The Masquerade Party (NaPoWriMo)

The forest was alive in the tree tops
With the masquerade ball in full swing.
A quartet of crickets played for the crowd
Under the full moon soft and glowing.

 

On a thin, small branch above the rest
The ant host smiled wide
To see the costumes on all the guests
Like a dream come awake in the night.

 

Down on the thickest of branches,
Where the revelers danced in pairs,
Was the squirrel dressed up like a peacock
With his date, who attracted stares.

 

And beside them, two sparrows danced
One with eight sticks tied to his back
The other had a tail, much like a fox
Made of pine needles and white lilac.

 

Far below, on the forest floor
The deer and the rabbits were left out.
Even the bear got a peek of the fun,
When the rabbits sent them up to scout.

 

But hooves are no good for climbing
And rabbits claws are not strong enough
So, on the ground they sat in a circle
With their necks bent up toward the mischief.

 

“I bet it’s beautiful,”
One of the rabbits sighed.
“I’m sure it’s a spectacle,”
One of the deer replied.

 

A bear shimmied down from a forest tree
With a crown of feathers on his head.
“The birds are offering free costumes!
Just ask one of them!” He said.

 

“I can carry a rabbit up to the main limb,
But I don’t have space for a deer.”
The rabbits all leapt for joy at the thought,
But the deer did not cheer.

 

Just then, an eagle and an owl fluttered down.
“We heard that the deer wanted in.
Alone, we are not strong enough
But together, it’s a snap,” they grinned.

 

One deer at a time, the two raptors carried
Until the tree branches began to bend.
And all the animals continued to dance
As the night blushed to an end.

Seahorses and Cnidarians (NaPoWriMo)

Her eyes peeked out from within the veil

Of coral tentacles at the edge of the shelf.

I could just make out her lovely tail

Which curled elegantly around a stalk.

 

My jellyfish friend descended lightly

Where the current hit the coral reef.

To his fellow cnidarian, he waved politely;

The coral answered in rhythm with the waves of the sea.

 

I picked myself up from where I had been sinking

Deep into his soft, balloon-like skin

and slid down his side, carefully avoiding

His stinging barbs, which he swayed away from me.

 

I saw her lacy fin shivering between the stalks

And I shambled over to meet her.

Swimming was more difficult than I thought

It had been so long since I had bothered.

 

My thin little fin barely held me upright

While my nose pulled me down like an anchor.

From a short ways away, I could hear her delight

Though, I think it was more of amusement.

 

I puffed myself up as big as I could

Full of joy to finally see another.

She came out to greet me where I stood

And blushed into my same colors.

 

My jellyfish friends couldn’t stay any longer

The current was picking up again.

But I knew that I couldn’t leave her

She meant more than a new best friend.

 

With a twinge of sadness, I nodded goodbye

To the jellyfish drifting off.

My time with them, I wouldn’t wish to modify.

But a new chapter in my life just began.

 

The Ant and the Squirrel (in 50 Words)

“You’re not a butterfly,”
Said the squirrel.
“Those are leaves.”
He flicked his bushy tail.

 

“Haven’t you ever wanted
To be something other then brown?”
The ant straightened his wings
Which were drooping down.

 

The squirrel went silent,
Then darted off, but came back

As something new–

“I’m a peacock.”

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/04/07/writing-challenge-fifty/

NaPoWriMo is Here!

As the young ant drone marched over a stone,
He spotted a gold and scarlet flake drifting down.

 

His pinchers spread wide in a gleeful smile.
Autumn was here; it had taken a while.

 

“This is perfect,” thought the ant, keeping one of his eyes
On the leaf as it fell; it was just the right size.

 

He saw it land; and, with all the strength he found,
Scrambled over stick and stone to where it hit the ground.

 

“Just one more,” he thought, looking up at the sky.
A spot of deep orange and red drifted by.

 

It floated down through the branches into the garden bed.
Among the towering stalks, he could still see the red.

 

The little drone made a squeak of delight
And ran with one leaf in his pinchers held tight.

 

With both leaves now, he tied the two stems
Around his thorax and over his limbs

 

The leaves unfurled on either side
And he used his back legs to press them out wide

 

Until they looked just perfect, as if he could fly.
And he marched proudly on declaring, “I am a butterfly.”