Peter collected his mail and took a table at Café Central by himself, away from the ghosts of his friends: Kraus, von Hofmannsthal, Klimt, and the others. He plopped down on the cushioned bench beneath the window. As was the norm, his pockets were empty, his stomach was too, but that didn’t matter. He fully intended to pen some prose today, some poetry. Armed with his inkpot, his quill, and an armful of correspondenzkarten on which to write (because he thrived on the limitations that they imposed on his writing); he selected one and scribbled on the back:
“Ich habe zu meinen zahlreichen unglücklichen Lieben noch eine neue hinzubekommen
den Schnee! Er erfüllt mich mit Enthusiasmus, mit Melancholie.” *
*Excerpt from „ WINTER AUF DEM SEMMERING “, Written by Peter Altenberg, master of the aphorism, first published in 1913.
I chose to steal this, and use it as the verse for my Haibun.
Written for The New Blog Propellant Prompt #6
The prompt directed me to choose an image. I chose this one:
tnkerr-Writing Prompts and Practice 
Very creative writing. The photograph you chose is brilliant. Nicely done. 💕
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You might want to have a go at the p.o.it’s too, Joni.
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You might want to have a go at the prompts too, Joni. Sorry about my spellchecker.
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Perhaps I will my friend. Thank you. Have a great weekend. Love ❤️ Joni
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Fun! I particularly like the image of “ghosts of his friends”. You made the disheveled man come to life, and gave a grumpy-looking creature a heart.
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There was an interesting article in my newspaper. I found a better online article for you to look at – fascinating. Locked letters…
When I read your ‘sketch’ on the image I could imagine your gent folding his own poems and letters to be lost in that trunk in someone’s attic…
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Correspondenzkarten are early postcards. They were printed with postage and one side and room for a short message on the reverse.
Altenberg was known for writing short, terse prose or verse and posting them to friends.
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There is something about writing on an empty stomach and limited papers. Good pic and write-up.
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