No Dance Today, but an Un-holiday limerick. #TDWC

Posted on by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Saturday, May 10, 2025

 

Welcome, all.  I don’t have an installment of our serial, The Dance of Discord, ready for this weekend.  Although, as this is a holiday weekend in the USA (Mother’s Day), and most people are probably busy with family, maybe that’s just as well.

Instead of the serial, I have a small offering for Dan Antion’s Thursday Doors Writing Challenge.  Today’s door image was submitted by artist and poet, Kerfe.  It’s one of her beautiful collages.  I believe she calls it Cosmic Houses, which is a perfect reflection of the thoughts, feelings and memories it brings to me.  (I apologize if I got the title wrong.)

Cosmic Houses collage by Kerfe
Cosmic Houses collage by Kerfe

If you’ve read my “About” page, it’s probably no surprise that I don’t do holidays well.  Nor that this particular holiday brings out the worst.  Kerfe’s delightful artwork didn’t trigger any of the feelings in this post — they were already wide awake.  However, her art did somehow give me an amount of peace, because it caused me to reconnect with the Twilight Zone-ish feeling that has resonated with my oddly-wired brain from my childhood onward — with the beyond-ordinary possibilities that kept me from falling into the abyss as a child. 

When I look at the door and the windows in Kerfe’s collage above (of course I’m looking from my own unique lens), I don’t see freedom beyond them.  I don’t see any view.  I see only the confines of my own mind.  Yet, as with her collage, behind and wrapped around those windows and door to nowhere is the cosmos (just as it is with all the twists of my mind).  The cosmos — the limitless expanse that contains all the possibilities of the imagination, shields and absorbs the negative impact of the collision with reality.

Twilight Zone Introduction

Rod Serling introduced each episode of The Twilight Zone.  There were several variations on his speech.  Following is one of them:

Rod Serling Twilight Zone promo image
Rod Serling Twilight Zone promo image for series

You’re traveling through another dimension — a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s a signpost up ahead: your next stop: the Twilight Zone!

You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into… the Twilight Zone.

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call “The Twilight Zone.”

My Limerick

The Cosmic Houses inspired a… shall we say an “anti-holiday” limerick.

♣

In a house where shadows would creep,

A daughter in silence held deep,

Her mother would blame,

And set hearts aflame,

While the walls held her secrets to keep.

♣ ♣ ♣

Friendly comments are welcome.  Thanks for opening this door.  Hugs!

♣ ♣ ♣

Naturally, the obligatory shameless self-promotion must be included.

 

♣ ♣ ♣

The Alchemist and the Woman in Trousers: A Cornelis Drebbel Adventure

Kindle:  relinks.me/B0F1KWXJ5P

Paperback:  relinks.me/B0F1KVQGFR

This post is part of Dan Antion 5th Annual Thursday Doors Writing Challenge (TDWC). Click the blue link for more information about the challenge and how to showcase your stories.)  Fortunately for me, Dan’s rules for the writing challenge are wonderfully flexible and include any sort of creativity. 

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Copyright © 2025 by Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene

All rights reserved.

39 thoughts on “No Dance Today, but an Un-holiday limerick. #TDWC”

  1. I find the significance of walls in your limerick an interesting contrast to Kerfe’s collage, where I feel walls are irrelevant and seem to dissolve. The collage is such an interesting playground, isn’t it? We can climb, stretch, go around in circles, dangle by our knees as we let it work in us. It’s true evidence of the Twilight Zone!

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  5. I hadn’t come across that collage from Kerfe yet, and I’m in awe at how it inspired you, Teagan. Not only with your reflection of the artwork, but your limerick. Rod Sterling and his quotes from the Twilight Zone are a perfect fit. Have a wonderful Sunday.

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  6. Your interpretation of my collage as a door into the mind makes a lot of sense to me. Our minds are a mystery, just like the twilight zone. And vast as the cosmos. I’ve been doing a lot of shadow-infused collages too, which I’m sure had an influence on that one.
    I’m sorry your house growing up was such a troubled one. It’s hard to escape those walls. (K)

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  7. You played into Kerfe’s door nicely with the Twilight Zone. I can totally see it, feel i and get it!

    The limerick is a zone of its own. Love it.

    Thanks Teagan!

    Hugs!

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  10. Perfect anti-holiday limerick. I really like your leading collage with you pensively going down the psychedelic swirl. I wish you a happy anti-holiday with your Scoobies. I just had a song thought:

    Teach your scoobies well
    Your own hell hasn’t said bye
    And feed them on your dreams
    Because your dreams give them a good life…

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    1. Haha. Excellent song, Tim. Thanks about the collage. I had made one before that, which included a lot more of my characters. I liked it better, but the image was so busy that it was overwhelming. Not sure if I still have that one. Have a great Caturday, and happy Mother’s Day to Lauire. Hugs.

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  11. I like your limerick, as it can have multiple meanings with different perspectives of those who read it. Interesting photo, too. Yes, the Twilight Zone, so good and we still watch it in re-runs. 🙂

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    1. It’s good to see you, Barbara. Thanks for that feedback about the poem. People react so strongly against any negative word being spoken about “mother” that I struggled hard to come up with anything that wouldn’t be utterly offensive. LOL — especially since I’m terrible with poetry in the first place! Wishing you a lovely weekend. Hugs.

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  14. Your limerick touched a spot where as a child I spent many lonely hours. I am grateful that those hours produced an imagination that is still supportive today. The college reminded me of a bank of servers and brought back memories of learning their function. Well done.

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    1. That’s a marvelous insight into Kerfe’s collage, John. Rather than “the cloud”, the cosmos.
      I hope the poem didn’t bring up anything too unpleasant. People react so strongly against any negative word being spoken about “mother” that I struggled hard to come up with anything that wouldn’t be utterly offensive. LOL — especially since I’m terrible with poetry in the first place! 😀 Big hugs.

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  16. I think Rod Serling would like this limerick, Teagan. I know I do. Our imagination is our ticket out sometimes. Sometimes, it’s the only ticket we have, but it’s one people can’t take from us.I love that collage from Kerfe. I didn’t think I could work my way into or through it, but you did a great job.

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  17. Thanks, Teagan. It is a beautiful collage and it is difficult to look at it without one’s mind wandering (and wondering) in all kinds of directions. I’ve just read a fairy tale about the different dimensions, that I think you would appreciate. Here we celebrated Mother’s Day last Sunday, although I’m not terribly fond of official holidays either. And thanks for sharing your limerick and for the reminder of the Twilight Zone. I remember many classic episodes with fondness and wonder.

    I hope the weekend goes well, in a quiet sort of way (that is how I like them as well, although I have to cover an event for the radio, so it won’t be quiet here). Big hugs, love to the Scoobies, and take care.

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    1. Thanks very much, Olga. I’m curious to know what fairytale book you mean.
      The Twilight Zone made a lasting impact on so many. Yes, a quiet weekend would be welcome. Although I hope you have a great time with the radio event. Hugs winging back to you from the Scoobies and me. ❤

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