Once again I’m sharing some poems I’ve written during my sporadic participation in Laura Shovan’s February 10 Found Words Poetry Challenge. I’m still enjoying the process (though it hasn’t gotten any easier!) but I have been surprised by the results. Maybe it’s the dark winter days or the ongoing turmoil in our country or simply some odd alchemy of the words chosen in the lists, but I keep managing to create disturbing poems. They feel dark and depressed and that’s been a bit disconcerting to me. I’m beginning to wonder if I’m out of touch with some deep inner anguish I’m experiencing! At any rate, consider yourself forewarned. Here are two of my recent efforts:
Word list: artifact, rewrite, narrative, cylinder, porcelain, human, pseudo, skeptic, echo, plug and bonus: flourish
Her porcelain skin flushes
as she flourishes the letters
still neatly rolled into a cylinder
and restrained with a faded pink bow.
He is mesmerized by those letters
which she must have disinterred
from some dusty resting place,
artifacts from their courtship
echoes from that once-upon-a-time time
when they tossed away doubt and skepticism
and believed they had the power
to rewrite their narrative
together
a time when her hand rested in his
like it belonged.
Molly Hogan (c) 2017
Word list: screen, shoot, stickier, soft, smashing, scraping, speed, smoother, slower, sticky and the bonus: slap shoot and saliva
Warning
Her head bent close to mine,
mimicking intimacy.
She turned slightly from the crowd
screening her actions.
With one hand,
she smoothed her hair back
from her high forehead
with the other
she cocked an imaginary pistol
and pointed it between my eyes
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
I flinched as her whispered words
hit like slap shots
and spritzer sprays of saliva
strafed my paling cheek.
She spoke once more,
her soft voice scraping across her teeth,
sticky with threat and complication.
“Don’t cross me again,”
she hissed.
Molly Hogan (c) 2017
Click here to go to this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup hosted by Jone at her blog, Check it Out. Perhaps you can find something more upbeat there!
Nix the comfort zone 
Wow! They are like little short stories. (Maybe they could be connected…perhaps the “don’t cross me” woman is keeping the man away from the woman in the first poem with threats…)
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The plot possibilities are endless! Thanks for reading and commenting!
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I remember the second one, alarming, but somehow missed the first, and it is sad. I guess it happens that people fall out of love, hard to choose a reason why, right? I love the lines “when they tossed away doubt and skepticism
and believed they had the power
to rewrite their narrative
together. Hope is found in love, until it isn’t. Thanks, Molly.
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Linda, I always appreciate your comments and encouragement. Thanks for stopping by!
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Molly, the fury is flying inside you. Your women characters are independent spirits. “Don’t cross me again,” she hissed. This is quite an ending clincher. I think these two are side by side caricatures that you could more fuller develop in future poems.
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Perhaps I will revisit these two independent spirits sometime. Interesting thought….thanks for stopping by, Carol!
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Dark, yes, but powerful! And possibly necessary. I feel poetry can be therapy of sorts and the creativity you produce is good…really good.
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Thanks, Bridget!
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I absolutely agree with that idea of poetry as being cathartic, a way of expressing thoughts and feelings that are simmering and bubbling away inside. It can be so healthy and freeing to get those feelings out into the world through poetry!
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Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Jane!
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Oh, my these are really powerful poems, Molly. Lots of emotion!
By the way, you won a copy of YOU JUST WAIT. Please email me your postal address, and I’ll get it out to you as soon as I can. Have a great weekend. : )
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Thanks, Linda. I’m just not sure where all that emotion is coming from! So excited to hear I’ve won a copy of YOU JUST WAIT! Thanks so much! (I e-mailed my address.)
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I have been so impressed with everyone’s responses to this challenge. I may need to try one just to say that I did it. I feel like there should be more to come in both of these poems.
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As I said, Leigh Anne, I’ve found this really challenging. My notebook is filled with so many unfinished poems, false starts, etc. I’ve also been so impressed by what others have written. It’s amazing to see how the word lists can be taken into so many different directions.
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I guess we all need our dark to balance out the lightness. So we stay grounded and strong. 🙂 It’s been fun aspiring to write new each day.
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I’ve enjoyed reading all your entries, Brenda!
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Thanks, Molly!
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I am awe-struck with your second writing piece. I can just feel like I’m there watching the tension. I enjoyed reading your pieces and think it is a neat way to engage in writing.
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Thanks, Amy! Are you participating in the Slice of Life Challenge next month?
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Well, it depends which day you ask me! When my life is quiet and calm, I’m there. And when it’s not, well… More than likely it’s a yes. My post for this Tuesday gives a little insight. I hope you are going to participate. I’ll cheer you on the whole way!! ~Amy
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That second one continues to creep me out. It’s like the opening scene to a James Bond movie. And to think, I took the same words and wrote about bread baking. Words that were from an article on FROG SALIVA!!!
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I remember reading the second poem, but I think I missed the first. It’s a subtle examination of a relationship. Well done!
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Good grief, these are such strong pieces of writing! I’ve enjoyed reading folks’ hard work on these challenges from afar; terrific.
I admire your boldness and creativity!
Funny the emotions poetry can conjure up when we’re not really looking – at a wonderful retreat a year and a half ago, I realized each poem I wrote during the weekend took some kind of unexpected dark turn. Hmmm. And that was before the current administration…. :0!
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Robyn, thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!
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Your second poem is so strong, dark yes, but what an image you’ve painted. Blame the darkness on the events of the time, it’s difficult to let them slip out of our recesses. I’m enjoying seeing your daily poems!
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i agree these are dark but oh they are so powerful. Each is a story, making me imagine what has come before and what might come after. Thrilling!
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I loved these for their tone. Especially this: hit like slap shots
and spritzer sprays of saliva
strafed my paling cheek. Thank you.
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