Poem 22

Number 22

Madras. Checkered. Variegated. Houndstooth. However you name it, plaid has been a fashion staple for years.

Today’s prompt will use the crossed paths of plaid to inspire a poem. Follow the directions to weave a new draft!

1.Write four lines of text. Here is an example:

A slice of citrus light illuminates a single spot in the still pond,

one lotus, pink, blooming like a first kiss.

My eyes adjust to the morning dim, all goodness and promise,

nothing to cloud my mind, new-birthed from sleep.

2. Pick two or three vertical lines downward through the poem and write those “lines” out horizontally.

slice lotus eyes nothing

light blooming morning mind

spot kiss goodness sleep

3. Weave the new abstract lines into lines that will be placed in between the first four – then put them in place.

A slice of citrus light illuminates a single spot in the still pond,

each petal a slice of silk. The lotus, alone, eyes nothing – just

one lotus, pink, and blooming like a first kiss.

My eyes adjust to the morning dim, all goodness and promise,Round red

the light a blooming lotus. This morning, I don’t mind the light,

nothing to cloud my mind, new-birthed from sleep, drawn

to this spot, this invisible kiss, this goodness before I sleep.

4. If you want to get really crazy…Go through and choose two or three more vertical lines. And repeat. 

If you are not crazy, then just play with the draft you got from the first time around!

Fire danced in the burnt shadows behind her eyes

Danced as the soldiers of punctuated light

Smoldering as ashes in an abandoned campfire

Burnt ashes smoke white and clean

Sunrise punctuated by the smoke and flash of a fresh cigarette

Before the abandoned epiphany flash state reconfigures until

Orange and light wipe clean the mental slate bringing redemption