welcome, readers & writers! hope your weekend afforded you some time for rest and play. we did a lot of catching up around here; not restful or playful, but it's good to be out from under mountains of laundry, toys and dishes = )
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today's writing prompt is a photo of a plant that grows beautifully here in austin. it's called setecreasea pallida, or 'purple heart.' writers, hope the photo and/or the title inspires a poem, short story or creative non-fiction response in you. if so, come write with me and share your response by clicking on comments below. remember, there's no pressure to have the writing be perfect. this is just an exercise to boost your creativity for the day. readers, the comments section is open to you as well. thanks to all for stopping in!
Mary shifted on 'her' bench, tilting her face toward the glimmering sun for a moment before returning her eyes to the blood purple plant just across the path. She wasn't mad at the sun anymore, for shining. And she wasn't mad at the young mothers for walking by with strollers holding sleeping newborns or mobilizing wriggling toddlers. She wasn't mad at all anymore. Just sad. Eternally, unremittingly sad.
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Something about the setecreasea plants nurtured a stillness inside of her - though it was a stillness void of comfort or peace. She didn't feel closer to her son here, in the park where he used to run and shout and play, where he'd gotten in trouble once as a teenager when he got caught smoking his first cigarette. She would never be able to talk herself into feeling close to him when there wasn't enough of his body left to ship home from Iraq. The stillness she felt looking at the purple heart plant came because, when she looked at it, she didn't feel alone in her sorrow. This living, weeping, beautiful thing with its skin the color of bruises was her daily companion in pain. So they sat, in proximity to one another, getting through the day. Soaking up the sun. Mary inhaled what the plant didn't need anymore. The plant inhaled Mary's sighs, deeper than words.
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So moving. Good job with this one. :)
ReplyDeleteThe choice of a superhero costume is a serious business. The design. The color. The impact it will have on villains. Perhaps going with purple was a bit impetuous. Stand back...it's PlumMan! Or... beware... It is the Grape of Wrath!! Well, I guess it is all in the timing. That and the fact that I like plants and well... sometimes I sit outside in my garden and think. And nap. Just a little. so, purple it is! i just need the proper name. The Bleeding Heart. Beetz! Or perhaps, Purple Hazer!! Purple Rain on Yo Head!!! Violence!!!! Chuckle.
ReplyDeleteLinda - thank you, as always, for your kind words :)
ReplyDeleteFilmGuy - thank *you*, as always, for putting a whole different spin on the photo. and for writing with me!
"Let it be known that he who wears the Military Order of the Purple Heart has given of his blood in the defense of his homeland and shall forever be revered by his fellow countrymen." are words contained in George Washington's order establishing the Badge of Military Merit in August 1782. The medal looked much the same as it does today, aheart shaped purple cloth with silver edging, to be worn over the left breast. Today, of course, it is a heart shaped medal with a gold border, hanging from a purple ribbon with silver borders which contains a profile of George Washington. The medal fell to disuse after the Revolutionary War. No authorization from Congress was forthcoming, although an attempt to bring up such a bill was made in 1927, and there appeared to be no interest. General Douglas MacArthur named Elizabeth Will, an heraldic specialist, to redesign the medal in 1931, which was then named The Purple Heart, It came back into official usage on February 22, 1932, the two hundreth anniversary of Washington's birth, and provisions were made for all servicemen who would have been eligible in the period from the 1779 through the end of the First World War to receive the medal. General MacArthur wore the first one, for wounds received previously. Because of changes in criteria - including eliminating the calling it a medal of merit, i.e., for heroic action as well as simply being wounded, a not uncommon phenomenon in war - and the incidence of battlefield awards, and the non-centralization of the award information, there are no clear numbers for how many Purple Hearts were presented during World War II, however the number of of fatal and non-fatal injuries is approximately 964,000 for the period December 7, 1941 through December 31, 1946. The Korean War figures are 33,000 fatal, 103,200 non-fatal. The Vietnam operations, which include Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, the USS Pueblo, the Dominican Republic and Cuba account for around 200,700 Purple Hearts being awarded. Like most military medals the Purple Heart is usually worn as an abbreviated ribbon, a reproduction of the ribbon the medal hangs from, on the dress uniform. There is one exception to this protocol; the Medal of Honor, also known as the Congressional Medal of Honor, is a "neck order" award, which means the only form it takes is as a ribbon which holds the medal encircling the neck, and it is never worn as simply a ribbon on the chest.
ReplyDeleteChuck - thanks for writing. i didn't know all of this history around the purple heart. very interesting... and sad.
ReplyDelete