In The Hallway
Shadows seen just below
Odd sounds four doors down
Mine, barged open
Backs of the unknown visible from afar
Steps for my feet seem as miles
Hurried breaths
Wishing I was there
Before I Sleep
Just past the starting line
Up too early ~ life divine
“And miles to go before I sleep.”*
Here I am ~ for 24 hours
Each hour, my mile
As my words begin to pile
22 more now, before I sleep
On the edge of each line
Empty until the ink
Starts flowing
How many words
How many lines
Many pages filling
“And miles to go before I sleep”
Quote from Robert Frost “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”
Hour Two: Stillness
Stillness (Hour Two)
Between the woods and frozen lake
there is a little stretch of sand
you reach it by the pathway there
amid the rushes and the cattails
worn down and crushed beneath
the tentative step of whitetailed deer.
Between the woods and frozen lake
a tiny strand of beach
once site of last summer’s sandcastles,
windswept, little mounds of sand
now long forgotten,
save in a dream perhaps.
Between the woods and frozen lake
a stillness hovers
a moment awaits
a change in season, whether frosty blast
or warming breeze.
Life in the balance, holding its breath.
Between the woods and frozen lake
let’s take a stroll and look up at the stars
and soak in the moment.
It all too soon will pass.
(credit to Robert Frost)
Text Prompt
Read Robert Frost’s poem Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, chose one line or phrase, and with credit, write a poem with that line or phrase in it. Prompt partially contributed by Se Johnson.
The Light is Red Tonight – Prompt 1
by Karen B Call
Brush grew up around the sculpture that was taller than any man,
blocking the view of it from far away. Maybe that was the Master’s plan.
Critters dashed about, fighting for spots,
but some worked together. As if the vibrations from the
sculpture calmed their stress, relaxed them.
Why didn’t it work with people? He stood and watched Paz meander
up the hill just like he did every twilight.
Snow didn’t stay on it. Funny, he thought. He wanted to see
the lavender light from the beams through
light snow, but it didn’t happen. Maybe if I were here the moment
the snow fell I could see. He turned the spotlight on, red, to alert them.
He turned and from his spot at the top of the hill he saw figures
moving toward the barn. The doctor and her nurse were there tonight
to bring life to those who did not want the babies nestled in their bellies.
Hour 2
Where are we?
Where are we
going?
What are you
doing?
Are people real?
I need curiosity to control my life
Hour 2 – Today I realized that I am free
I wake up in a forest
and assume it is a dream
But there is no wind in sleep
and the way the gentle breeze
wraps arms around my doubts,
I know I am awake.
It is no forest I’ve known, for the trees
carry not the parched bark of the arid mountains
nor the soft blossoms of the city
but glisten of untold stories all their own.
The bluebirds sing, but not to me
for it is a foreign melody as they ride
the rays of the sun’s gentle kiss
from cloud to bough and back again.
Wildflowers bloom in unfamiliar hues
Not the indigo towers or tangerine smiles
I’m used to, but cyan spirals and scarlet
webs crawl across a mossy forest floor
I watch a fox who does not slink
but walks with the confidence of one who
has never known the teeth of a hunter’s trap
And his footprints leave clues as I unravel
The story of where I find myself
“Whose woods these are I think I know.”*
For these are not the trees of my childhood
Nor the witch’s woods I once dreamed of
These woods are all their own
Belonging to no man, owned by no state,
they grow fearless and full for they are
Free.
*Line from “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost
Hour 2 : Miles to Go, after Robert Frost
Miles to Go, after Robert Frost
2 dead and 21 injured in a terrorist attack against a queer bar in Oslo.
I find out in the middle of this poem and erase it entirely.
2 dead and 21 injured in a terrorist attack against a queer bar in Oslo.
I went to 3 Pride events in the last few weeks and I can’t say
I wasn’t
looking for the closest exits,
scanning the crowd,
guarding the door with my anxiety
cherishing my pounding heart.
And when a cheeky kid threw a stone to my head
during a march I can’t say
I didn’t think it was a hate crime
before I realised it was just a game
I wonder if it’s normal to get a thrill from being alive
with hundreds of other queers gathered in the same place
from being a moving target,
from getting home safely at the end of the day. I can’t say
That it’s not tempting to lie down on the side of the road
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
My View
My view
Eighth floor window
Facing south toward town
In old highrise filled with old ghosts
Of both people and pets
Very pesky
Hazy
“Before I Sleep”
I calm my head and go to bed,
And think twice about the line he said;
“And miles to go before I sleep”
“And miles to go before I sleep”.
I stared so hard, up naked sky,
And think about how would I die.
In life, I’ve seen some terrible cries,
Hard situations, awful people and lies.
I wonder if I’ll just do the same,
Or be the good and kindest at my game.
For sure, I’m no poet as good as his,
I’m no noble person, or philanthropist.
But I dreamt to write to touch one soul,
And read about it, as I get old.
His tragedy and my worst life,
Might be differ by its time.
But I wish, I wish, to touch one life,
Just like how, he touch mine.
Writer: M.E. Flores
Hour02, Text Prompt02
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Giving honor to Robert’s Frost Phrase “And miles to go before I sleep” from his poetry : Stopping by woods in a snowy evening
Haughty taughty
Tis wonder if there’s ham over there, perhaps a quail,
I’ll gobble it down tooth and nail,
This gown is weighing me down,
Turning my glorious smile into a frown
How I wish for a servant or two or three,
to place themselves under thy knee