Choices abound, like grains of sand;
What follows after, can’t control.
You can, of course, make choices, and…
You can, but it may cost your soul.
The Tempter proffers fruit so sweet
What follows after, can’t control.
Know Good from Evil? Hey, that’s neat!
You can, but it may cost your soul.
You’ve gained the whole world – all yours now;
What follows after, can’t control.
They wait for your say – when and how;
You can, but it may cost your soul.
A man may claim, “No rules for me!”
What follows after, can’t control.
“Do what I want, and let things be”
You can, but it may cost your soul.
Pandora’s Box, can’t close again;
What follows after, can’t control.
Like “coming out”, can’t go back in;
You can, but it may cost your soul.
The officer, with knee on neck;
What follows after, can’t control.
Log in your eye, you pick a speck;
You can, but it may cost your soul.
Choices abound, like grains of sand;
What follows after, can’t control.
You can, of course, make choices, and…
You can, but it may cost your soul.
And now for our (optional) prompt. Have you ever heard or read the nursery rhyme, “There was a man of double deed?” It’s quite creepy! A lot of its effectiveness can be traced back to how, after the first couplet, the lines all begin with the same two phrases (either “When the . . .” or “Twas like,”). The way that these phrases resolve gets more and more bizarre over the course of the poem, giving it a headlong, inevitable feeling.
Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that, like this one, uses lines that have a repetitive set-up.
defying atrophy 