Taking a poetry class is a wonderful thing and dreadful thing. It has shown me different ways to go about writing poetry, examples of rather good poetry from other students, and made me think poetry every second of the day...annd night. :) We write two a week, one a "workshop" poem(something we have been working on and the author reads it to the class and the class talks about it and the author is forbidden to explain the poem until the classmates are done discussing) and the other poem is an assigned topic. Some of them are rough because I have never been too good at writing poems "forcedly" :). Here are some:
Assignment: something you are good at
The stale smell.
The piercing bright hallways.
The dark room.
The bed.
And the man.
The once strong man wrapped up in tubes.
He smiles.
He hides the shooting pain from his side.
No need to hide.
Your pain is my pain.
Late night songs.
She carries on
To put the little head to rest.
Tiny baby,
So much joy.
No more war.
No more leaving.
Tears fall as her heart's overflowing.
Happiness at last.
The past is the past.
Your joy is my joy.
He broke her heart,
Without even thinking.
He tore it out,
Without ever asking.
He ran away with it,
While she watched him go.
Hurt in her eyes
Agony in her smile.
Time heals all wounds
....This might take awhile.
Your hurt is my hurt.
Do you remember when I would hang on to every word?
And you loved it didn't you?
Your truth was the truth.
You were never wrong.
Everyone else was.
You sucked the life from me.
Growing too close, your roots covered mine.
How was I supposed to grow?
Did you know the harm you caused by trying to keep me from,
From what?
From hurt, wars, sin?
From life?!
What about joy, peace, and love?
Now, before reading this one I want to warn you this is strong feelings pent up. My poems are straight emotion without censors. I love my dad. Sometimes he really just ticks me off.
Assignment: Family
I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, Father.
I will NEVER say I do
To someone like you!
You are exactly like him.
Your father, you know?
Ha!
You tried, but I hate you like you hate him.
The only time we talk
Is when you yell at me
And you watch me cry.
Know that these are from your words, Dad.
I tell you why
But do you ever listen?!
You make me like this.
Like he made you.
This is not me.
I will not be angry.
Come back to me.
Do you remember when I sat upon your knee?
You would read me stories.
Did you love me then, Daddy?
I loved you, I loved you, I love you, Papa.
When will you ever love me?
Assignment: Place
The Old House
From this long, glass window I can see
The pure beauty.
Untouched white, covering the evergreen
Showing its age by its thinning branches.
Looking closer I can see bootprints
Leading down to the simple, silver barn
Down to the clutter and the chaos.
Trash.
All of it.
Broken, forgotten, left to rust tractors and mowers.
So much to fix so its left to rot.
Just like this house.
Mirror, Mirror
First draft:
Twisting my head to see the whole reflection
Of the less than average beauty
That is standing right in front of me
Her hair is too curly, too poofy, too crazy.
Those freckles, those teeth, not to mention that body.
This mirror is my enemy.
Second draft: (a woman in my class writes these two to three line poems that explain so much in so little. i wanted to try it.)
This mirror is my enemy.
Maybe tomorrrow we can be friends.
Assignment: describe a physical object
Dream Maker
For some reason this bed wont make itself
The sheets are falling off the side.
Right in the middle is the quilt I made with Grandma.
She let me pick out the squares the one day I came to help.
The deep, red comforter disappearing between the wall and the mattress.
The black sheets contrasted by every bit of dust and cat hair.
The pillows at the head of the bed invite me back to sleep.
The hand-me-down bed frame squeaks as if to moan of old age.
A mess, this bed.
Just like me.
Playing God
Here are the strings
I see them now.
In my hand, I feel the bars
Manipulating and using.
I am the puppet master.
And I am the doll.
This is power.
If I can't control life,
I'll control myself.
