Poetry Challenge - Week Forty-Nine
Week 49 words from @jennifer_atyrrell: smoke, tears, gum, grey and golden.
the bush is alight
the gum trees are on fire
the animals are fleeing
their paws burning on scorched earth
their feathers melting in molten sky
the sun is no longer golden
the mountain wears a shawl of smoke
a choking mist of grey
ash falls from the heavens
a hundred miles away
our hands are burning
our tears are falling
our world is burning
we are burning
and in our hands -
the match we struck
~~~~
Here are the words and my poem for the forty-ninth week of the 2019 Poetry Challenge.
This is my first attempt at writing this poem. When I say first attempt I mean this is the result of the first idea I had for this poem. There were lots of scribbles and false starts to get to this point.
After writing it I had another idea, inspired by this piece by Emilie Collyer. I was very drawn to the way in which she juxtaposed her cancer with a political figure. Unfortunately I'm still figuring out how to make the idea work.
If you want to join the 2019 Poetry Challenge, head on over to my Instagram account (@indraniperera) where I post the words for the week on Mondays (mostly) in my story. Write a poem and post it. Be sure to tag me and use the hashtags #livepoetsclub and #2019poetrychallenge.
If you don't want to write a poem, you can still be part of the 2019 Poetry Challenge. Send me five random words and I'll use them in a poem. Either DM me on Instagram with the words or send me an email (indrani at indraniperera dot com).
Happy writing!