Saturday, December 1, 2012

Back Then: Poetry Prompt


Since our last prompt appealed to fiction writers, we decided to put up a poetry prompt this time around. I like this prompt because it encourages you to explore desire, nostalgia, and maturity all at the same time.

"Back Then"
In his poem “Refrigerator, 1957” (originally published in the New Yorker, July 28, 1997), Thomas Lux writes about a jar of “lit-from-within red” maraschino cherries that, as a boy, he never ate from. Write a poem about something that you longed for when you were younger, but was always off-limits.

Have fun exploring your imagery! My response to this prompt is posted below.
**
Ornament, Angel
By Lilly McGee

The crush of glass beneath your shoe is like:
grinding pepper, splintering bone.
Cherub of china,
birthed with thousands of seraphim sisters in a
faraway factory. Sold, packaged in crimson, green, tissue.
Clone of cherub,
one in thousands, hits the
floor and becomes thousands of ones.
Winking,
slivers like eyelashes,
shimmering shards of merstone.
Keep the child
away from the angels.
Hang them higher on the pine.
You know
she only wants to bring them to the floor,
and crush them with a sole.


Post by Lilly McGee

No comments:

Post a Comment