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A Love Poem to My Craft

By Asche Keegan


Regale me with tales of the midnight wanderers,
Lost in the depths of a story never told.
Enchant me with magics of the utmost ponderers,
Burdened with journeys and mysteries of old.

Teach me to lose myself in what I write,
To catch a melting heart mid-frozen-beat.
Allow me to lead you through the night—
My voice a guide that gives you sight—
Leave me writing these words left on repeat,
I beg, ignore me not my lover’s plight.

Catch me the stars in early spring,
Or bring down rain and lightning blasts.
Or do not—don’t teach or bring,
It’d matter naught; we’ve got what lasts.
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A Letter to a Friend

By Asche Keegan


Vibrant, her flame danced,
Twirling and twisting;
The water entranced
Enjoyment in listing
‘Twixt taming wave and flame.

She tried to study other things,
Mind set on ocean waves,
She watched how blue-green rings
Lifted tides into caves,
‘Twixt taming wave o’er flame.

Yet her flame would dance about
A distraction gold and fair.
She came to me to snuff it out,
Her time she could not share
‘Twixt taming wave and flame.

“I want to hide the flame away;
I’m focused on the ocean now,
And though with both I’d like to stay
Distractions I cannot allow,
‘Twixt taming wave and flame.”

I listened to her cry
And wondered why
She’d cast this gift to lie
Abandoned on the side
When God gave her wave and flame to tame…

I ask if she must, she dim the light,
Not pinch it shut or snuff it out,
Take her flame off bright,
Rejoin the sea and cast about
‘Twixt taming wave and flame.

She unleashed the ocean wild and true
In hardened battles, bravely fought.
Yet exists a lantern espied by you
A flickering remnant that 'twas caught
'Twixt taming wave and flame.

  • 3 Comments

Waiting Here

By Asche Keegan


He sat alone on an abandoned park bench, the first flakes of snow dusting the top of his frozen ice cream cone. Well aware of the askance looks he received from those walking by, he licked away the mint chocolate chip—the one source of color in the otherwise dreary world. He shivered, as was to be expected, and pulled his coat closer around himself.

For the last 364 days he had sat here, a brutal test to his resilience and his motivation. Only if I can make it to the end will I invite her, he had said. He had loved her once, two marriages, forty years, and a war ago. He had not thought of her since without love and regret in his heart.

“Abe?” her voice rang behind him.

He turned, at once caught up in her aged beauty, crinkles in her once-smooth skin, gray hairs peeking through the black.

“You look different.” Yet, somehow, he loved her even more.

“As do you. Although I believe time has been kinder to you than I,” she joked.

“Nonsense, you look beautiful.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he realized his error; he had belied himself immediately. “Sorry, I apologize,” he scrambled.

“No, no, it’s fine…thank you.” She smiled, and it was as if the sun had come out. “Do you want to go inside? It’s kind of cold out here, and I see you have an…ice cream cone?”

“It’s a tradition,” he said, rising from the park bench and walking with her towards a nearby restaurant.

“Every time I have sat here, I have bought a cone of ice cream, and on today, the one-year anniversary of when I began, I felt it only fitting to treat myself one last time.”

“Congratulations! It takes commitment to come out here every day. Unfortunately, it’s a more somber anniversary for me—my late husband passed away last year on this date.”

He knew that of course, just like he knew mint chocolate chip was her favorite flavor, and winter her favorite season, and the restaurant they were walking to was her favorite location. He had practiced how to reply to a statement such as this nearly a thousand times, but now the words escaped him, and he mustered out a scratchy, “I’m sorry, that’s terrible.”

“Life happens, and I’m moving on, you know?”

The conversation fell into silence, before she asked about his day and proceeded into chatter about the mundane. The two of them had lunch, and the conversation passed in a blur, every moment a dynamic exchange that left them choking over their glasses.

“Do you remember when Emilio put soap into the fountain and got foam all over the commons?”

“Yes! He was always such a jokester!”

Yet, about an hour and a half later, when the waiter had stopped coming by and the giggles had fallen into a relaxed silence, she began subtly gathering her things.

Desperate to prolong his time with her, he cast about for something left to say, but had nothing but the truth. “You know, the real reason I sat out there every day,” he began, “was because I could barely see your apartment complex if I squinted.”

She fell still, eyes fixated on her frozen hands. He sensed he had ruined everything, but he had no choice now but to bumble on.

“365 days ago, I wanted to go to you immediately, but I stopped myself, saying I didn’t deserve you. I vowed to myself that only if I could sit outside in all the bitter elements for a full year would I then reconnect with you. I still don’t deserve you, but I know now this is not a passing faze and never will be. And I will respect your decision, whatever you make, but I want you to know that I lo—” he froze, and as her face shot up he cast around for another word, “—love spending time with you, and I will be your friend no matter what.”

Her gaze returned to her hands. “So that’s why you always sat out there. I always wondered but didn’t have the nerve to ask.”

She met his eyes, and he knew what she would say before she said it. “You’re a good man, Abe. Thank you for letting me know how you feel, and I admire your courage and bravery to talk about it in such a candid manner with me. But I loved my husband—I still do, even as he lies dead in a cold grave. I fear that if I moved on so soon, I would not be doing him justice.”

So soon? He had months in excruciating heat and cold waiting here for her, and it was too soon?

“I understand,” he said instead.

“Thank you…I have to go now, but it was good to see you again. Maybe we could do this again some time.”

“Yeah, that’d be nice."

“Okay…bye? See you later, Abe.”

“Bye.” He watched her leave—just as he had the last day of high school all those years ago, a joyous wave behind her and a skip in her step.

“See you later, Abe!” she had called.

“Tough luck, friend,” the waiter said, coming up beside him and drying his hands on the towel over his shoulder. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Yeah, a Tetravis please.”

He closed his eyes and could still see her there, hear her voice, feel her hand in his. So soon… But for him, he had waited not one year, but forty.

  • 1 Comments

When They Tell Me to Describe Home

By Asche Keegan

To an outsider, the beautiful brick house and the rose bushes where I spent my childhood would seem like a blessing and foretelling of an equally beautiful story within. Though the bricks are scuffed and worn and different colors, very few are cracked. The yard is mowed, and three rose bushes grow in front of the porch. They sway gently in the blustery winds of early spring. Though no professional gardening job, the place looks well-kept enough from the street—until you get closer and see the duck tape in the eaves where the birds and bees would nest, the orange yellow pumice meant to keep the insects out, and the brutally cracked and scuffed concrete running under the porch. Under the rosebushes is nothing but a tarp meant to keep the weeds out of the flowerbeds; there is only a small hole poked out for the bushes to grow in.

In my mind, I walk inside through the garage, as I always have, but on the other side of the laundry room Mom is waiting in her doorway, tirade ready on her lips. I stand there and listen as I always have, thoughts flying randomly, shoulders falling further and further under the weight of her abuse. The smell of soggy pizza pervades through the house from where my sister is cooking in the kitchen while she teaches my other sister how to spell the word, “multiplication,” and still I am here, listening in my mother’s doorway.

A realization strikes me as I picture the scene—I was never allowed to see the house on blustery spring mornings, and this entire process was solely an act created by the fanciful imaginings of my mind. With that the dream (or nightmare, you decide) fades away: the house, the pizza, my mother, and once more I am left in the empty universe of my mind. It is a sorry place, yet that is where my mind drifts when I think of home, and it is still better than wandering endlessly alone.

  • 2 Comments

high-rise buildings near body of water taken during sunset 

Strangled Wildflower

By Asche Keegan


A sinister dawn in a foreign place
Holds her heart; it cups her face.
Dark outlines on the city’s land,
Skyscrapers show the corporate hand.

There she stands, rising tall against the sun
Heartbroken voice calling out for anyone.

Cold wind rippling through cropped hair,
Nose pink and cheeks red in frozen air.
Ruler of all the world below,
But to tell another all that she knows...

Cautious, she’s looking all around, 
But it’s a long way to the ground.
 
Yet oh, to be back in the country-
Where the wildflowers grow free.
Not worried about being the biggest and best
Or beating out all the rest.

Oh, back on that farm sick with love
His hand in hers, the loft above.

Her suit and tie now hold her back-
Moving trucks and boxes yet to unpack.
She had fixed her eyes and got all she wanted
But for what cost to live a life undaunted?

She wants to be as free as wildflowers
But she’s dying under corporate towers.
  • 2 Comments


Strays

By Asche Keegan


Mildred had accidentally agreed to sing at the church pageant an hour before. Unlike other notable individuals in the church, she had no particular talents in anything. Her poetry generally fell flat and lifeless, her acting skills were passable but by no means excellent, and her artistic talents left a lot to be desired. However, worst of all was her singing voice, a monstrosity that left anyone who heard it cringing.

Jenny knew that full well, the b****, when she placed Mildred in that position. She had batted her eyes rather sweetly as she handed out the assignments, before pausing on Mildred, her co-leader of the Sunday School session. “We couldn’t think of anything for you to do, so we added a song at the beginning that we’d like you to sing.”

“You want me to lead off the pageant by singing?” Mildred had asked, shocked. “Shouldn’t one of the children do it?”

“They’d mess up the words. Besides, we wanted someone from your family to pitch in as well.” Jenny knew full well that Mildred lived alone.

“But kids do that all the time, and everyone just laughs.”

“That’s because they’re kids, but for the national anthem, it’s a little different.”

“I can’t sing though.”

“Well, that’s why they say, ‘practice makes perfect.’ Besides, if you get up there and have the time of your life, people won’t care.”

“You should do it instead, Jenny.”

“Ah, I’d love to, but I can’t sing. Best of luck to you! And if you wanted, you could bring one of your cats, and then at least the people in the front row could be distracted. And for Heaven’s sake, would you smile even once, Mildred? It looks like you’re about to murder me.”

Jenny’s singing voice was beautiful.

Mildred still seethed thinking about the moment. She could not believe Jenny had said that, but as always, the best retorts came long after the conversation was over.

The grocery bags she was carrying through the short walk home bit at her hands, wanting to drag her down with them.

~ ~ ~

Everything about her screamed cat lady. Stooped shoulders shook under the weight of the grocery bags she carried, and her plaid sweater covered a curve-less form. Her gray hair was swept backward into a tight bun. Peeking through the thin plastic of the grocery bag was a can of cat-food and a package of catnip, along with a miniature scratching post and a toy mouse. She seemed like a bitter old lady, the kind of person life tried to crack and never managed to even bend.

Marian had stood on this street corner for about an hour, looking for someone suitable to approach today. She generally only had the courage to get rejected one time, so she spent a lot of effort looking for the right person. Living with a cat lady could be fun, Marian mused. Besides, she looked like the type of person to collect strays, and some could call Marian a stray.

She had one chance to make a good impression, and shoving back her insecurities, Marian ran up towards the cat lady and walked beside her. “How many cats do you have?”

The lady cast her a sideways glance and sighed. “Is it that obvious?”

Yes.
 
“You’re carrying a bag of cat toys,” Marian supplied helpfully.

The woman gave her a side eye before shrugging her shoulders. “I’ve got three. What do you want?”

“Do you want any help carrying those bags?” Marian asked.

“Are you gonna run off and steal the stuff?”

“No ma’am. I just want to help you out because your hands are getting red.”

The cat lady sighed and shifted her grip on one of the bags before handing the lighter one to Marian. “Don’t run off with it,” she said, scanning Marian’s appearance as if ready to give a police report.

Marian nodded profusely, shivering beneath the woman’s gaze.

“Again, what do you want from me?” the cat lady asked.

Marian plucked up her courage. “I was wondering if you’d adopt me, like you adopt your cats.”

The other woman said nothing, so Marian blabbered on, hoping despite all odds that she could convince the cat lady. “I’m a hard worker, kind to everyone (especially animals). I can do chores, and I don’t complain. I don’t eat a lot, and I can share a room. I can help take care of cats, if you wanted.”

The cat lady did not seem impressed, and desperately, Marian continued to talk about herself. “I can mow the yard and clean dishes. I can write a little—I’ve written my own songs sometimes.”

“Songs?” the cat lady showed the first sign of interest. “Can you sing them?”

“Yes, I’m a good singer,” Marian said, with the unabashed straight-forwardness of youth. Before she left her all alone, her mother had always said she was good at singing.

“Can you sing the national anthem for me?” the cat lady asked, stopping in the middle of the street.

“Right here, right now?” Marian asked, glancing around the moderately busy street.

“Yes, right here.”

Confused, Marian nervously hummed the opening refrains to the National Anthem, trying to remember the words. Stumbling, she sang a faltering version of the song. The cat lady did not make a noise or movement until the song had been completed, after which she nodded and kept walking.

“It’s decent. You’ll need to learn the words better, but they won’t expect you to know them anyway. If I take you with me, I’ll only ask one thing of you, and that’s to come with me to church every Sunday and Wednesday evenings and to take care of your room. You will be expected to sing and work on developing your talent, and then later go to school.”

Marian leaped in delight. “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!” she exclaimed. No more long nights shivering in the dark or having to hold others back with the knife she kept in her worn boots. To spend her childhood learning how to sing better held a certain kind of mystic appeal.

“What is your name?” the cat lady asked her, and she blushed, realizing she had not introduced herself.

“Marian,” she said.

“I’m Mildred.”

Even her name screamed cats.  
 
And for the first time, Marian wondered just how human her new home would be. 
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 https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1555441293-6c6fb1eb9773?ixid=MXwxMjA3fDB8MHxzZWFyY2h8Mnx8c21va2luZ3xlbnwwfHwwfA%3D%3D&ixlib=rb-1.2.1&auto=format&fit=crop&w=600&q=60

The Worms Gave Me Cancer

By Asche Keegan


Author's Note: This was just me messing around with a creative writing assignment! xD Enjoy!

Eying the cigarette box in my pocket in distaste, the doctor informed me it would only be a routine checkup—nothing more than a casual vitals test, an uncomfortable examination, and a brief nasal scan.

I’ve seen this all before of course; they had the same tortuous tricks in Vietnam. They locked me in a white metal room and watched as I slowly went mad, rocking myself to sleep in a dazed stupor. Sometimes, they would pull me out, grabbing my arm and strapping me to their operating table. There, they cut me open and pulled out my organs, injecting me with noxious chemicals and irrepressible diseases. They made us eat worms, forcing them down our throats until we choked on our own spit. Once, someone asked to see my scars, and I told him the Vietnamese were tricky that way- they knew how to operate without leaving a trace of their work behind them. Yet now as if called to life by memory, I could feel the chemicals they put into my body once more churning, ready to finish what they started. However, while the nurses poked and prodded and patronized me, I confronted the traumas of my past and sat completely still through the awakening of old nightmares.

The next thing I knew, they were asking for an MRI, another one of their high end medical procedures designed to take all your money to tell you you’re going to die.

“It’s the cigarettes, good man,” the doctor said, once more staring at my pocket. “I’ve told you that you should have quit when you had the chance.”

Twenty years ago, I had gathered with my other friends behind the school, one of us staged at the corner as a lookout for the teachers. Browning had unearthed a stack of crushed cigarettes from his backpack, tossing each of us one.

“Those cause cancer, you know?” I had said it as a question, nervous and trying to fit in.

“Whoever told you that was a moron,” Browning replied, snapping on the lighter and gesturing toward me. “Light ‘em up.”

So here I tell the doctor what Browning told me, and in return the man shakes his head and faces the ground. “You likely have stage 4 lung cancer,” he says, and the words hit the ground between us.

I think about for a minute before I nod. “Makes sense. It wasn’t the cigarettes, my friend,” I say, mimicking his jovial tone. “It was the worms who gave it to me.”

“You’ve never even been to Vietnam,” the doctor replied, exasperated. He had heard this tale a good many times, for it explained every malady of my body—especially as I was an incredibly healthy person before I left the country.

“You weren’t there; it was a despicable place,” I say, before lighting a cigarette and leaving the flabbergasted doctor alone in the room behind me.
  • 2 Comments

woman holding baby while walking on dock

Disclaimer: 

This is not my own work, but rather a close-imitation writing exercise based on Jamaica Kincaid's short story, "Girl." The purpose of the exercise is to mimic the writing style of another author and simply replace key words and phrases with your own! I did this for my creative writing class - which I love - and liked it enough to share it here. Nevertheless, I would still count this as a journaling entry, though I suggest you read the original first. :) Enjoy!


What My Mother Taught Me (Close Imitation Exercise) 

By Asche Keegan


Order your textbooks on Monday and line them up against the wall; pack your book collection on Tuesday and put the boxes in the van; don’t check your phone; carry a pencil and a pen; forget about your friends after you take off; when taking notes to help you study, be sure that they aren’t scribbled over, because that way they won’t be legible after class; make toast when the cafeteria is closed; is it true that you socialize more than you study?; always spend your time in such a way that it won’t hurt your grades; On Sundays, try to act like an adult and not like the kid you’re so bent on remaining; don’t slouch when you’re talking to me; you shouldn’t speak when I’m talking, not even to give clarifications; don’t eat wheat – indigestion will follow you; but I don’t talk when you’re talking, and I never slouch; this is how to write a sentence; this is how to write an essay for the sentence you have just written; this is how to edit an essay so you can submit it on time and to prevent yourself from looking like the irresponsible kid you’re so bent on remaining; this is how you stay up late for hours every night so that you get all good grades; this is how you eat plenty of protein and vegetables so that you get all good grades; this is how you make pizza– far from my room, because the smell makes me sick; when you are teaching others, make sure they get plenty of sleep or else they won’t understand you when you are teaching it; this is how you multiply; this is how you divide; this is how you do a geometric proof; this is how you write a story you won’t like too much; this is how you write a story you don’t like at all; this is how to ruin a story you like completely; this is how you study during the day; this is how you study during the weekend; this is how you study during the weekend with a holiday; this is how you study during the night; this is how you study while you eat;

[...]

This is how to make the benchmark; always double-check your work to make sure it’s good; but what if I run out of time on the test?; you mean to say that you’re really going to be the type of kid that will run out of time on the test?

  • 2 Comments

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