poetry / writing prompts

Seven words

Chris Hall33 Comments

It said, ‘take what you need.’ It was stuck on a telegraph pole by the pavement.
She stopped and looked. Interesting, she thought.
But she moved on, although she continued that thought.

She mused as she walked along that road.
What were the seven words again?
She could remember them, and all were good, she felt.

She pondered as the rain started again. Well, it was the UK after all.
Then the next telegraph pole appeared, which also had the same words.
However, this one had been disfigured.

So ‘love’ and ‘money’ had disappeared, as did ‘passion’ and ‘happiness’ – very sad that.
Then ‘luck’ had become ‘uck’ – very unpleasant.
But, at least it hadn’t been replaced with ‘fuck’ (gosh, naughty).

Right in the middle, the word, ‘courage’ had lost part of it.
Now it’s called ‘rage’… another gosh for that.
All that was left was ‘hope’ and that seemed appropriate.

~~~~~~~

Image credit: Maximus Mazar @Unsplash

This image shows a paper poster on a pole, saying – “Take what you need”
Underneath are tabs marked- Love, Hope, Passion, Courage, Happiness, Luck, Money!

Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #325 photo prompt.

What do you see # 325- 26 Jan, 2026

33 thoughts on “Seven words”

  5. It seems she has journeyed through human ageing from the past century to the present… She might carry with her all the words she saw on the first pole into the next!
    Sadly, how true it is!! 🫤🤗❣️

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