Day 21: Wordless Wednesday with a poem

• Manja Maksimovič

Prompt 21: “Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem that … uses lines that have a repetitive set-up.” 

First, a tweet that hits too close to home.

Next, the badge in the photo above, under bestia, says: “Nobody can live alone.” I know that many of you are living alone, but we have each other for company. The sunset photo is from my father’s calendar for April and it says “Goodnight, Piran”.

And finally, the poem.

Eye want

I won’t go gently or ungently into any kind of night or day

I won’t go out on a limb 
I won’t go out on a whim 
I won’t go out on the town
I won’t go out on a date
I won’t go out of my way
I won’t go out of my mind

I won’t go out
I won’t go
I wont
I won
👁👁

For:

NaPoWriMo 2021 Button with black background

This day in my NaPoWriMo history (2020): A “translation” of a poem in an unknown language. Mine was in Albanian.

The understanding is mine

Do not wade in the shallow water,
my mother told me,
you might fall or a crab might pinch you.

Do not go in the shallow woods,
that is where the devil lurks,
warned the priest.

Do not read by the shallow light,
my father advised,
you will ruin your eyes.

Do not wish for a shallow grave,
aunts and uncles agreed,
there is no escape from the dark hole.

Do not surround yourself with shallow people,
said grandpa and grandma,
whom I obeyed the most.

Do not speak shallow words,
life taught me – they always return
and demand to be buried deeper.

This day in my NaPoWriMo history (2019):

Event Horizon

It has begun.
Everyone’s biggest fear is coming true.
A writer is losing words.
A construction worker fears the abyss.
A mother is watching as her child nears the edge.
A dog owner is whistling in vain.
An extrovert doesn’t know what to say.
A proofreader is unable to spot errors.
An internet addict is losing connection.
A singer is losing voice.
A model is losing looks.
A painter is losing sight.
A photographer is losing legs.
An actress is gaining years.
A ballet dancer is gaining weight.
People are losing jobs to robots.
Walruses have no space.
Polar bears have no ice.
Butterflies are under attack by fungi.
Trees are lifting their roots to walk.
The last mammal is being farmed by spiders.

28 thoughts on “Day 21: Wordless Wednesday with a poem”

  1. Maybe we can’t live alone, we are social beings after all. But there should be nothing to prevent us from enjoying our solitude. To quote brilliant Rinke whom I’m currently reading, Take pleasure in your growth, in which no one can accompany you.

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  6. Your clever title is well suited for your !thoughts We not only long for the visceral or physical company but also the visual. I can so relate. I have noticed that this spring has bloomed so much more brilliant and colorful and each day I try to spend a bit of time outside. I think my interpretation of more colors and the need to be drenched in the out-of-doors directly stems from the covid isolation. Will we go through a similar shock when we return to ‘normal’?

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    1. Thank you, Mark. I will tell it here since I forgot to tell it in my post. The inspiration came from an advertisement in an American magazine from decades ago. I have it memorised. It went like this:

      I don’t see the point of getting engaged
      I don’t see the point of getting
      I don’t see the point
      I don’t see
      I don’t
      I do.

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      Reply

  10. A clever poem, this one.
    As an introvert, I am with you and that person on Twitter. I won’t go out, I won’t. This past year has been challenging in many ways, but I have really enjoyed staying at home and working from home. It is going to be challenging for us introverts to go back to our old lives again.

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    1. Thank you, Nataša. We must be quite similar indeed. The thing is that even before all this I lived a remote existence here in the wilderness of Tuscany. Soon I’ll be able to visit my people in Slovenia, I hope. I miss them the most.

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  12. Pingback: Day 21 & Thursday Doors 21/4/22: Ljubljana Bežigrad – An Embarrassment of Riches

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