His name was Steven and we were eight.
He kissed me in my basement.
I dreamed of us having a new washer
and dryer and yellow babies.
Keith was sixteen. I wrote Mrs. C-
over and over in my notebook.
He took me on my first date.
Underneath a table, on a floor
he broke my heart.
Paul was the Monkey in Chinese Zodiac.
A ravenous lover with lean muscles
and the stamina of a man ten years his junior.
He drove me mad and left me spent.
Willi was my senior. A gentleman who bought
me flowers just because. Took me to real jazz
concerts and catered to my every whim. But
I didn't love him.
List all of your old flames. Try to go back as far as your first kiss in the 2nd grade coat closet. Sit with your list. Depending on your mood today, choose the flame with the most sparks, or pin the list on the wall and throw a dart. Whatever your method or mood, write a poem about an old flame.
17 comments:
great poem, though it seems unfinished to me somehow. I hope you revisit this poem.
thanks for sharing it.
Serena,
It is unfinished. If I had used an ink well, the ink would still be wet. lol I wrote at rwp that I am looking forward to seriously working on this draft. I loved the prompt. I'll add it to the post. The prompt told to us to list old flames and then write a poem about one. I opted to write about a list of old flames.
Your list worked extremely well. Definitely one to come back to.
You have some powerful images here. I really liked "Paul the monkey in the Chinese Zodiac." It says a lot. Hope you keep working on it.
Hi Elizabeth, I thought that was one of the better, lines, too.
I meant add that like me, you must know the traits of the Monkey. lol
Ok. I aDORe the title.
Glad you'll be coming back to it. It leaves me aching to get some overall perspective on the collection :D
Ask now. Might help me flesh it out. What would you like to know? I love talking about back story, construction, form, word choice. Talk to me.
Nice poem! Those are quite interesting crushes you had there.
Can I just put their photos on the wall and throw darts?
that was me, zetta
I had such a laundry list of relationships that I am still trying to sort out. I took the safe road and wrote about my husband, I will meet this challenge square in the face and come back to it soon!
T, I was the crash and burn queen. This is an abridged list. I think few women could, and few would be brave to reveal a list as long as my true list would be. I went for archetypes here. And like you, I was hesitant to meet this squarely on.
Wow. This is wonderful. I'll look forward to reading it when you revise...
A great list of loves you have here. I enjoyed this! Especially loved hearing about your first love, such an innocence age to fall in love at. Look forward to reading the extended list at some point.
I really enjoyed this. I love where it's headed . . . thank you for sharing with us!
Ah! So much truth and sadness in that last line.
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