Weekly Short Stories Contest and Company! discussion

A Breakfast Buffet (Haiku)
By Brett A. Starr on June 19, 2021

A breakfast buffet
Inviting one to chow down
Makes a sore belly.

Brett wrote: "A Breakfast Buffet (Haiku)
By Brett A. Starr on June 19, 2021

A breakfast buffet
Inviting one to chow down
Makes a sore belly."

Love it!

POET: Garrison Kelly
TITLE: Feels Like Homework
GENRE: Emo Rap
RATING: PG for language


CHORUS 1
Chowing down on food feels like homework
Being in a good mood feels like homework
Everything you do feels like homework
Feels like homework, feels like homework

VERSE 1
When getting A’s and B’s is all you’ve known
Getting anything less can make you feel alone
Ego takes a bruising, but not as bad as the brain
Every failure makes you question if you’re sane
Pop the pills like they’re Butterfinger BB’s
Eat every single pizza from the kitchen at Cici’s
No exercise today, because what’s the point?
Lay on the couch, watch the tube, smoke a joint

CHORUS 2
Playing videogames feels like homework
Remembering your name feels like homework
Doing more of the same feels like homework
Feels like homework, feels like homework

VERSE 2
Got an hour to kill before you hit the sack
Read a cheap romance from your library stack
Write a story or two about murderous goblins
Watch BoJack Horseman, get on with the sobbing
Every leisure activity comes with a final grade
Forever shamed for the lack of money made
Calling in sick starts to feel necessary
“Sorry, boss man, I’m ready to be buried”

CHORUS 3
Leaving the house feels like homework
Clicking the mouse feels like homework
Wearing Levi Strauss feels like homework
Feels like homework, feels like homework
Breathing in and out feels like homework
Asking what life’s about feels like homework
Disproving your doubt feels like homework
Feels like homework, feels like homework

VERSE 3
Tell the English professor as you leave her class
“You can take your D- and shove it up your ass!”
Tell the math department when you graduate
“You deserve every ounce of venom and hate!”
Tell the history department when you retire
“I hope this whole school gets set on fire!”
Tell the universe when it’s ready to take you
“Let me rest in peace or I’ll fucking make you!”

Brett wrote: "A Breakfast Buffet (Haiku)
By Brett A. Starr on June 19, 2021

A breakfast buffet
Inviting one to chow down
Makes a sore belly."

As someone who used to make myself nauseous by eating too much at buffets, I can confirm this haiku to be 100% true. I've gotten better at managing my meals, but it's still 100% true. Great job, Brett! Short and sweet, not unlike a strawberry shortcake one would probably find in a buffet line. :)

To Chow Down

To have my fill
Chow down on filth
So much I crave
Barrels on hills

To eat my ways
All my old days
I used to go
But couldn't stay

To stop the pit
I'd wait and sit
inside this ditch
Indulge on ****

Yet when I found
A one who'd take
My horrid hills
In His namesake

I'd see the vast
Valleys and seas
That His mercy
drew for no sick

To only say
"Yes I want gift."
Yet all this stuff
Came somehow with

Such mercies loves
I don't deserve
Only grateful
Is how ones serve...

To give honor
To friends need due
Because of love
It's only through

When I seek me
all that I see
Are deep ditches of selfishness

When I realize
Only when I'm
not being self, I see depths of Heart

Written today.

Oh yeah and to everyone Happy Father's Day if you're a dad!

Midsummer

A pollen-covered bumble bee,
that cloudless morning, made his rounds
of Rose-of-Sharon blossoms. Sounds
of holiday activity

came from the cove, the bannered dock.
A man stood by a sleek ski boat.
A child splashed on an orange float.
A woman in a Talbot’s frock

gazed out across the sparkling lake.
The bee, once finished with his feast,
sped off into the glowing east.
A cork bobbed in a Chris-Craft’s wake.

Garrison wrote: "Brett wrote: "A Breakfast Buffet (Haiku)
By Brett A. Starr on June 19, 2021

A breakfast buffet
Inviting one to chow down
Makes a sore belly."

As someone who used to make myself nauseous by eating..."

Thanks, Garrison. I was having trouble coming up with something for this week's topic. You certainly didn't - good job! In my situation, I have recently engaged in e-mail dialogue with my high school english teacher. He was the one who introduced the world of poetry to me. We had been exchanging e-mails over the past few weeks/months. It just so happened that 2 days after the 'chow down' announcement, I received an e-mail from my teacher, who is 90 now, if I ever considered using haikus to express my thoughts. He said the object is saying a lot in a few words. And of course, there's the syllable count thing... Then, BAM, it hit me. A breakfast buffet...the rest is history. I then wrote two more haikus that morning. It was quite liberating. So, I guess you could say that I'm more appreciative of art of the haiku than I was before. I wrote a couple more, but they are quite different. I may post them soon in the haiku section. Anyway, Garrison, I thought you'd like to know the explanation of my strawberry short cake poem this time. haha I wish you the best.

C. J. wrote: "
To Chow Down


To have my fill
Chow down on filth
So much I crave
Barrels on hills

To eat my ways
All my old days
I used to go
But couldn't stay

To stop the pit
I'd wait and sit
inside this di..."

Excellent, C.J.

M wrote: "Midsummer

A pollen-covered bumble bee,
that cloudless morning, made his rounds
of Rose-of-Sharon blossoms. Sounds
of holiday activity

came from the cove, the bannered dock.
A man stood by a sleek..."

Nice job, M! Iambic tetrameter, ABBA, profound message, and word selection paints a vivid picture. I love it!

Funny you should mention that, Brett, because I wrote my first haiku the other day on Twitter, which was a way to hype up my WIP. I didn't think I could pull it off at first, but apparently, it went over smooth as silk. Like you, I also gained more respect for the art form and I'm considering doing another haiku in the future. There really is a lot to be said about getting a message across in such a limited space. You did that quite well, Brett. Thanks for your entry!

Thank you, Brett!

Beautiful, Alex! I love the writing and images in this.

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