National Poetry Writing Month – Day 15
Finally, here’s our (optional) prompt for the day. Begin by reading June Jordan’s “Notes on the Peanut.” Now, think of a person – real or imagined – who has been held out to you as an example of how to be or live, but who you have always had doubts about. Write a poem that exaggerates the supposedly admirable qualities of the person in a way that exposes your doubts.
I’ve chosen to use the villanelle form (a favorite).
A1 b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 A2
“You therefore must be perfect” just like God
It’s there in letters red and hot as blood
Because He came to “save us”, this seems odd.
For elsewhere Jesus knows we’re earth-bound flawed
In parables to some as clear as mud.
“You therefore must be perfect” just like God.
For years, perfection Here I scraped and clawed
Depression – falling short – came like a flood
Because He came to “save us”, this seems odd.
Pretending I was perfect felt like fraud;
And feared undressing kept “real life” in bud
“You therefore must be perfect” just like God
This Jesus I’d discerned that I must laud
Had taught me that my “life” should be a dud
Because He came to “save us”, this seems odd.
I’m learning now that God is much more broad
Than words in Bibles landing like a thud,
“You therefore must be perfect” just like God;
Because He came to “save us”, this seems odd.
defying atrophy 