This is the 18th day of National Poetry Writing Month, and the prompt today is to write a poem that begins and ends with exactly the same word. If you want to join in the fun there’s still plenty of time. Visit this site:
http://www.napowrimo.net/
I was inspired on this challenge to use free verse, which I rarely use. Moreover, I was inspired to write two separate poems for this particular prompt. This is my first offering. The second will be in its own post.
ECOUTER
Silence.
Nothing stirs the air.
Nothing breathes.
No vibration oscillates.
No frequency receives or carries movement.
No sensation touches auditory nerves.
There is no deafness;
There simply is no hearing,
Because there is no sound.
There is only
Silence.
Advertisements
I like free verse and its certainly very different from your usual style, did you find it easier?
In some ways it’s harder, because, for me, poetry generally demands boundaries. But, once in a while — like with these two poems for the same challenge — I just felt to write down whatever came. That’s how this one and “Liquid Color” started. Of course after they were done, I went back and tweaked a couple lines in each one, but for the most part I just let them roll out. For me, the actual physical shape of this poem helps make it a poem. And then, somehow, the English verb “to hear” just wouldn’t seem to fit for the title. That’s when I opted for the French, and that felt perfect to me. That’s what I love about being a writer — don’t you — that we can just pour ourselves out onto paper, giving sway to whatever’s moving us at the time, and then discover something beautiful we didn’t even realize was inside. (And even when the piece isn’t particularly beautiful, it’s still something that we created that never existed before we created it. Feels great!)