One Word: burst

my dad called it a cloudburst
he laughed when we finally made it home
hair drenched, sneakers squishy
jean jacket soaked and heavy with sky torrents
it was the last day of school
gravity pulled rain, mixed with pelting hail
sunshine spotlight illuminated us
running down the hill towards home

One Word: flavor

Honeydew. Or perhaps cantaloupe.
Pale green sugar flavored kisses.
Or perhaps, orange-pink nectar kisses
stolen from sun-warmed fuzzy bees.
Oh, there was definitely a moment when they turned the corner
and didn't start down the second set of stairs...
His kisses were sticky black grape flavored.
Pressed up against the concrete. Plum.
Soft, magnetic Opium--Indeed.

One Word: figure

diagram sketched of innards
figure labeled with components
represent once secret inner workings
complex dog machinery

One Word: tower

stairs curl up inside the tower, golden Shirley Temple locks
little girl fingers intertwined with red brick walls
arms intertwined, spin with dizzy merriment, keep time
with the lighthouse beam perched up top
scream "ashes, ashes, we all fall down!"

One Word: ship

asbestos applied, metal folded & pounded & heated
love affairs floating on ships over oceans
cotton string tatted into intricate pattern contortions
reflect the dramatic cardiovascular twists and turns
mimic the splashes and waves from seas parted by bolts

One Word: coat

a fine layer of grease coats your tongue
when you eat fresh mutton roasted over an open fire
who knows how much grease would still be there
if the fire hadn't burned it away
and you can only get it off with cold soda pop
sugary acid and caffeine dissolving mutton fat
washing it down your throat

One Word: discreet

This doesn't really work, but--hey--it's only 60 seconds!
His phone numbers were discrete
so that he could keep his relationships discreet
Each assigned a number
Discarded when interaction curtains drew to a close

One Word: birdhouse

dainty butter daffodils, hollow grasshopper stems contorted by pooled weight of coalesced water drops dripped off the empty birdhouse. canary flexed and drawn to ground-level by gravity. rusty conglomerations trickle down into yellow trumpets, soon to be lowered and splashed on the ground.

One Word: circuit

1970s elementary students run PE circuits
gather beanbags & chalky erasers
deliver them to opposite gym ends
try to avoid slips and splats
prevent huge hematoma lumps on knees
result from smash against white tiled floors

One Word: tray

little bones still held together by tendons and ligaments
connective tissue jellied by days soaked in strong bases
small clumps picked off and dropped onto a worn aluminum tray
slowly, the bones became cleaner, the edges more precise