Porthole

To be yourself.

For

FORUM

Space Blog  (ASR) Cruising WDC cyberspace and raiding ports for blog prompts! #2223838 by Sharmelle's LovableExpressions

"Just Be Yourself "   [E] by TheBusmanPoet

Mini-review: Preachy. Good message. I could quibble with it but I won't. Poetics... it would need severe editing. Once 'man and woman' is established there's no need repeating it (in a poem... in a sermon to those who have problems with that concept? Fine.) and 'human' will do if needed after the first mention. It's also wordy and could easily be pruned. In this case more isn't better. The nice rhythm established in the first verse is unfortunately abandoned and that's noticeable when read out loud. No other poetic devices are used. It has no concrete images, only abstractions. Although salvageable, it utterly fails poetically. A 2.0 for effort.

Write about what it is like to be yourself.

Unacceptable ... that's what I am. (Sing it to Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable"). I'm normal in many ways but that's not how I was treated growing up. I was either put on pedestals that wobbled or utterly avoided or picked on. Invisibility was my greatest magic. But... I was like the Cheshire Cat... my smile always gave me away.

Now? I still carry the baggage of my upbringing in spite of how much I've shed. These days the traveler who loves to connect is grounded and fearful of getting sick and royally pissed off at deniers of all sorts. The anti-science crowd and screaming me-me-me-s are the worse. Bitter? Very.

For "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" 

27. Write a post inspired by the word: dark

That's mostly what I've been doing! Like "Melting the Graveyard [269] (440 words)"  or even darker " lifeinsurancenet.info@identityremains"  or real dark "Me in the mirror [254] "  or darkest and best:

Over my dead body... so she did [246]  (18+) Dark poetry to a dark visual prompt. #2235423 by Kåre เลียม Enga

So, what more do you want? Chocolate! Except I prefer bittersweet or milk-chocolate with nuts. And M&Ms ... always that. I don't dare buy chocolate.

My Space Cadet series deals with the darkness of the Void "Theater of the Night [255] (1091+ words)"  as the Wings dim the lights and everyone else takes a nap.

Dark isn't to be confused with evil. Too much evil happens at the noon hour to dispute that. Fear of the night? Only if there is something out there that's hunting you (human or not).

That said ... I sleep best in the morning.

A bit of anger in "Murder? Who cares when the victim is Black." 
"Icarus drowning in a sea of oil [265a], Dog, Ma [265b] (won)"  won
"Smitten by a kitten [260] (Space Cadet)"  second place
"Masked mash [256] 24 lines"  honorable mention

3.120