So, I decided not to do the PAD Challenge prompt today, which involved remixing a previous poem for the month in some way -- a fun idea, but I felt I just wanted to do the first prompt seriously and not compromise my desire to articulate something meaningful, since none of my previous poems jumped out as great candidates for metapoetic transformation.
I like what I wrote -- though I'm not sure if anyone would easily get that it's about poetry without being clued in. Maybe that's a good thing? It's clearly metaphoric. Weirdly, like yesterday's poem, it came out as a sonnet without my having even planned that, although this one lacks a turn, or the turn comes after nine lines rather than eight.
The Walkway
passages, and it’s dark suddenly, damp, and you’re all
alone with yourself, and a little spooked by it,
with the sound of your footsteps suddenly loud;
like a child, though, you’re compelled to make noise--
“Hooo hoooo!” -- so that you hear your own voice
all echoey, full of tone, portentous as the universe
speaking right to you. That sound fills your chest
throbbing from within and without all at once.
The world seems far away, behind you and ahead,
remembered only, not seen, lost for a minute,
until you come to the end, the archway framing it,
bright image of what is, there, all in color again,
then you are in it, back into life, but changed.
What I'm picturing is the arched underground walkway near UNI's Wellness and Recreation Center, but I can't find a picture of it!
--Draft by Anne Myles. Please do not copy, cite, or quote without permission.
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