Hard as Rock: A Quadrille
Quadrille #255: X marks the spot
Write a poem of exactly 44 words in response to the prompt. Your poem must contain the word xenolith.
Here I am, stuck.
Stuck slap dab in the middle.
Middle of this family.
Family of proverbial mule-stubborn souls.
Souls stuck in stone-set routine.
Routine precise and rigid.
Rigid, each tedious family dinner harder.
Harder than a mantle xenolith.
Both near impossible to break.
©2026 Lisa Smith Nelson. All Rights Reserved
I like that your closing line ‘breaks’ from the pattern of using end-of-line words as beginning-of-line words. I recall many of those family dinners.😔
ReplyDeleteNicely written Lisa 👏 The repeated words within the lines are somewhat metaphorical in and of themselves.
ReplyDeleteI love the way the final line escapes, Lisa, and would want to do the same if I were stuck in ‘stone-set routine’. I haven’t been to a family dinner in a long time, but I can remember one or two like that.
ReplyDeleteI love the way the final line escapes, Lisa, and would want to do the same if I were stuck in ‘stone-set routine’. I haven’t been to a family dinner in a long time, but I can remember one or two like that.
ReplyDelete...that's suffocation.... beautifully written.
ReplyDeleteIncompatibility in a family was the first thought that struck me on seeing the word "xenolith."
ReplyDeleteFamily dinners seems to be a matter of horror.
ReplyDeleteHow excellently crafted!
ReplyDeleteGood metaphor for rigid family configurations. Family dinners used to be like stepping into a time capsule, where nothing changes.
ReplyDeleteA great quadrille, Lisa ... but glad most of my family dinners thru the decades have been pleasant.
ReplyDelete