Writing

Fridge Magnets

/ Robinne Weiss / Leave a comment

100_3570 sm“Amby the Ambulance says dial 111 in an emergency!”

“Lincoln Dental—Where great smiles are made!”

“Healthline—24 hour free health advice!”

“Ace High Plumbing—Home of the royal flush!”

The front of the refrigerator is plastered with magnets from various businesses and organisations. The magnets hold up the critical documents that form the command centre of the house:

  • This week’s calendar, showing who is taking which bus to and from school, who has band practice when, and who is out of town or needs extra money for a school field trip.
  • Library check-out receipts so we know when we have to return the latest clutch of books.
  • A running grocery list which I add to as I finish off things in the kitchen.
  • Emergency phone numbers.

Move to the side of the fridge, and you leave the rational, logical command centre and enter the twilight zone of fridge magnet poetry. With two whole sets of fridge magnet words, and a house full of…um…creative people…you never know what you might see there.

 

“Together they must beat the monkeys

Who eat their friends

These windy sunny days

Still my head aches from the blow”

 

“Want

Quick

Are

You

Juice

Girl

Man”

 

“Want

Drive

Need

Lust

Or

Reveal”

 

If I had to analyse the family on the basis of our fridge magnets, I would say we are a well-organised bunch of lunatics!

Looking for the rainbow

/ Robinne Weiss / Leave a comment

Ice hisses on the window panes

Wind howls down the chimney

Frigid drafts skitter across the floor

And lick at my toes

 

But

 

For a moment

The sun breaks through

Glittering through millions of beads of ice

Defying the gale

 

I look for the rainbow.

Girl

/ Robinne Weiss / Leave a comment

100_2230 smGirl.

She walks tall,

Plans,

Creates,

Loves,

Laughs.

 

Considers,

Debates,

Decides.

 

Imagines,

Does.

 

Is.

 

In the space given to her–

The space too small

To hold all that is

Girl,

The space with limits,

Rules,

Expectations that do not meet hers.

Expectations too low:

Strength,

Independence,

Endurance,

Brains.

Expectations too high:

Beauty,

Popularity,

Helplessness.

 

Make way.

Make space for her.

Space for steely resolve.

Space for sweat.

Space for skinned knees and

Dogged determination.

 

Because Girl

She walks tall.

She

Is.

Cafe Conversation

/ Robinne Weiss / Leave a comment

Café conversation

Hums

Over light jazz music

Nobody has

Ever

Actually

Listened to.

 

Espresso machine

Hisses and gurgles.

Trim flat white and

A chocolate latte!

 

Laptops

Mark the places

Where the

Officeless

Use the clamour

Of public space

To find quiet.

 

No One Cooks in a Novel

/ Robinne Weiss / Leave a comment

No one cooks in novel.

This isn’t strictly true, but in general, no one cooks, uses the toilet (except for in middle grade novels of a certain type…), washes the dishes, brushes their teeth, or cleans the house. These are ordinary, everyday activities—who wants to read about them?

__________________

Toby crept into the bathroom shortly after midnight. The house was dark and silent. But, wait, there was a dark form ahead of him. He flicked on the light. A bloodcurdling scream rent the air as he saw his sister on the toilet.

__________________

Carla was chopping onions…again. She didn’t even know what she was going to cook, yet, but she knew it would have onions. Chopping them gave her time to think, to plan. But she wasn’t planning dinner. When her husband came home from work and stepped up behind her to give her his standard peck on the top of the head greeting, she turned and plunged her knife into his chest.

__________________

Still waking up, Jason washed his face, then grabbed his toothbrush. He flicked open the toothpaste and squeezed, but what came out of the tube was not minty paste. Instead, it was foul and dark, and melted the toothbrush when it touched it.

__________________

OK, maybe it’s good our day-to-day lives aren’t worthy of a novel. Remember that the next time you think life is too boring.