i love how beet stains
a dark pink/purple hue
the color i would imagine blood to be
if i didn’t know it was blue
underneath this jacket of skin
until a tremor of oxygen turns it
a dark rust red
the body a bayou
an interdependent ecosystem
a moist landscape
best traversed when familiar or by guide
we are not taught much
about our bayous
i mean bodies
not about our elbows
or tastebuds or knuckles or gray matter
for that matter
the lightbulbs of neural synapses
cinnamon lights up my mouth
a heat that travels from tongue to tip of toe
unfamiliar mechanics
as unfamiliar as a bucket list made
with enough time to fulfill it
there is an elk that my grandma watches
from her window she can see it across the road
or maybe it’s a deer
hard to tell
its’ shadow disappears behind the carport
I enjoy seeing the way you made a poem with the words. Mine is a mishmash.
And it’s a deer! I would freak out at an elk running loose around here! LOL
thank you! i feel like i often frequent the same familiar words in my writing so i always love prompts like this with a hodgepodge of new words.
thank goodness it’s a deer, i just looked up an elk and it would be a very different experience to see one of those across the street *laughing emoji*
I love the topic and flow of this poem. Most of it is absolutely wonderful and witty but the last four lines change topic completely…If you must (due to word choice) mention elk or grandmother, perhaps talk about their anatomy if possible. I loved your exploration of body parts which we often don’t explore. Beautiful!
thanks so much ingrid! i did have to include “elk” for the prompt and i love those suggestions for possible ways to edit the last lines to connect with the earlier ones!