Self Portrait, a poem, And Nothing New update
First of all, I cannot begin to tell you how much I love Rattle. If you want to know why, check them out. I’m a subscriber, and they send me a poem every day, and the poetry is so good, it makes you feel good about just living in a world where people can think that way, you know? Yes, it is my ambition to have some poetry accepted by them, and I do submit to them from time to time, but I also just get so much inspiration from them.
For instance, every month they have an ekphrastic poetry challenge. If you don’t know what ekphrastic poetry is, it is a poem written because it was inspired by a piece of artwork. Here’s this month’s: Ekphrastic Challenge. I have entered this challenge several times, and I’ve always missed the mark and then read the responding poem and figured out why. But it doesn’t even matter. I’ve written so many poems and I’m learning every time I do it. Anyway, as soon as I saw this challenge, I knew I would enter it. I wrote three poems. This is the one I submitted.
Self PortraitI am scraps of lost mail
pulled close around a center axis;
a book snapped shut by an unfeeling hand;
a paper doll cut from yesterday’s news
and left to crumple underfoot.
I refuse to yield to cripple and age,
obtuse in clinging to antediluvian belief,
a vow given long ago
and held in my chest,
concealed, mostly, by wisps
of lost dreams and things
that I won’t let go.
And you can’t make me.
I am obstinate in the face of the wind,
making myself ridiculous,
clothed in scrapbooks and memories
that threaten to blow away;
an object of pity perhaps
with no objective in mind.
So pull out my heart,
and crumpled bits of newsprint
I can’t share
will spill at your feet but
spell out only what was
because sometimes forever
and ever won’t go away.
I also just yesterday published Chapter Two of my new venture, “Nothing New Under the Sun”. You can read it here: “Nothing New“. Although the story is called “Nothing New Under the Sun”, it’s all new to me as I’m publishing it on Kindle Vella in episodes, and it’s a mystery. I have an idea for it that I think you’ll like. I like to think of it as literary upcycling. And that’s gotta be new.
Maybe there’ll be a tropical sunset in a future episode of “Nothing New”. What do you think? Photo by Michelle Garren-Flye Copyright 2024 Michelle Garren-Flye
