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Free Fall Friday Writing, a drop-in where you scribble like mad after a writing prompt
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Prompt- saying goodby
Saying goodby… There must be poems and works of art about that. Or are there? I mean, Jesus saying hello to the lady at the well, Mary Magdalene saying hello to angels at the graveside, but where does Jesus or a Prince or a Queen ever get painted saying goodby? I can hear a pop culture song in my head, “goodby, my friends, goodby” undoubtably sung in a tavern—does that count?
Does anyone say goodby in Tolkein? The ending of the great trilogy is really drawn out—as it is in the movie version—and understandably so, as three doorstop volumes deserves a final goodby. Oh, we all hated to see the elves sailing away to eternity.
Well, which painting would you hang on your wall: An elf here, or an elf going there? If of a grenadier kissing a village maiden, then “I’m back?” Or “Goodby?”
There’s a reason it’s easier to say “see ya,” or “chow, so long for now.” We can handle a delayed now, we can’t handle the Great Silence. The Japanese have a word that is more final than goodby, hence James A. Michener titled his Asian tragedy Sayonara.
It might help to remember that goodby translates to “God be with you.”
A good reply when you are embarrassed, instead of trying to bluff it out, instead of a stupid “thanks anyways” is to say, “God bless.” Or, in my case, “God bless us all… because some of us sure need it.”
I must admit I have had fights with my brother, errors with my mother. A way to cope is to see life as a fractal, each day is today, a whole day. And as Doctor Who said, “Each Christmas is (the) last Christmas.” I don’t expect any future to be better; hence I have no regrets for things unsaid. The only thing I procrastinate on is drinking booze to say goodby to things lost. Someday I will.
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prompt- embarrassing
So there I was, before a flickering fireplace, and I said to Frank, “I’ve been thinking about embarrassing.” Frank sipped his port. “The word,” I continued “the concept, the state of being.”
We were at the back of the Rat and Parrot, and the night was young.
“You mean, Joe,” he said, “like the time you slept on the porch because you didn’t want to wake up your wife, and you couldn’t find your key? And all this time she was at her mother’s?”
Now, the Rat was kind of a sports bar, I mean the TV never showed the news except on election night. Right then I was embarrassed by Frank, so I responded, “Like when Delvicio fumbled the ball at the second down, before a national audience, wasn’t that something?”
I hoped Frank wasn’t thinking about me still, as he savoured his port. “Ya, that was as bad as the time your mother in-law… never mind,” he said, as he saw me putting my wee purse back in my pocket—hints don’t get any louder than that, and he really wanted me to buy the next bottle. Now it was his turn to wildly seek a distraction. “Athletes don’t care. They have a, a sort of zen, yes, a zen of focussing on the game.”
I used my all purpose “Harumph!” Flames crackled. I said, “I’ll tell you who doesn’t feel embarrassed. Fascists. Think about it.” We both thought of the same fascists as I continued “Have you ever, even once in your life, ever heard of an embarrassed German? Or Vladimir Putin? They are going wildly through the countryside with their tanks and their cranky plans and do you ever hear of them blushing? Even if they cause the greatest Crop Failure?… It’s beyond zen. It’s psychotic.”
“Thank God for port” said Frank.
“Ya, let’s buy some more.”
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If pressed for time, the “prompt” is to make a quick “List”-
soundtrack of life
For the summer of 74, “Night Chicago died”
For summer of 75, Elton John
For sidewalk on a sunny day, “Everyone knows its’s Windy” (Yes, that’s a real name)
For sidewalk on a gloomy day, “Always look on the bright side of life”
For packing and preparing for the UK “Next plane to London, leaving on runway number 5”
For Xmas “… whizzin’ like a Sabre jet”
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Sean Crawford
Calgary
On the properly flat plains again,
April
2026
