Stop.
Flinch.
Startle.
Cringe and shrink.
Something is triggered –
but not always to full recall.
The mind can shut things off. Not so
the animal self,
the body:
muscle,
bone,
blood.
Written in response to Friday Writings #91: Muscle Memory at Poets and Storytellers United, using the fib (fibbonacci) form both normally and reversed.
A form well suited to this Friday's prompt, and executed with skill. :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly!
DeleteThe mind can shut things off. Not so
ReplyDeletethe animal self, the body.
Maintaining a good balance between mind and matter is always a good strategy Rosemary! Wonderful fib Ma'am!
Hank
Hank
Delighted you think so, Hank.
DeleteGood job Rosemary. It's interesting how our brains and muscles work in tandem. But sometimes not. I remember the action of jumping rope and riding a bike no hands but could I do it today??
ReplyDeleteHa ha, no great problem for me – I couldn't do those things ever! I'm impressed that you could.
DeleteGreat poem I can feel the startle and the flinch. Love the form
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it. It's a syllabic form following the fibonacci sequence of numbers. 8 syllables is about as far as one can take it before it becomes unwieldy. You might have fun playing with it too!
DeleteReactions are not predictable, sort of a spur of the moment thing.
ReplyDeleteMoods, preconceptions, events at that day, you name it. I liked your thoughts. That form is fun to make but hard to read.
..
Quite so, re reactions.
DeleteSorry you found it hard to read. I'm not sure why. I think you can read it the same way you would any other poem, using punctuation and line endings as guides. Maybe try it out loud?
In answer to this poem and to Yvonne "My mind still thinks I can, but my body says "Oh, hell, no!"
DeleteLOL
DeleteVery neat take on our 'startle reflex.' But wow! Mathematising poetry! Makes me wonder whether your 369 word limit (for prose) is a Fibonacci number?
ReplyDeleteThanks for spotting the typo in my poem. I've put it right. So nobody can see what it was now . . .
I'm not very mathematical really and have no idea whether 369 is a fibonacci number. (I didn't invent this form.) We are applying the 369 word limit to both poetry and prose, otherwise it's a bit unfair to prose writers.
DeleteThe first stanza describes the effects of triggers on OCD sufferers so well... Even the thought of not fully recalling. Shivers.
ReplyDeleteWow! I didn't know that. I realise now I don't know much about OCD, though a long time ago I thought I must have it because I went through a long period of being obsessively tidy. I could walk into my house and know instantly if someone had moved one ornament a millimetre! (And be upset by that.) I realised when I was expecting my first child that it would be damaging to bring up a kid that way – a bit of healthy untidiness much better for them than such rigidity – so I made a choice to get rid of that attitude, and did.
DeleteOCD is a bit like PTSD with compulsions attach. You can lessen the effects with exposure therapy (in my case, at least). But there is no getting rid of that monster.
DeleteAh, then that must not have been what was going on with me. But there's something ... I still choose to peg out the laundry with similar items and matching colours together.
DeleteYour poem will remain one of my favorite "Rosemary" poems ... forever. It is epic in a simple yet profound way.
ReplyDeleteAwww! Thank you, Helen! I'm astounded, and thrilled.
DeleteLove the form - and the thought... yes the reflexes work in their own intuitive way... the mind ... well it is a whole different complication!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe mind can be complicated indeed! And don't get me started on the tangles of mind and body!
DeleteYes, the mind can block many things.
ReplyDeleteBut they are still all there in the subconscious.
DeleteSo absolutely true....about the mind lapsing away, the body still responding in certain ways......and the form is lovely too
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it.
DeleteVery well done Fib, Rosemary. I love that form.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Delete