De Jackson (aka WhimsyGizmo) here, and I have studiously gone through all 63 of our past Q words, and discovered something: we have yet to offer one that actually begins with the letter Q. How is that possible? Thus, this:
Today, I want you to pen a poem of exactly 44 words (not including the title), using some form of the word quick as one of your 44 words.
You can be quick on the draw, or take your good sweet time. You can be cut to the quick. You can go for a quick fix, or listen to the quickening of your heart. Think on the quick and the dead. Bury your poem in quicksand, and watch it rise. Ponder the chemical element mercury (atomic number 80, symbol Hg), also known as quicksilver.
Ponder the X-men superhero known as Quicksilver. Ponder the delicious beverage powder that was an essential part of my childhood:
And once you’ve got a sugar high, you might even try to make up your own word or compound word: Can something be done “quickerly?” What would an “earthquick” be? Use all the most fabulous words in your quiver to create something that quite quickly delights you.
New to the Q? Here’s what to do:
Write a Quadrille of 44 words, not including the title, and squeeze some form of the word quick in there. Link it up to Mr. Linky below, and then meander about and visit other poets’ who’ve taken the Q challenge. The prompt is open all week, and just like chocolate milk, seconds are delicious.
Could we be quite quick?
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite moments from the movie Love Actually:
dVerse 
Greetings, Poemsters! Serving up some chocolate milk, quick-stirred quicksilver martinis, and poems. Happy Q-ing!
Love the word… and for sure we have to have something on q… have we had z yet?
B, we’ve done “zip.” Far as I can tell, our still-missing starter letters are these: a, n, u, v, x, y.
Happy Monday, De — from the tip of Cape Cod in wonderful Provincetown! Although today is a bit chilly and windy — makes for glorious sounds from the ocean waves by our deck! 🙂
LOVE this movie scene — and looking forward to reading some quickilicious posts!
It was warm and nice until it was time to bicycle home… then it was wet.
Lill, I am happy to catch some of your chill, even long distance. We’re having one last (oh, please let it be the last!) summer heat snap here.
Good evening, De – a chocolate milk for me, please as I’m still on antibiotics for my extracted tooth, which is now a lump and a pain in my face, ear, jaw and neck. Apparently there is a sliver of root that the dentist can’t reach without pushing it up into my sinuses, so he’s hoping my body will eject it in the next six months – oh joy! I’m looking forward to reading quadrilles to take my mind off it. Quick is a great word for a quadrille prompt.
Ouch… that sounds awful to have that root there… but it does not sounds good to have in the sinuses either.. I hope you get better.
Thank you, Bjorn.
Oh, Kim. I’m SO sorry. I hate teeth, so much. I had two of my wisdom teeth extracted after the age of 40, and the recovery was MISERABLE. Praying speedy recovery for you. Pouring you a Quik, and hoping the poems are a great distraction.
Thank you, De! I’m already enjoying the first quadrilles.
ooooooh Kim —- I am so so sorry. That sounds absolutely horrid! If it lasts too long and gets too painful, maybe a second opinion or another visit? Thinking of you….
I so hope you feel much better soon, and that miracles happen and it does its own thing, right quick, so you don’t have to endure ….
Thank you for your kind words, Pat. I’ve been taking pain killers all weekend and today was the first day I’ve tried to cope without them. Ooh – I just heard a screech owl outside my window! I need more of that kind of thing to take my mind of the phantom tooth.
perhaps that’s a sign …. listen to the owl …. and scribble some linear musical poetic notes …
gentle hugs to you … pain, and mouth pain is never a good thing 😦
🙂
Thanks for hosting, De. Such a great scene from Love Actually! I will do a quick ponder now. 🙂
Hi, Merril! Glad you’re here! 🙂
I remember that scene from Love Actually. That clip makes me want to watch the movie again.
Frank, we watch it just about every holiday season. One of our favorites! 🙂 Happy poeming!
thanks for hosting De. And what a great clip – I would think such a gift wrapped so quintessentially well, might be appreciated! LOL – superb acting … and now, to think on a 44 quickmined-silver delight …
Hi, Pat. So glad you’re here! Can’t wait to read your offering.
Thank you for the prompt De. I have to run out right now but will be back soon to relax and read (a quick errand 🙂
Hi, Janice! Glad you’re here. Happy poeming! (No hurry; the prompt is open all week!)
Such an invigorating challenge — quick comes in many hues and shades; it is not so easy to choose one over the other. A rather simple poem/interpretation is the best I could do in an hour’s time after a pretty long day.
Still a fun undertaking. Thanks for the prompt, De! 🙂
Will be visiting some links now and the rest after wakefulness arrives at my door.
Hi, HA! So glad you’re here!
Hi De! Just coming in home and hitting the trail in a bit. I love the quotes and that ad chocolate. Thanks for hosting!!!!
Hi, Grace! Some delicious work here so far today! 🙂
Thanks for the video … so miss Allen Rickman
Oh, man. Me, too. One of the greats.
Hi, y’all! Chocolate milk in a dirty glass. With a straw… can’t do the Quick bunny song without a straw! I’m here for some reading and commenting.
Great prompt. It… inspired me in ways I cannot fully define.
So glad, Charley. An inspired Charley makes my poem-lovin’ soul happy.
An inspired Charley is a dangerous thing at times! 🙂
Well mine does have 44 words, but only 30 of them start with q. Does that still count? -Eric
Sent from my iPad
I adore thee. Can’t wait to see.
This one was fun, De. I went the silly route. Gotta get back to work now, but I’ll be back later to check out how quickly Mr. Linky filled up. 😉
Glad you’re here, Linda! Can’t wait to see what silliness you q’d up!
Loved this one, De 🙂 I’ll catch up on reading and commenting tomorrow as it’s quite late here and sleep is taking over.. ❤️
Hi, Sanaa! See you again tomorrow. Heading your way soon.
Thanks for hosting – this is a quick hello and I’m dashing off to dinner. Will be back later to enjoy the fare.
Hi, VJ! So glad you’re here! 🙂
Thanks! I’m back now. Had a great dinner at the King Eddy in Ottawa, with the best wait staff ever!
Thanks for the prompt , I’ll be around reading
Welcome, Trudessa! I’m heading out for another round of reading right now, myself.
appreciate your diligent research that gives us Q as a prompt. so cool!
So glad you’re here! 🙂
sexy curves devoid of congestion
glossy reflectors in the hips
ember glow of sodium vapor
life in shadows of the wind
silhouetted by the anemic fog
draped with the twilight’s shine
quickened for a nightlife
the shy midnight beauty
Lion city, my pride
Ohhhh. I LOVE that “shy midnight beauty.”
Thank u
I am sorry not to post in mister linky. while waiting at a coffee shop, i wrote this and post this quick.. quick..
was in a quandary as to how quickly I could compose for your quintessential quadrille – the answer was laid out on canvas
p.s. Nesquik banana milkshakes were the high spot of childhood (not quiet the only one)
Mmmmmm! Now I’ve got a craving, Laura. 😉
I used the prompt word “quick,” but in my enthusiasm, forgot I was supposed to be even writing a poem, let alone a quadrille, so I won’t post it here. Thanks for the word, though!
Phew. First time I’ve made the time limit for a quadrille in a while. Wrote a different one, this time to the prompt. Meet you at Mr. Linky!!! Be Quick!
Heading over now! 🙂
Good word, putting my mind to work…they challenge is the dang 44 words but I am going for it…such fun.
Welcome, Dorianna! So glad you’re here!
Thank you…love these challenges
Can link a Two-fer De. have something that fits the Quadrille and the Tuesday Poetics. Thanks for hosting, will be reading all the rest of the week. 🙂
Glad you’re here, Lona!
Hey De! I linked up a late one. So much for being “quick” !
I love the “Q” word for Q44. 🙂
Hi, Mish! Glad you’re here! Heading over now…
Thanks for hosting, De – it’s good to get back into a writing routine after my recent move and lots of stress. 🙂
Hi, Crystal. Hope things slow down for you soon! I hate it when life gets in the way of poeming!
Grace, I wasn’t able to comment on your blog, so thought I’d comment here. Your poem reminds me of making a “leaf book” as a child, pressing dried leaves between waxed paper sheets. I still have this cloth-covered booklet many years later. 🙂 I love these lines:
pressing all the lungs of summer
into one silent book