Reena’s Xploration Challenge #402

Posted on by Reena Saxena

Welcome back!

SPECIAL MENTION

Michelle Navajas

My Coffee Could Be My Friend or Foe

my coffee could be my best friend—or my foe,
it offers peace, a pause, a gentle glow.
a quiet breath, a moment’s sweet escape—
yet often sends me back through time and shape.

to days when people carved their names in spite,
their words like knives, their glances never right.
they disrespected all i tried to be—
so now they live in bitter memory.

i gave them roles with twisted, broken faces,
the villains lurking in my story’s places.
the ones who speak in shadows, sharp and grim—
the devil’s voice now borrowed just for them.

they earned their place in every aching line:
the oppressors, cruel, no longer mine.
i write them dark with purpose, clear and true—
because that’s what the hurt has taught me to do

PROMPT #402

We have a theme for this week. I invite your prose, poetry, artwork or photography to explore the space of

Passages, Doorways, Thresholds, Transitions

There is no restriction on the length or format of the piece. There is no last date unless you wish to be featured in the Weekly Wrap.

We will not include any posts that are found to be offensive, vulgar or hurt ordinary sensibilities. This needs to be a safe space.

Create a post on your blog and copy-paste the link in the Comments. If you use a pingback, check to see if it has worked. I have come across cases where the pingback did not work, and I missed including the piece in the Weekly Wrap.

SHOUT-OUTS

A special shout-out to Indira for being the friend who understands the cultural context of my writing. At times, she throws a very unique perspective on a prompt that makes me stop and think.

age no bar
-initiatives
launched anew
-reaches out
through blogs, comments – her writing
displays mature spine

Think David, Think Sijo 🙂 At least, that is how I see it. And here’s my first Sijo dedicated to him.

Honesty, sincerity, courage and truth – thy name’s David
Devotion, family first, then the pen bleeds – brilliance in verse
By day, he writes the world anew; by night, he holds what matters most.

WEEKLY WRAP

Jules Paige

Jim Adams

Ange

Susi Bocks

Diana Coombes

Susan St. Pierre

Lady Lee

Sadje

David Bogomolny

Suzette B.

Eugenia

Michelle Navajas

Reena Saxena

51 thoughts on “Reena’s Xploration Challenge #402”

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  10. Thanks for the shout-out, Reena. I am honoured. This time, I was late to participate because my computer was not working. Now, after eating a good amount of money, it’s working.

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  25. This is a powerful and poignant piece. The poem brilliantly captures the duality of a simple ritual—how coffee can be both a comforting “gentle glow” and a trigger that opens a “passage” back to painful memories. The act of writing becomes the threshold itself, the space where those past hurts are transformed into “aching line[s]” and the oppressors are given “twisted, broken faces.” It’s a raw and honest exploration of how we transition from experiencing pain to processing it through art, moving through the doorway of memory to reclaim our narrative. A truly fitting and profound response to the theme.

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