When you’re done, you MUST check out the wacky prompt that Walt gave us at Poetic Bloomings. It made for one heckuva fun Sunday!
Moody Charlotte
Mom, stuck on a cul de sac
with no car. Had she the fare,
she would have fared well
in Paris – a random thought,
reflecting her need for
dramatic change.
“I’ll take up painting!” she
blurted; Leslie and I nodded.
She burst forth with wacky plans
when moody. Lacking supplies
(Les and I were thinking easel,
paints, canvas, a jaunty beret)
she called two friends before
securing a ride to… an art store?
Chances of her following through
were about even with the chance
of an armadillo successfully crossing
a West Texas highway.
Next day after school…
the danger signs: In the open garage,
large paint cans, brushes dripped
blood onto newspaper, and three
Gordon’s gin empties.
Whatever it was, she was done with it.
High as a kite and just as flighty,
she flittered around her creation.
Charlotte had painted the kitchen walls
tomato red
and the ceiling Vincent Price Black.
Her Waterloo with an indignant
bridge club; members refused to
enter our home on Brookside Avenue…
a cry for help that passed
unanswered.
© 2013 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Walt at Poetic Bloomings had some fun at our expense:
Today, you are given random nudges, the replies to which will become the pieces to your poetic puzzle.
1. Your mother’s first name (Charlotte)
2. A wild animal (armadillo)
3. A city you’ve never visited, but would like to (Paris)
4. A hobby (painting)
5. A mode of transportation (car)
6. Your least favorite vegetable (tomato – don’t even get me started)
7. A “lucky” number (2)
8. Your favorite color (red)
9. Three random words (dramatic, moody, random)
10. Historical event (Waterloo – doubles as an ABBA song)
11. A childhood friend (Leslie Frederick, still a friend even though she moved away in FIFTH GRADE!)
12. The street on which you grew up (Brookside Avenue)
You can write in any form, meter and rhyme scheme. Your title will be the answer to #1 + the second random word in #9.
This also appears at Poets United’s Poetry Pantry and on the sidelines at my “pad,” Imaginary Garden With Real Toads.
NOTE: The story is essentially true, but I altered the timeline to accommodate the poem. This didn’t happen on my watch, but many years before – when Mom’s moods started pingponging like those of her mom, my Grandma Blanche. Charlotte was never diagnosed, but she did pull off stunts like this while on a self-medicated high. The red kitchen with black ceiling? YES, IT WAS TRUE! She later told me, “I don’t know what I was thinking, because that kitchen made me feel claustrophobic. Bud finally repainted it after three days because he couldn’t stand the colors, and he was really scared by then of my moods.”
Charlotte. Mama. Never a dull moment! Peace, Amy
Sharp Little Pencil 
J Cosmo Newbery
Well done. I looked at the prompt and scuttled away! =:-O
http://vivinfrance.wordpress.com
So did I, but after reading Amy’s clever taradiddle, I’m going back to have a go!
Sharp Little Pencil
Cos, you crack me up. I was only lucky in picking good random words, because “Moody” was the linchpin that called forth the rest. And “Moody Charlotte,” a good description of Mom! Viv, jump in with both feet!!
coalblack
Never a dull moment at Amy’s blog, either!
Sharp Little Pencil
Oh, I have my dull moments, Shay, but they are disguised as badly executed forms!!!!
Debi Swim
Humorous… but oh so sad. I know how tragic living with someone like that can be, for themselves and for the ones who love them. You handled that memory well.
Sharp Little Pencil
Debi, thank you for a thoughtful comment. I’m coming over to swim in your little pond now… hope you left a URL! Peace, Amy
kislayagopal
Your poems are always full of humour and goodness, of gone days, of memories.
Beautifully written.. loved it and innovatively you have converted this puzzle into a poem 🙂
Sharp Little Pencil
Dear K, your name is a mystery…. do you kiss, lay, and go, pal? Hee hee.
Thanks so much for finding the odd beauty in these poems. My mom would be delighted that I delight in my own manic depression… and yet, these bittersweet memories are the soil from which I spring, the true essence of All Things Amy. I’m coming to see your blog now! Amy
Sherry Blue Sky
Amy, you rocked the prompt and this poem. I love your mom. Life is never dull, indeed. I have been known to paint a bedroom the color of a sunburn (I was aiming for dusty rose) and it had to be swiftly repainted, too.
Sharp Little Pencil
You know, Sherry, everyone has their “wild hair” days when they do something out of character, but the black ceiling was definitely my mom’s proto-Amy Winehouse moment!! Thanks for mentioning Charlotte, because she was my best friend. Love, Amy
Roger Green
I thought ALL your stories were true, almost…
Sharp Little Pencil
I’m running a good 98%, Roger, with usual disclaimers on behalf of my beleaguered family of birth… Lex and Riley are SO down with my work, it’s insanely wonderful. A.
Kerry O'Connor
This is just grand story-telling, Amy. The prompt was so innovative, but that aside this is authentic narrative poetry. I love it.
wkkortas
Well, the best stories are all only somewhat true, anyway. To say you handled a pretty restrictive prompt with aplomb would be understatement.
Jim
🙂 Amy, you did soooo good with this. Like the others, it would take me more than I think I have (well, I could but–surely not ‘almost true’).
Moms often think they can do a lot of things that they really can’t. I’ve bailed out several who made big messes of things. I would like to read their minds about the time they figured out it wasn’t going to work.
Like when Mrs. Jim pushed the CD card down into the insides of her laptop with her tweezers. She was trying to ‘fix’ it by getting a stuck one out. We had to take it to a friend who could take apart a laptop and put it back together.
….
I HAVE A VOICE
unbelievably good ! a great prompt!
Walt Wojtanik
Remember, I had fun at my own expense first! I was in a playful mood and happy you were all good sports and played along. “Moody Charlotte” is an incredubly good work (considering the wackiness of my prompt) Thanks for this Ames.
Poetic Bloomings
Goodness! What a brilliant piece of mood, image, time, and person. Bravo, Amy!!
Marie Elena
Maggie Grace
That was quite a challenge of prompts and so very well done albeit a bit of sadness in it.
Susie Clevenger (@wingsobutterfly)
What a piece you have created….There is a a touch of humor mixed with sadness…life seems to be that way.
grapeling
Favorite stanza, especially transition “three/Gordon’s gin empties”
Next day after school…
the danger signs: In the open garage,
large paint cans, brushes dripped
blood onto newspaper, and three
Gordon’s gin empties.
I looked at the prompt and left on the same train outta town as J Cosmo. Good pen. ~ M
Abin
poignant.we can only wonder how the family members cope with such events.emotive write.
LaTonya
You nailed this. My grandmother could be outrageous and funny despite suffering alzheimers. Well done.
Kay, Alberta, Canada
You did a fabulous job of this, Amy. It made me laugh, made me cry. “Had she the fare she’d have fared well in Paris” is so poignant, somehow.
“Waterloo (doubles as an ABBA song)” is hysterical in response to the prompt.
I would have loved Walt’s list if I had seen it yesterday. Today I’m feeling under the weather (probably literally, rain makes my fibromyalgia act up).
So, I will love your poem and not try to tackle anything as difficult as a tempting-looking list.
K
Hannah Gosselin
Oh, wow, Amy! You have such a way with words…balancing them with truth and beauty…I love what became of your puzzle pieces and I found “She burst forth with wacky plans when moody.” to resonate…seems my brainchildren burst forth in those extreme places, too. ♥
bonniejtoomey2013
Ooh, I like your description of “Vincent Price black” very nice, memorable.
jacquelinecaseypoetry
Well, of course, you poem makes me cry and laugh at the same time…