Trifecta Writing Challenge – Vulgar

Trifecta consists of two weekly challenges: one weekday prompt and one weekend prompt.
We want between 33 and 333 words from (and including) the third definition of the word:
1: generally used, applied, or accepted
2: vernacular <the vulgar name of a plant>
 

The Missed Irony of His Imagined Importance

A sharp wit, A fine tuned sense of humor.  You couldn’t get a thing by him on good days.  A profound sense of irony and clever in all sorts of amazingly bright things.  Puns and puzzles, intricate word games and poetry, clever in forming prose.

Always a comeback on the tip of his tongue, if needed a sharp retort.  Admired for his skill, his higher humor, as they sometimes teased him, and his remarkable intellect.

He basked in their admiration. Glowed as they gathered around after a simple, well-timed remark, that without effort, drew the conversation to his corner. It made him feel important.  Vital.  They could not be what they were without his response. Ill defined he thought, without his presence.  He aspired to be, and often felt himself, the center of an educated milieu.  Subtle and understated, he dreamed, in his leadership and presence.

On bad days, he felt blended in the background, unable to get a word in edgewise.   Nobody listened as they talked and laughed around him, occasionally saying something he said, a mere moment earlier, but no one acknowledged. No amount of cleverness and suave charm turned their focus once again on him. His feelings turned to dark thoughts of moving towards, and slipping over, the precipice of anonymity.  Unnoticed, and from there, he believed, soon forgotten

It is most assuredly urgent desperation, an overwhelming need of notice before he fell, that drove him to vulgar antics, base, clownish and commonplace, so unlike him.  So awkward in their demand,

“Hey look at me!” shouted so loudly he could not hear the voice of  his own reason telling him no one recognized him as this garish example, rendering him, not as he imagined himself, the epicenter of their world, but invisible.   That which he most feared to be. So blinded by the ridiculous, he couldn’t see the irony of his own unfulfilled dreams.

40 thoughts on “Trifecta Writing Challenge – Vulgar”

    1. thank you 🙂 wow – short and concise – describing my writing? that is an achievement and compliment I take very highly. 😀

      It reminded me actually of a well known poet / author I admire when I was done – or maybe he was in my mind while I wrote but I don;t think so because when I recognized my thought I went to look him up – any guesses?

      1. I’m really weak on poets.
        Frost was a bit more flowery, and I’d say you’re also a Shel Silverstein fan, but this isn’t him…
        Dylan Thomas maybe?

      2. he actually can’t be considered just a poet – he wrote one novel and was better known for his epigrams and plays – Irish (go figure) Victorian Era – and actually imprisoned for vulgarities – which led to his early death.

        There is a lot I don;t know about him but he popped into my head when I was editing my piece. so it could be just imagined familiarity.

        How did you know I like Shel Silverstein? 🙂

      3. James Joyce? though he wrote several books I think… No idea who the author is.

        – Who doesn’t like Shel (except the Giving Tree – that just pisses me off)? And I think his quirky outlook would appeal to you.
        – If you said you didn’t know him, I’d have flooded you with links.

      4. I ADORE him – WHere the Sidewalk Ends was one of my most favored and well read books as a child. The Giving Tree, I am in agreement with you on that one but one favorite I can;t remember was the kid that wouldn’t take out the garbage….

        Oscar Wilde – is actually who I was thinking – like I said it is possibly imagined familiarity but my perception of him was of someone who perceived his own importance to be different than it was and while trying to have his father’s Mistress tried for libel, the tables were turned on him and he and another man were sent to prison for ..lewd acts I believe. 2 years of hard labor. His trial ended with him not being allowed to speak a word in his own defense. ALthough he tried. And he died destitute soon after. I have a quote over on my sidebar there – very witty he was. I believe he wrote..THe Importance of Being Earnest… ug I should look things up before I throw it up here, I may be wrong….

      5. Yeah, he wrote Importance…Earnest.
        I have yet to see a quote from him that didn’t make me either think or laugh or both.
        Shel just put out another – Everything On It.
        The Missing Piece and Then Missing Piece Meets The Big O are go-to quick reads for me. On the bookshelf where I can grab them easily. Garbage saw sarah jessica something stout

        Oh, I’m looking for my missing piece…

  4. Sorry to comment again, but this just reminds me of someone from a long time ago. I think that we too often don’t understand other peoples motives for acting certain ways, but you reminded me to look behind the surface. Everyone wears some kind of mask.

    1. that’s true – good point. and good to remember – I always try to figure out what is motivating someone – what;s the payoff…it works if I am not emotionally entangled on their actions and can step back

  5. I loved the fact that we couldn’t tell where he was. First, I imagined a pompous professor. Then, no, a popular member of a popular crowd. Then maybe a drunk in a bar. Then back to the popular person in the popular crowd. (I stayed with this last one). The image that stuck with me the most was that his efforts to get their attention resulted in exactly the thing he feared.

    1. I’m so glad you saw all that!! In truth I couldn’t exactly tell you who he us either or even where he belongs . If I were asked to describe his attire it whatnot I have no clear picture . At the end, I had a flash of a writer but the importance, and irony was exactly what you got. yay!! Thank you so much 🙂

  6. What a powerful piece. It really has a punch to it. In the end, he turns into what he didn’t want to be in the first place. He chose the wrong path. Also, you wrote each of his different “personalities” perfectly. The wording was well planned and placed! Super job! I really liked this one a lot!

  14. Lizzie. I agree with EG. This was short, concise and clean. Hemingway-ish even! (In a good way). I have a feeling you have lots of writing styles up your sleeve. I love the Trifecta challenges! You and EG really shine on these. You guys can really write!! 🙂

    1. thank you..wow that’s a compliment for sure.. I feel all beamingish… that wasn’t so much huh? are you gonna do the weekend one this week? I loved yours last week….oh I should pop over and see what it is…..

      1. Oh yeah! They’re really fun. I gotta leave my computer for most of the day, but I’ll find a way come hell or high water! Way too fun to miss. 🙂

  15. Great writing. He reminds me of a teacher I once had. I especially like the last paragraph. As I read, I could feel in the put of my stomach the invisibility he was experiencing.
    Very powerful.

  16. I have to be honest. I clicked on this post because the title included the word “vulgar”. It’s actually quite a good post though. I appreciate your short and concise sentences. I love a woman who doesn’t abuse commas. 🙂

    1. thank you! Short and concise are not often in the same sentence as me 🙂 I am somewhat of a grammar word snob – but I don;t impose it on other people and I have definite weaknesses in other ares – in fact, I was going over some of my pages that I have not visited since I started this blog and cringed at the errors and ugg… Clicking on a post because it has the word vulgar and admitting it – rates pretty high in my book 🙂 Appreciate your comments 🙂

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