Giant

I’m trapped between mature queen beeches, beneath the litter of their crunchy mast. Their silver trunks are adorned with stag-horn lichen and bracket fungus, a tiny fairyland. Me, I’m a giant, one of a circle of stones haunting the landscape, a left-over from a long time ago. Sometimes the great bones of my life feel so heavy, casting long shadows when all I want is to soar with the crows in a wind-filled world. But I am firmly anchored to the soil, my limbs exposed to the weather, porous and cold.

Half-awake, I lie here waiting for spring, for flashes of golden shafts of sun, for bluebells to cast their heady scent onto the breeze and overhead blossoms to banish the pregnant clouds. Soon, my limbs will be draped with green moss and grassy fronds, a fresh new outfit for a giant like me.      (144 words)

Kim M. Russell, 18th January 2021

485 Eden Project Photos - Free & Royalty-Free Stock Photos from Dreamstime

My response to dVerse Poets Pub Prosery: Bone Weary

Linda is back with this month’s Prosery, a story of 144 words or less (not including the title), which must have a beginning and an end, and should not be poetry, including a given line in its entirety, with altered punctuation allowed.

Linda chose a line from ‘Spring Azures’ from the poetry collection Wild Geese by Mary Oliver: ‘Sometimes the great bones of my life feel so heavy’.

Free image of a sculpture from the Eden Project, Cornwall found on Dreamstime. All of my Eden Project photographs have disappeared.

58 thoughts on “Giant”

  1. Oh Kim…you’ve brought this giant to life for your readers. The details are quite amazing. I can picture him so very well….even without the image. And the Mary Olive line flows so well into your description here. And these words “when all I want is to soar with the crows in a wind-filled world” capture the plight of a stone sculpture who we can imagine as life frozen in stone. I enjoyed this very much!

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  2. Wondrous telling, Kim. I can relate to this Giant’s, “Half-awake, I lie here waiting for spring, for flashes of golden shafts of sun, for bluebells to cast their heady scent onto the breeze and overhead blossoms to banish the pregnant clouds.”

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  3. Love this! I can visualize the giant “anchored to the soil”, with his “limbs exposed to the weather, porous and cold.” The yearning for freedom, for taste of adventure is so palpable here. Wonderful writing, Kim! 💝💝

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  12. Your image is fascinating, making it a joy to write to. A clever and creative take on the prompt. This giant is a male, it’s chest is exposed. I see the giant as a troll frozen for eternity by a white wizard.

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  26. So descriptive and wonderful! I loved the imagery of “Their silver trunks are adorned with stag-horn lichen and bracket fungus, a tiny fairyland.” And the fairyland makes the giant seem all the bigger. Really enjoyed your take on the prompt.

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