Part of OctPoWriMo prompt today talks about tortured in the context of love, where, “Torture is defined as ‘the action or practice of inflicting severe pain on someone as a punishment or to force them to do or say something, or for the pleasure of the person inflicting the pain.’ ” One of the suggested forms is senryu.
My plan was to write after going to lunch with my mother and my cousin. Both of their birthdays fall in the next week or so. My mother and I have had a very rocky path together and we’ve been estranged for the past so many months. I told my cousin she could invite my mother for lunch today so we can at least be on speaking terms again. I wondered how it would go. The following senryu is a 100% accurate telling of how it went.
at her birthday lunch –
she smiles but keeps commenting
forks make good weapons
Tao Talk 
So… ok but not great! Sorry.
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Not talking about your poem but your experience.
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Oh that just says so much with so little. Forks make good weapons but bad bridges. I’m sorry it didn’t go so well!
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Sorry it didn’t go as planned..
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I am sorry it did not go well but what a power packed senryu!
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thank you. i’m sorry too and i hate to use a cliche but it is what it is between her and i. there’s fading hope it will ever be any different
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Which is such a sad thing. But some relationships are like that.
You are welcome.
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I see a white-knuckle-tight grip on that fork…
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She didn’t appear to be holding it tight, but she kept looking down at it every time she mentioned it. It took me awhile to catch on, but when I did I was ready if she decided to put it to the test. Sounds nuts even typing it but truth is always stranger than fiction.
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Without exception it IS stranger than fiction, but the feeling of that moment comes through loud and clear.
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I am very sorry.
Mine is not much better, though it is about memories more than anything recent.
Still, both my parents called this week. I didn’t pick up the phone and still have to call them back.
Somewhere, there is a sense of dread lingering in the background of my mind.
A fear of judgment.
I do hope you find peace with your mother. But I also understand it takes two to tango.
Good luck
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That must have been nerve-wrecking. I’m glad you left the ordeal unscathed physically. Mentally, it must have been exhausting.
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yes, it was very exhausting
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