Trees like a beating heart.Life was noisy.
Snow fell, and the woods beckoned —
It’s quiet here. Come in.
Sure-footed, she blazoned forth.
Light slanted through the trees like a promise,
A golden haze whispered, Stay.
Standing beside three trees, red as beating hearts
She found a home inside herself.
Quiet to last a lifetime.
n.b. The photo came first. I wanted to see whether, not only could I write a story in exactly 50 words, but could I create that story inspired by the photo. I like a challenge. Thanks to the WordPress editors for this one. It took me nearly a week to do it. Hemingway, I am not.
A Wilderness of Words 
Perhaps “Life was noisy” is closer to Hemingway than you think. I think it is beautiful. You have that essence of peace and fulfillment in these words.
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Thank you. I appreciate your comment.
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Beautiful and Inspiring, Thank You 🙂 ~ Blessings of Renewal and Joy~
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Thank you for your comment. I am grateful for it.
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Lovely! So nice to take a gentle walk with her!
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Marsha, how ARE you? Thanks for taking the walk, and for commenting. Perhaps I’ll see you in August?
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So beautiful, both visually and otherwise. I love it! 🙂
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Aww, Jen, thank you! I have your mother to thank for the visual. 🙂
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Oh wow, Mary, you weren’t kidding. Reds and golds and infinite possibility ahead, all wrapped up in 50 words around a photo — on the weekend, to boot. We certainly were of one mind. I love your happier ending though. And my goodness that’s a beautiful photo!
Well done, my friend! -christy
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You know what’s really funny? This didn’t start out in the direction of a happy ending. When I looked at my photo, the line that I first thought of was, “She wasn’t afraid of anything. . .” The more I wrote, the more I realized I was not looking in the right direction. That’s the thing about trees — they can be ominous, and they can off solitude. It actually started out with a memory of me running away from home when I was 9. That’s a whole other story!
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Actually, you didn’t write a story. You wrote a poem – a beautiful, spare, evocative poem! Love it!
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I agree with you. I’m not sure it’s possible to truly write a story in 50 words. Hemingway supposedly wrote one using 6 words – the key being a story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. His “story” was: For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn. It’s an interesting exercise in focus, though.
Thanks for your kind comment.
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Beautiful photo. You excelled at putting down a perfect story for it.
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Thank you Uzoma. The photo is of my back yard. I love being surrounded by trees. I went from there.
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I like reading you waaaaay more than Hemingway.
Your ruby red trees beckoned me and your words made me stay.
Loved this Mary!!
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I like Mary more than Hemingway too. In fact, I like her more than most writers I read.
You’d enjoy this past post of hers too:
https://marydpierce.com/2013/09/12/alice-falls/
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Thank you (both)! I like Hemingway, his short stories, anyway. His novels are a little to macho for me, all that manly man posturing and being all angsty that the world isn’t what he originally thought it should be.
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Reblogged this on smilingjohne's Blog and commented:
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I guess this may be kind of a sad thing, but I’m a believer that you can’t go home again (with “you” meaning, of course, “I/me/myself”). And so, operating from that mindset, these lines particularly call to me: “Standing beside three trees, red as beating hearts/She found a home inside herself.” Lovely photo and awesome writing in 50 words, Mary.
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It’s not sad at all, Leigh. I feel the same way. Have you read Look Homeward Angel by Thomas Wolfe? Thank you for your lovely comment.
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I really should, Mary; we toured his home in my schoolgirl days. I’ve begun LHA a couple times. The last couple years (as my kids age and I have a little more free time), I’ve been trying to revisit literature I never got to read; LHA is on the list.
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So lovely, Mary. I really enjoyed this!
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Thanks, Cathy. I enjoyed writing it.
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Mary, the photo is so beautiful and the story had me from word one. Quiet to last a lifetime … lovely
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Thanks, Laurie. Aren’t we all just looking for quiet? 🙂
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The image is beautiful and the story reads like a poem. The last two lines really speak to me.
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Thank you, for the image! After seeing that stunning photo you got of yourself in the mirror, I got the Distressed FX app and started playing around with it. I love it. This photo of my back yard on a snowy day was the result.
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Mary, I’m thrilled to think I had a part in your beautiful creation! I’ll be looking forward to seeing what else you do with the app. It is fascinating and fun, isn’t it?
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Very inspiring…..I would love to try it myself…
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Photo opened a door. Words enchanted reader. Trees accepted. Elegant.
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Thank you so much for your kind words.
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This is perfect Mary. The photo, the story and the marriage of the two!
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Thanks, Mae. A last snowy photo before the coming glorious sunshine (let’s hope)!
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Hey Wild Child- The challenge of writing is to pen something that evokes an image in the reader’s minds, pure and true. You’re always so very good at that. With the photo- beautiful shot, by the way- you’re just showing off. 🙂
PS- Who needs Hemingway?
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Cayman, you are always kind to me. Bless you for that!
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Very lovely!!!
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Thank you!
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Utterly wonderful photo and story. It seems a beautiful poem of calm to me.
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