When he calls from the conference
and says he met her, after months
of email discussing their research,
I see the first whiff of smoke
rising out of the forest,
the one you have to be close to notice,
and think you could put out yourself
if the garden hose reached that far,
the first seconds of wondering
where the important papers are,
the photographs, the cat.
– Sarah Russell
First published in One Sentence Poems
For Poets United
Photo source
Sarah Russell Poetry 
Fine, quick, nothing un-necessary.
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Thanks, John. I don’t very often get a poem only one sentence long. When I do, my favorite place to submit is One Sentence Poems. Sometimes their poems are only a few words. Sometimes they carry on for nearly a paragraph. But they’re always legitimately a single sentence. Fun to try.
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Oh, it seems a warning here. Yes, where are the important papers and the cat?
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Thanks, Annell. Yup. Gotta get stuff together…
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I so enjoyed this part: I see the first whiff of smoke / rising out of the forest,…
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Thank you, Sumana.
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Yes I know this, but as an unexpected (and why?) bouquet…
Anna :o]
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Thanks, Anna. Hmmm. Another story here perhaps? 🙂
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Fire! My aunt and uncle’s house burned to the ground many years ago, and they lost everything, including some photos that were precious to me. Now all I have is distant memories.
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“are”
Now all I have are distant memories.
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Thanks for stopping by. I have several friends who share your story. We don’t know how precious those shoeboxes of photos are until we don’t have them anymore.
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So well written…the first hint of danger…..the readying oneself for flight…….
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Thanks, Sherry. Yup. Gotta be ready…
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Disasters always come with a warning…. love the juxtaposition of the call and the smoke from the Forrest…
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Thanks, Bjorn. Yes, I always find it odd when someone says they had no warning.
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Brilliant.. I must try this Sarah considering I end up writing long winded sentences!!! The smoke, the denial… we’ve all been there in some form or the other!
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Yes, I think it’s an old familiar tale, Rajani. Do try the One Sentence Poems site. I could pluck any number of lines from your poems that would stand alone and be perfect.
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A delicious form and one I will have to remember….ah that first bit of smoke as it begins!
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Thanks, Donna. Not sure it’s a form, since they take sentences of all shapes and sizes. The only stipulation is that it has to be a single sentence with proper punctuation. They also don’t want semi-colons where a period should have been.
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I like the turn, whiff of smoke…
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Yup. Thanks for stopping by.
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The shock of reality, so well presented. Love it.
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Thanks, John.
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I wonder many things about this piece, and I love how it engages my imagination. Could it be a tryst he is confessing, thus she burns what had become a lie. Did he meet a child he once had to give up? He had memories to show her, but did the photos survive the fire? Ah, I could go on. Thanks for your one sentence poetry spinning me into plot. 🙂
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Oooo, take them and run, Susie. Wonderful possibilities here.
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I understand.
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Yup. Thanks for stopping by.
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I felt some suspense here, a distant phone call from your man, and a distant cloud of smoke, was there a suspicious link…
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Hmmmm. Was there, Ivor??
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ah, the hair on the back of the neck stands up and senses are heightened, knowing what this could mean. from zero to a hundred in one sentence. excellent.
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Thanks a lot, Beth. Yup. All senses on edge.
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This is brilliant! And I love it’s form. 😉
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Thanks, Al. I never plan these. But when I get a poem that’s a single sentence I always save it to submit to this venue. They’ve taken a couple and turned one down. How’s NaNo going??
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Wow. What a chilling juxtaposition.
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Thanks so much, Colleen. And thanks for stopping by!
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Reality in its strangeness and truth.. beautifully penned.
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Thanks a lot, Sanaa.
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I love this. It feels like an ominous foreshadowing. Perhaps they are just colleagues and nothing more. Or perhaps the speaker should act to preserve their lives from the spark… the flame of something more.
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Thanks for the close read, Barry. Yup. That first whiff of smoke….
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