Author: Susi Bocks

Life is the daily privilege of new discoveries about who I am. I evolve into more roles as my life continues towards its inevitable end. Many admirable hats have been worn throughout my existence, and some have come to an end. I've been a daughter, a sister, a friend, a wife, a mother, an aunt, a sister-in-law, a daughter-in-law, a paid worker in the capitalistic system in our world, a business person, and a volunteer for many worthy causes over the years. The current role of writer and author is hopefully not the last step in my journey that began as a blank slate. I'm currently residing in the middle of the United States.

Jia-Li Yang (aka Cassa Bassa)

Published on May 10, 2024May 4, 2024 by Susi Bocks9 Comments

Safety Or Anxiety

It’s getting harder
to murder someone
and get away with it
Citizens feel safer

It’s impossible
to keep any secrets
while the tech giants
are watching

The anxiety
of being stalked
is real

The Chapel

She wore a black dress
to his funeral
Outside the chapel
the wind shook the pear blossoms
covering her hair and back
She walked that walk again
wearing a wedding veil of white petals
Pure and eternal
She saw her groom again
still and peaceful

Masterpiece

The land meets the sky
blue on green
The ocean meets the sky
blue on blue

The sun cuts himself
bleeds liquid gold
The palette is ready
for a masterpiece

You Made Me A Better Writer

If we are living the fairytale
I know
I would stop writing

This feeling of lack
this sense of tragedy
keep me digging deeper
into the human condition

For that
you have made me a better writer

Give No Reason

The sun gives no reason to shine
The rain gives no reason to nourish
Children give no reason to laugh
Kitten gives no reason to be cute
We give no reason to love

Being who we are
is enough
Philosophical debate
is such a waste of time
Why don’t we just be
and be happy
that we are
who we are

~~~

China-born Australian writer Jia-Li Yang (aka Cassa Bassa) loves people and writing. She authored a collection of micro stories The Scars We Don’t See; poetry anthologies published by The Short of It, Raw Earth Ink, Prolific Pulse Press, EIF, Literary Revelations. Cassa blogs at https://flickerofthoughts.com. She was first featured in 2022. You can find her previous work HERE.

If you’d like to be featured on The Short of It in the future,
click here for the submission guidelines.

#TheShortofIt – Vol 1 The Sound of Brilliance and Vol 2 Reflections & Revelations on Amazon

Amrita Valan

Published on May 3, 2024April 27, 2024 by Susi Bocks4 Comments

Solo

The long and lonely stretch
An emptiness of expanse
My elegantly furnished drawing room.
No one in it.

Obsession

The kiss I didn’t give you
Shreds salt cheddar on my lips
Sears fierce lava on my lips
Smears sad jelly on my hips
Scooches, French smooches,
Invades, ravishes my sleep.

Abstinence

Bodhisattva obtained,
By letting go.
Semi-squat abstinence
Attained at cost.

Enlightenment’s sad
Knowledge gained,
Heavy-duty Nirvana!
Alas, Kurt Cobain.

Flesh maimed, bloodstained.
Soul flailed, stubborn pain.
Ghost of fat cells recall.
Undead, shrink film elastic
So well maintained.

Petrification

A tony tear trembles
At my right eye, just so.
Pure molecular expression
Of elegant grief. Chic.
Like a facial gymnast I flex
Matrix of muscles to flick away
Puerile pain pearls.

Etched into Sphinx, I squat
Ozymandias in desert sands
Stoic and bland,
Scorning rain.
Lithos trembles
Sandstone atoms.

Watching Me Watching You

The sky is filled with dead people
At dawn
The eyes of a whole past world…
Looking on.

Diary Of One Poet

I rose at six today,
Wrote eleven pages
Rolled out handmade rotis
Perfectly puffed, for breakfast.
Tiptoe-kissed tall teenagers
Downy cheeks turning
Rapidly raspy. Leaning down,
Grinning, they received kisses.
Mighty mamma is so tiny now.

Time flies, writers write
Of time past, time to come.
Time flies, reels glide
Dead birds’ broken nests
Fledglings readying wings
Leave to take life’s tests.

The poet tastes life’s flavours
Dreads to tread downstream
Liminal currents cancel old dreams
But renews and resurrects fresh streams.
Future a dream to come, sweet past adieu,
The poet must rest in the present too.

Magic in Optics

Magic is sunshine slanting
Light angles between floor and wall
Making milk mirror pools of
Upside-down furniture, doors and
Ceilings.
Spooky serene upside-down land.
Make belief that it is a different universe.
A fairy-verse.

~~~

Amrita Valan is an Indian writer of stories poems and essays. She has been published in online journals nationally and internationally. Her published works are Arrivederci Fifty Poems and a collection of short stories on Amazon – In Between Pauses: US & In Between the Pauses: UK. Amrita was first featured in 2022. You can find her features HERE, some of which were featured in Volume 2 – Reflections & Revelations.

If you’d like to be featured on The Short of It in the future,
click here for the submission guidelines.

#TheShortofIt – Vol 1 The Sound of Brilliance and Vol 2 Reflections & Revelations on Amazon

It’s That Time Again!

Published on April 30, 2024April 29, 2024 by Susi Bocks19 Comments

Dear followers and readers –

It’s like my hiatus is coming earlier and earlier! 🤪😁I guess my brain needs it.

During the month of May, I will not be posting to my blog at all (except The Short of It features scheduled on Fridays), nor will I be reading any of the blogs I follow, with the exception of catching up on the last of the posts from today that I haven’t read yet. I will also give social media a rest. I’ve found this has done so much for me every year. What I will do (again) is catch up on reading my paperbacks (collecting dust), read my Kindle backlog (leaving reviews where appropriate), and work on a new chapbook series project. More details to come in the future.

Should there be any comments to I Write Her/The Short of It during my absence, they will be addressed when I return. See you again on June 1! ❤

Still Bright

Published on April 29, 2024 by Susi Bocks12 Comments

Inspired by What do you see #236

mystery power
this overcast night still glows
dampened energy

Do No Evil

Published on April 28, 2024 by Susi Bocks11 Comments

The vast salty sea held millions of secrets, ninety-nine percent still unrevealed. Who knows how much is lost in the oceans simmering now?

These were the thoughts in my mind as I swung the axe, breaking open the lock to the refinery. Old habits die hard, even when I have changed to activism instead of lurking in the shadows committing crimes. A slight guilt began to trickle in, but I forced it from my mind as I rushed past the stones and the roots of the weeds surrounding the secretive testing facility, pulling down the brim of my hat further.

***Inspired by The Sunday Whirl – Wordle #652***

Being Social

Published on April 27, 2024April 20, 2024 by Susi Bocks16 Comments

released from bondage
shedding all the made-up style
letting pretense slide

Layla Todd

Published on April 26, 2024February 26, 2024 by Susi Bocks31 Comments

Leap

My thoughts congeal under a loveless moon.
Where I still have blood to give
I give it. I would rather
Go first than be the one
Left behind to dance alone in the waterfall.

Aligning

If I can pick out the tiny purple and white
Violets on the earth’s bosom while
Standing on her thighs
I can grasp a handful of
Seashells with the sunset trapped inside
While balancing on the stale waves of yesterday and still
Fall in love with the moon.

Straight On

The wind strips my skin away
I savor the soft touch of
Unobstructed moonlight.
I do not see the sun rise until
It is upon me. The colors are harsh and
Demand I adapt myself to curves or
Forever cut myself on my corners.

Descent

You tell me to forget wings exist and to
Forget they set me free and
I fall back to you and
I try to move in a straight line and
You force me to
Deviate into circles and
I spiral toward the earth and land in the
Aftermath of a loveless yesterday.

Landing

The dirt draws me in and tries to love me
I tumble down a slope to find the river
In it I see the sky.

~~~

Layla Todd is a word witch and poetess from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. She is studying Creative Writing at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and her work has previously appeared in Persona Literary Magazine, Delta Poetry Review, and Visual Verse. Visit her at ninchronicles.com for further writing. Layla was first featured in 2020 and then again in 2022. You can find her previous features HERE.

If you’d like to be featured on The Short of It in the future,
click here for the submission guidelines.

#TheShortofIt