I Am Beginning to Get Lost
I am beginning to get lost in April.
I have an appointment with myself
to come out the other side when
the month ends, but what if it
never ends? Every day until then
I have an appointment to turn up
and write a poem. The poems begin
to swallow me whole. They snarl,
they sneer, they refuse to obey.
There are more and more of them daily;
they are herding together, they are
ganging up. I thought at first
they floated on angel wings, that
their smiles were beneficent,
that even those which refused to work
were motivated by some kind of
basic goodwill. But no. They have
claws and teeth. They are not at all
frightened by my cracking whip,
nor the chair I move behind, raising it
in front of my chest. Oh, I used to
pet them, telling them I loved them,
telling them they were pretty. I soon
had to give that up. They showed me
they were not pretty: they were fierce
and raw and loud. Now they crowd,
surrounding me. Shall I ever get free?
I have an appointment with the rest
of my life, on May the first. I’ll be
bringing with me a rabble of surly,
unruly poems which would not dream
of asking you to love them, but
Written for prompt 23 at Poetic Asides, for April 2021: an appointment poem.
Also shared with Poets and Storytellers United via Weekly Scribblings #69, where Magaly invites us to write 'from the point of view of a character or speaker who is hunting, being hunted, or both.' I see this as both: me hunting the poems, which I also feel hunted by – though in neither case is this hunt stealthy. Although not written specifically for the prompt, I trust it's recent enough to count.
I like this one, call it an exaggeration? I too wrote for the Poetry month, every day. Some I kind of liked, others blah! I made two friends doing this, they are now writing for the Sunday Muse, I hope they will write for us here also. (All of a sudden one is lost?? I must be looking in the wrong places)
ReplyDelete..
Well yes, slightly exaggerated I guess. A bit of poetic licence, you might say.
DeleteI like the poetic friendships I make online. I remember you and I first met on a blog where the blog owner invited writings on a topic of her choosing every Saturday, not poetry or fiction, but our thoughts on the subject. But she eventually stopped doing that, and I don't seem to have kept any of those writings now. Nor do I remember what the series was called, or even the woman's name who ran it. I do remember you, as a source of unfailingly friendly and interesting comments!
I certainly enjoyed this! I loved the idea of getting lost in April and having an appointment to come out the other side.
ReplyDeleteIf nothing else, April's good for adding to the Works-In-Progress file, eh? Also: I tend to broaden my reading circle, which (I hope, at least) adds to my inspiration to create.
ReplyDeleteA nightmare of a poem. Rosemary. Nice one
ReplyDeleteHappy Wednesday
Much💚love
Ha ha, is that my cue to say, 'Welcome to my nightmares'? Thanks for the appreciation.
DeleteGoodness! Your April sounds exhausting. I'm happy for you it's now May, and looking forward to the "surly" poems!
ReplyDeleteYes, those poem-a-day Aprils are exhausting. But also rewarding.
DeleteOh, Rosemary this is yummy, intriguing, and full of bite. I love that poems and poet are both hunter and hunted. I can practically see the speaker looking over her shoulder, and the poems looking back showing smiles... and teeth. And the ending is perfect, it leaves my mind full of followed up tales of being consumed by poetry. Or, perhaps, stopping mid-sentence in order to chew a mouthful of poems.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful comment! Thank you.
DeleteBring 'em on ~ each and every one. This is so entertaining ..... a must read for NaPoWriMo poets.
ReplyDelete*Grin.*
Delete"I thought at first they floated on angel wings ... But no."
ReplyDeleteIt only looks like we are having fun and wasting time. Those who don't write just don't know poetry's power.
True!
DeleteWow! This is an exciting poem to read. Poetry for me is usually quite friendly but their are those that grab you and wring one with emotions that are violent, sad, or angry.... Loved this!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed it, Margaret.
DeleteI dig unruly poems!
ReplyDeleteGood!
DeleteHow important it is to laugh at ourselves as poets. We all have our ups and downs but we are inventors and experiment all the time.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right!
DeleteI felt this poem, Rosemary! April is over, it was sometimes a struggle, but there is a sense of something missing. I love the lines:
ReplyDelete‘…The poems begin
to swallow me whole. They snarl,
they sneer, they refuse to obey’
and
‘…They are not at all
frightened by my cracking whip,
nor the chair I move behind, raising it
in front of my chest.’
I sometimes think, 'Oh, I won't do it this year' – but I always do, and I'm never really sorry, even if it is hard going at times.
DeletePoems with claws and teeth, poems that are surly---we'd like to leave them behind, but we really can't do without them, can we?
ReplyDeleteHa ha, how true!
DeleteIndeed the feeling of being hunted by thoughts and words-poetic trauma or an odyssey
ReplyDeleteAh, yes!
DeleteWhat a unique way of using 'hunt". I love the idea of
ReplyDeleteyour appointment on the other side of April. They
really can be cruel, but somehow we get them in hand.