My man Elk had 'Blue Bayou' on repeat all day. Grabbing my jacket I headed out to pull some beets for dinner. It was too late to pickle them, but I thought a stick of cinnamon in the pot would spice it up, maybe add a red pepper too. I felt the tremor, grabbed the bucket and started to run, towards the house. I stumbled and fell as the ground began to roll. In a minute, all was still. Must have hit my elbow because it ached like anything. When I got to the house, Elk was standing in the carport looking at the ruins of the house. He held a light bulb in one hand. In the other, he held his phone. It was still playing "Blue Bayou".
this is a lovely outcome of a word salad prompt! the way that elk and the narrator are so well characterized by these details– i cant wait to learn from this.
I loved the flow of the poem and congratulations on succeeding in this prompt. You used all the words in a creative and compelling way! I loved the flow and the story of the approaching tremor/storm…it built in a suspenseful way. And, the atmosphere contrasted really well with the last line…” It was still playing Blue Bayou.”
Great ending! I hope you submit this poem. It’s fantatic and well written!
love that you made elk a name. i know you said this was all jumbled together but i thought it was really cohesive and so cool how you build a story/moment/event out of random words. no word in this poem seemed out of place/random – they all fit into the world of this poem, which i think is a good sign.