now,

Shadows move, rooms black,

Strange noise, moving about,

Heavy air, frozen feet,

Something lurks, between the sheets,

Eyes wide, skin cold,

Deep breath, long hold,

Not alone, emerging face,

Helpless, stuck in place,

Another night, darkness,

Sleeping paralysis

He’s been watching me for a while now.

I’m damn near sure of it.

I’m sitting at my desk,

right now.

The man in the window

With his pinned back smile and bright eyes

Watches me every night

Tonight, I think he intends on coming inside

The Amazon chest I ordered last week

was mistakenly delivered to a house down the street.

This got me to thinking about what’s in a name.

What’s Amazon mean besides the longest river

and the preposterous claim

about female warriors stripped of a breast

from left side of their Amazonian chests

so they could shoot arrows along with the best.

Yet neither breasts nor boobs bound or removed

help female archers or in any way improve

their shooting or fighting or even delighting

and now with all the plastic polluting that’s frightening

I’m questioning all I’ve been taught in school.

Indeed, what I’ve learned makes me mostly a fool.

So it may be time to be taught once again

about all the ideas I thought were my friends.

And what do you think? Are we on the brink

of usurping mentations that we all thought were in sync?

I’m smarter, more successful

Also sadder, more stressful

suffocating

Pit fever burning

waiting and yearning

Stomach dropped nerves

no straight lines

it‘s all curves

taking me at breakneck speed

I should be on top of the world

but I’m chasms deep

high pressure

high stakes

low faith

another mistake

time ticking to the dead line

my brain screaming it’s not fine

guilt sits, Atlas shrugged

anger burns, anxiety runs

Hello Prose family

For the last two weeks I have been looking to hear from Danceinsilence (William Pate).When I didn't hear back from him I checked on here and hospitals in NC and on Instagram. Nothing until today. I decided to call the police and had them to do a wellness check on him. The police called me back and told me that he passed away on the 25th of July but they found him in his apartment on the 28th. His investigation is pending and they wouldn't tell me how he passed. He was 76.

He was a lot of people friend on here so please leave your memories for his soul to take with him. I cried enough tears to fill a coffee pot and my face is swollen. Please give tribute and check out his writings. He was a genius and the coolest person I knew, and he will be missed! :(

F

I asked AI

to make wax fruit

Artificial intelligence

creating artificial fruits

the artificial art

of artificial art

being created

using artificial art

based on the artificial

I have always hated it. Nothing irks me quite so much as when a stranger, who happens to be taking up space where I am, looks at me boastfully, with a cocky grin, and says, "Come on, smile. Don't be so serious. It's not that bad."

Like really?! Does this person, someone I've never laid eyes on, happen to roam the recesses of my mind to know what I'm thinking? Or does that person have an inkling what is front and center in my life?" If I want to frown, by God, I'll do it, and I'll do it damn well! And don't be so freaking cocky to tell me otherwise! Sheesh!

So, yeah, I've absolutely spent 98% of my life (and I'm damn old, so that's a lot of years) being serious. Still, I can laugh with the best of them, especially if I've had a few gin and tonics. No one enjoys a joke more than me or multiple bouts of belly laughs recalling memories with my bestie. Hell, I can even laugh at myself on occasion (I've always heard you might as well laugh with the masses, especially if they're laughing at you!). Still, if I had my druthers, I'd choose seriousness over laughter. I mean, who wouldn't - in all serious earnestness - pick seriousness over laughter when you can contemplate current world affairs, decode the thoughts running rampant in your teenage (alien) daughter's psyche, question your partner's daily (and nightly) activities, or chew on the idea of what your co-worker has been saying about you? Opposed to laughing, this type of attitude is a sure win in my book and pretty much a necessity in this life, too.

It all comes down to the fact that being full of giggles and glee is highly overrated. After all, has anyone proven that laughter is good for the soul? So go ahead....prove me wrong. Until then, I'll just be seriously contemplating the philosophy of life....and what I'll eat for supper.

Negligee is the most beautiful word in the English Language to me although the French made the word. Negligee in my mind is spelled wrong yet it looks right and is pronounced awkward. With the two EE's with a hyphen at the end to pronounce AA's, changed its introduction.

Yet, it's a beautiful appearance to a sleepwear outfit to describe the sexy mood of a woman. When she is presented in this awkward word, she is seen as a Beautiful flawless vision of sexual intentions. So I will say it again, Negligee is not only beautifully named, but also beautifully presented in any language, thus being the most perfect word in the English Language.

i.

a swelling sadness

growing deep within my chest

(pulling, pressing, pushing)

seeping into everything i

touch

ii.

i should have expected less

(i should have been hurt by less)

i know it’s not your fault

(it feels like it is, though)

why did you keep

pushing, pressing, pulling?

why did you keep

going, even beyond the initial wound?

iii.

why did the disappointment

curdle in my stomach,

grab me by the throat,

twist the knife in my stomach?

iv.

i tried so hard to

not expect, to not

hurt at the absence,

but i did! my silly heart

aches.

my silly heart—expected

too much, wanted

too much, and it aches—

too much.

(WHY COULDN’T I LET IT GO! WHY CAN’T I LET GO?)

v.

it’s

five days until

my birthday. i want to

rip my heart out, set its beating

aches and wants and wishes aside

for the week. i want to let it go,

i want to stop expecting people

to do what they’ll say and

say what they’ll do and

care enough about the

silly, inconsequential date and i

want to just!! stop feeling so awful

about it all.

vi.

can’t i just have a birthday

and have it be nice?

vii.

why am i so sad about this!

i should have expected this!

i shouldn’t be hurt by this!

(five days)

(five days—)

(can my heart)

(just take a break)

(for five days)

viii.

i’m going to love and enjoy and

cherish deeply each day of

september. i’m going to love and

enjoy and cherish deeply each

day of september. whether i like it or

not, i’m going to love and

enjoy and cherish deeply

each day of september. i have to i have to

i have to! i must to survive,