29 April 2009

April 29 - Poem A Day Challenge - Never_____

Today's prompt: "I want you to title your poems "Never (blank)" with you filling in the blank with a word or phrase. Then, write a poem based off your title, which could be "Never look both ways when crossing the street" or "Never blush in public" or "Never ever" or "Never write a poem with the word never in the title." You get the idea, right?" Poetic Asides




Never Look Behind You

Apparitions and ghosts appear, accumulating
in a mass thousands of tens deep, your very own
circus parade of history. The collective breath
of unfinished business lifts the hair on the back
of your neck, rattles the frame of your glasses,
the keys fist-clutched to your side. Spirited
confrontation is something to avoid, a battle
to unfight—you can't win against the weight
of the past, ancient conflicts drawn on the sand
table of your heart. Eyes front, or enter the mirrored
room on the midway, where everything you know
becomes shrouded in the dense fog of ambiguity.
If you must return, take a sword for the dragons,
a roll of bandages, maybe a notebook and quill pen,
because even Don Quixote might have toppled
a windmill or two, when no one was looking.


.

No comments: