NaPoWriMo Day 18: "Little Elegy"

Today's NaPoWriMo prompt: "Today, I’d like to challenge you to write an elegy of your own, one in which the abstraction of sadness is communicated not through abstract words, but physical detail. This may not be a “fun” prompt, but loss is one of the most universal and human experiences, and some of the world’s most moving art is an effort to understand and deal with it."

Today's PAD Challenge prompt: 'For today’s prompt, take the phrase “Little (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then write your poem. Possible titles include: “Little Guy,” “Little Richard,” “Little Mermaid,” “Little Italy,” and “Little Words That Pack a Big Punch.” I think if you think about it for a little bit, you’ll find a big (or little) poem to write.'

I am exhausted and getting ready for company and the North American Review conference, and these prompts weren't triggering any inspiration; I was afraid I wasn't going to get it done. I've written so many elegiac poems already! But instead of my usual griefs, I thought I would write about an object that evokes the loss of my beloved greyhound Beth (B for Beth, 2006-2015). It's just a tanka, but hey it's a poem, and sorta-kinda does the prompts.

Little Elegy

A floral collar

fine as the greyhound who ran,

no, flew across fields,

rests now, tacked by a pawprint

in a glass memory box.

           

--Draft by Anne Myles. Please do not copy, cite, or quote without permission.