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Chicken Little

My small group of Stafford Challenge writers meets in the evening on the first Monday of every month, and each of us has a copy of Write the Story (Piccadilly Press) for prompts that take us into the random word zone. Does this book recognize my life, or do the stories I find in it echo my life? It’s uncanny sometimes how I feel like the words are swirling in some sort of mystic veil, landing in the poem so….knowingly.

Today’s poem comes from the book Write The Story (Piccadilly, 2020), where a prompt is given with a scenario and words to be used in the writing.

Story: A Character with OCD in the Worst Possible Situation

words: monastery, chalkboard, elephant, coast, turmeric, poppy, defeat, chessboard, inhumane, search

Unmedicated

that twitching eye tips his hand

indicates defeat

his monastery invaded

by enemies

of Chicken Little

furry belly yellow as turmeric

and just as sour ~ for him,

the sky forever falls,

the elephant in the room

following him on his

chessboard moves of inhumanity

like nails on a chalkboard

as he seeks and blames traitors

coasts the world for incriminating evidence

his complex ripe as a poppy

ready to burst wide open

feathering the fields of Oz

with his next unmedicated tantrum

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High Roller!

She knows he loves lights – flashlights, landscape lights, Christmas lights, headlamps, city lights. And so on our first rainy night in “her city,” she took us on the High Roller. A surprise with him in mind. And we loved every minute of the half-hour spin seeing the city lights!

High Roller surprise

nighttime Vegas exclusive

the city lights up!

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Pink Flamingoes and Pink Box Donuts

Screaming Pink

it started with

her Barbie bike ~

pink seat

pink lights

pink frame

pink basket

then, of course,

her screaming

pink shoes~

“not approved by

World Athletics:

too much comfort“

we stayed at

The Flamingo

where the birds

and fixtures

were pink

lipstick, nail polish, hair

even the people

were pink

and we topped

it off with

a Pinky

a pink-iced

cream-filled dream

from Pink Box

Donuts

a true Vegas

experience!

Jackson strategically waited for his moment, and I’ve never seen a bite of a donut disappear so fast. This dog is faster than a pick-pocket.
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Open Write Day 3 of 3 February 2026

Our host for the Open Write at http://www.ethicalela.com this month was Stacey Joy, who inspired us to write poems honoring human emotions. Since I was traveling, I was off by a day, so I am posting the poem from one of those prompts today. You can click here to read the full prompt.

Emotions

I’ve had a few

severe ones came

on takeoff from

the Vegas airport

yesterday

My phone was in

airplane mode

with Delta wi-fi

but my soul wasn’t

it wasn’t the

proverbial placenta pulling

it was the heartstrings

as I watched my

daughter ping on

Find My Phone

our plane flying

away, away, away

so far home

my firstborn watching

planes from her window

beneath, asking

in her text

if the plane she saw

might be us

On Fremont Street
We saw The Wizard of Oz as a last-minute Sphere ticket, and what a show!
Mallory and I prefer the “original” style slots with the pull handle. You have to feel the vibe, and I was drawn to the Tabasco logo and won a few dollars on this one at The Golden Nugget!
My daughter, her partner, and their four-legged “son,” Jackson.
There was a hidden speakeasy at The Flamingo, and we found it!
Walking down Fremont Street, a/k/a “The Old Strip”
For a special surprise, my daughter took us to ride on The High Roller on our first night in Vegas
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Poetic Valentines…and a SOLC Plan

First, huge thanks and a hug. Second, I’m sharing my plan for March slicing.

I was sitting with my schnoodle Boo Radley in my favorite chair in the living room when the text notification came on Valentine’s Day. My friend, fellow Slice of Life blogger, travel advice guru, fellow Schnoodle Mom, and Stafford Challenge small group buddy Glenda Funk of Idaho sent a Valentine full of smiles and hugs to our writing group that meets the first of each month to catch up and write! One of the greatest blessings of a writing community is finding common interests among those with whom we share some of our deepest feelings and so much of our day-to-day lives. A huge thanks to Glenda today, to all the writers here at Slice of Life, and others in writing group crossroads for making life more friendly and for helping me find the smiles in unexpected places.

Valentine’s Day hugs

arrive from across the miles

arms wide as friendship!

A plan has been brewing. It’s been in my bones, and it has finally taken root. I find that if I have a plan for the Slice of Life Challenge, I’m more successful at completing the challenge ~ and not just finishing it, but actually enjoying it the same way some marathon runners are actually smiling when they cross the finish line.

My Plan

Living poets are near and dear to my heart. I want to not only read and celebrate them, but also have an opportunity to share their work. That will be my own personal March Slice of Life Challenge plan. Each day, I’ll feature a collection of poems by a living poet, and I’ll compose a short Cento poem each day from that collection. Cento poems are some of my favorites – they’re a form of found poetry where lines of existing poems are arranged to create new poems. I’m still curating my featured list, but I wanted to share this idea in case there is anyone reading who is struggling with an idea and needs a place to start. Perhaps there are seeds in this idea. Some of my favorite reading is about books and how they have changed lives – poetry collections included.

I’ll see you at the starting line on Sunday, ready for the journey!

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Open Write Day 2 of 3 February 2026

Stacey Joy of California was our host for the Open Write on its final day of the February writing invitation. Here is her prompt and invitation to write, below and linked. You can read the poems of others today and visit the tricube form.


Inspiration

In the spring of 2025, Leilya Pitre introduced me to the fun poetic form called a Tricube. I wrote a spring poem to her prompt and had been eager to write a tricube poem again. If you want to revisit Leilya’s prompt and responses, visit this link. 

Here we are in February with so much to celebrate: Black History Month, Snack Month, Library Lovers Month, American Heart Month, and Hot Breakfast Month. I’m inspired to write a tricube and I hope you are too. 

Process

A tricube has three stanzas containing three lines, and each line has three syllables (3/3/3). You might choose one of the February celebrations or something else that speaks to you. 

I’m reliving my visit to Las Vegas last week in my posts this week, and today’s tricube is about seeing The Wizard of Oz at the Sphere.

A 4-D Movie Experience at the Sphere

Dorothy

and Toto

a Wizard

a scarecrow

a tin man

a lion

in an orb!

L. Frank Baum

a classic!

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Open Write Day 1 of 3 February 2026

Our host for the first day of the February Open Write at http://www.ethicalela.com was Seana, who prompted us to write lines of verse about a special place. We were traveling and on Pacific Coast time in Las Vegas, visiting my daughter and seeing a show at the Sphere. I chose that venue for my special place haiku. You can read her full prompt here, along with the poems of others.

I’m also including some video clips from the concert so that you can share the fun – but the videos can’t capture the full stereo sound and the immensity of the Sphere in person. You’ll have to go experience it for yourself for that! Also, a word about sharing: recording is permitted in the Sphere, and as an additional disclaimer, this is not my music, my blog remains free, and I do not profit from sponsors or visit stats.

View of Sphere from The High Roller at night

You Can Check Out Anytime, But…

mesmerizing orb
Sphere, Las Vegas ~ The Eagles
“you can never leave…”

Yes, they OPENED with Hotel California. Seriously.
My second favorite Eagles Song: In the City
My favorite Eagles song, if that’s even possible : Take it To the Limit

This one got us ready to finish the second half of Route 66.

The one and only – Joe Walsh
They closed with Heartache Tonight

More about our trip to Las Vegas in the coming days~ please visit throughout the week!

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An Open Invitation to Read With Us

For anyone in the Thomaston/Newnan/Zebulon areas of Georgia, please come out and join the Silent Book Club Flint River in person if you are free on the dates listed on the flyer below. If you are not local, please read with us wherever you are in the world and let us know you did! Set aside an hour of time to read, then send a quick snapshot of you and your book to the Facebook page where our group news happens.

I’m part of the team trying to build this book club so that we have both an in-person and virtual following. We love to see people and their books!

We can’t wait to hear

from our fellow readers ~ join

the movement to READ!

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When Boo Radley Gets in Trouble

Boo Radley is our rescue Schnoodle who is as grumpy as they come. He growls for no reason and tries to bully his brothers. He may sound like he’ll rip your leg off, but when it comes to feelings, he’s a sensitive dog. When we have to fuss at him, he gets under the bed to repent of his sins and thinks we can’t see him if he barely puts his nose out.

he got in trouble

he didn’t think we could see

him under the bed

hiding from us both

his sensitive feelings hurt

we had fussed at him

An invitation: if you are free this evening, please come read in person OR WHEREVER YOU ARE IN THE WORLD. See the dates below, but if you can’t come in person, please join our Facebook page and share what you read as we were reading in person.

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Shoulder Buddy

Boo Radley, our rescue Schnoodle with multiple issues, fears, and insecurities, just likes to be close to us when we are settled and relaxing. His favorite thing is to get on the back of the chair and put his head on my shoulder, “sharing” my headphones. Every once in a while, as if on cue, he reacts to a poem in the same way I do……and I can feel it!

my shoulder buddy

Boo Radley sits listening

to new poetry

I feel him react

lift his head, take a deep breath

and I do the same

An invitation: if you are free tomorrow evening, please come read in person OR WHEREVER YOU ARE IN THE WORLD. See the dates below, but if you can’t come in person, please join our Facebook page and share what you read as we were reading in person.

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