It was in heady summer heat,
sun tracing lines
along limb lengths,
melting inhibitions,
slowing inner clocks,
sticking us together,
pinning us to dewy grass,
while a grasshopper clicked nearby
with polite nonchalance.
A memory of enrapture,
a capture of past,
present,
and forever.
About the Creator
Teresa Renton
Inhaling life, exhaling stories, poetry, prose, flash or fusions. An imperfect perfectionist who writes and recycles words. I write because I love how it feels to make ink patterns & form words, like pictures, on a page.
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Nice work
Very well written. Keep up the good work!
Top insight
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
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More stories from Teresa Renton and writers in Poets and other communities.
Foot Bindings
I asked my grandmother how she knew she'd fallen in love. I am not sure I ever did love him, she said. This was before I met my husband. I was naive, a naked spring, a raw nerve of a thing. That cannot ever be me, I knew. Sadness swept in gently like a Moscow thaw. It is no simple thing, looking into a woman's vast soul and seeing its foot bindings. Now, in Italy divorced with my skin singed off, when I say I don't love him mean: I have succeeded at feeling nothing most days and it mostly works. Do you want the comfort of Nothing? Do you want Nothing, too? Be warned: you'll never be free, even when you are nothing. Here is what doesn't work: Accepting the stages of grief. Talking about it. Sitting with the feeling. Missing him—no, the person you were when you believed in death do us part. Writing poetry. That, too. When I say I don't love him I mean: I feel capsized in an endless, starved tide. What sometimes works: selective memory. You must forget ripe tomatoes and his beard and feeling perfectly sheltered in a big blue world. Forget coffee in bed, laughter watching TV, blowing out the candles on the birthday cake and the quiet all-encompassing knowledge that you are chosen. Remember only how love turned to a banal everyday survival act, a trapeze act unsure whether he will catch you, how the warmth stagnated and became sour, remember the foot bindings and remember the resentment boiling in your veins as you stick it out for the kids. Six-hour Netflix binges help, too. A man's fingers tracing your spine. Frozen pizza at 2 a.m. Random trips to the museum just to stand near things that last a while. The realization that crying won’t change anything. Seeing that life is just a dream, and refusing to participate in your own suffering. Bite your fist. Walk on eggshells around joy. When I say I don't love him, I mean he didn’t break my heart, he just stopped touching it and it forgot how to beat right.
By Ella Bogdanovaa day ago in Poets
The Lesions of Devotion
Every day I set myself down on the freshly cut lawn and strip myself bare. I take my guitar and finger the frets and pick at the strings, listening for dissonance. My life is dissonance. I twist the tuning pegs until each string sounds bright. Then I kneel, calves pointing behind me, kneecaps facing forward. All exposed to the breeze. I close my eyes and play the melody.
By Paul Stewart3 days ago in Fiction
Comments (22)
T.S. well deserved for this one 😁
Congratulation for the top story 👍
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Helloooo friends, readout my stories also https://todaysurvey.life/authors/zohaib-iqbal-hxyk0heu%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
Helloooo friends, readout my stories also https://todaysurvey.life/authors/zohaib-iqbal-hxyk0heu%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
Nice work!
What a poem. This is leisurely magical, a sensory and delicate dance. You've painted such a beautiful image of warm, comforting love. I love this so much.
Well done! Beautifully put together. ❤
restful and a shared quiet moment you allowed us to witness. Lovely flow.
This was so very lovely and romantic. I enjoyed it quite a bit :) Congratulations on Top Story!
Beautiful piece. Congrats on the TS
Congrats on the Top Story.
Sizzling hot!! I love this. Congrats on the Top Story.
Great piece✨📝Congratulations on your Top Story❤️😉💯🎉
Congratulations to you ...
Awwweee so beautiful!
Very nicely captured, Teresa!
Oh la La Très cher I really enjoyed this
lovely and beautiful
Good story 😁
The grasshopper was a gentleman 🧐💓great job here I enjoyed this!
Oooo I’m enchanted and in love with this poetic movie short ! 🥰😎 The cast of two are soooo lucky.