created using AI
(For clarity sake — the picture was created using AI. The poem is 100% me.)
Deep inhale
Seventy-eight years travail
For what to wish? A new roof?
[poof]
I’m confused
One candle still lit! Excused
Not extinguished. Did I goof?
[Foof]
Voice speaking
From the flame. Eerie. Creaking.
“ElAinE” – glimpse of frilly rouche
[SWoosh]
If even
I blow harder, believing
It will work, I hear “SHhhHsh“
[WHOosh]
Oh, terror!
Who is this message bearer?
She speaks again — one word — “iF“
[WHIFF]
“iF ToDaY“
TODAY?? Today is my day?
My lungs are squeezing for breath —
Death?
[gasp weakly]
NO! It can’t end so bleakly!
At once — candle smoke, voice spoke
“jOkE!“
This week’s W3 is an interesting prompt:
An old woman blows out 78 candles on her birthday cake, but one refuses to go out, no matter how hard she blows. It burns with a blue flame and whispers a name she hasn’t heard in 40 years. Your poem is her conversation with that candle. What does she decide to do: let it keep burning, or pinch it out?
I found the prompt challenging and didn’t exactly follow it.
The form I used was Deibide Baise Fri Toin, an Irish form. It is written in quatrains with the following syllable count per line: 3-7-7-1 . The rhyme scheme is aabb, with the first two lines rhyming on a two syllable word and the last lines rhyming on a one syllable word.
The last word in the first five stanzas is supposed to be the sound of her attempting to blow out the candles.
Hot Dogs and Marmalade 
This was quite good, Sally.a wonderful response to the prompt.
Sally, the sound effects of her blowing poof, Foof, SWoosh and that terror building as the voice speaks… you’ve made us feel her panic. And then ‘jOkE’ the candle’s gift isn’t a haunting, it’s a laugh. That turn from dread to relief to absurdity is perfect. The form holds it all together beautifully. 💙
Much love,
Khadija 💕🤗
Loved the voice, Sally. Great write.
I think I will just ask for 8 candles on my soon to arrive birthday cake. Each standing in for 10 years. I should be able to manage that with no weird voices.
Sally, this was tremendous! I love the conversation and the “Joke” at the end was perfection!
A fun and original response to the prompt.
Sally, I love how each breath adds rhyme and suspense, leading us toward death before the funny final “jOkE!” lets us breathe again.
~David
Wonderful response, Sally.
This was great, Sally! I loved the onomatopoeia!
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
hi, Sally❣️
Just wanna let you know that this week’s W3, hosted by our beloved Michelle, is now live until Monday, August 31st:
Much love,
David