Empty Stalks
Red currants on the bush
are ripe to eat,
They glow bright red and look so sweet.
I shall eat them on the morrow!
but the next day, to my sorrow,
The mice got there first,
to chew, gnaw, and slake their thirst,
To steal and borrow my ripened fruits;
In the night,
They picked the shoots,
and left the bush quite bare!
I look at the currants where they should be,
and there’s nothing there—
just empty stalks
dangling,
hanging free.
Nature's thieves have come and gone,
Leaving me sad, alone with none.
Then I turn and see my guilty son,
whose face is juicy red,
Aha! now I know what has been done.
He ate them all instead,
Lesley Scoble, July 2024
Fruit pickers
When my sons were little, they always enjoyed picking fruit. I took these shots with my trusty old Pentax ME Super. Daniel, my eldest, is now using it! Apparently, rolls of film are making a comeback in our digital age.
I remember going on holiday with my Pentax and only a couple of rolls of film of 12 or 36 exposures. Now I take hundreds on my phone!
I wrote my Vignette poem, Empty Stalks, in response to Reena’s RXO CHALLENGE PROMPT #338. This week’s prompt is the word VIGNETTE, which can also be a concept or a format.
Thank you, Reena, for the inspiration.
Click for details on the word VIGNETTE
The dictionary meanings are as follows:
a brief evocative description, account, or episode
In literature, a vignette (pronounced vin-yet) is a short scene that captures a single moment or a defining detail about a character, idea, or other element of the story. Vignettes are mostly descriptive; in fact, they often include little or no plot detail. They are not stand-alone literary works, nor are they complete plots or narratives. Instead, vignettes are small parts of a larger work, and can only exist as pieces of a whole story.
Lesley lives in the City of London Square Mile. An artist, actor and sculptor (her first ceramic sculpture won the V&A inspired by… Award). Scenic artist & book illustrator, playwright (her musical play, Rapscallion performed in inner city schools and theatre school); TV dancer; Animator and illustrator for TV production. Set up Pinecone Studios Ltd and IIMSI Ltd drama and filmmaking workshops in London – producing award-winning films made by children.
LesleyScoble.com 
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