David asked about the back story for the “permission” prompt, and I thought I’d share it with all of you:

It actually evolved from “permission to transition to the afterlife” — we lost our daughter-in-law to cancer on February 23rd of this year. She fought valiantly and endured too much pain to live as long as possible for her husband and daughters. I wrote about a dozen poems about, and for, Leslie.

Then, I was thinking about the Me-too movement and the men who didn’t ask “permission” — or chose not to hear “No!” The softer version is the courtesy that “asking permission” is, and the fact that, too often, people feel entitled.

I decided to go with a prompt in this vicinity and leave it to the reader to interpret and respond based on how the the word struck them. I must say I’m thrilled with the number of responses and the variation on a theme!

Thanks for asking, David, and thanks to you all!