Today is day 4 of the December Open Write with Dr. Sarah Donovan's Ethical ELA. Glenda Funk offered the poetic inspiration, introducing a poem by Tiffany Midge called Antiquing with Indians, and noting:
Some things that stand out to me in Midge’s poem are
- The three-line stanzas
- Enjambment
- Specific historic references
- Ironic tone
With these focus points in mind, we were encouraged to write a poem. I struggled with this one! Here's what I finally wrote:
Forever lost
You were always so able, and then you weren’t.
It was up to us to clear out your house, with you
in the recliner, snapping, sneering, barking
orders at us, you the commanding officer, we your drafted recruits,
working quickly and somewhat blindly, to divide a lifetime
of belongings into a uhaul going north, a pile of donations, and
the dumpster. I heard your heart breaking with every insult you hurled,
at our not knowing whether something should be kept, knowing
the only thing worth saving was your independence and that was
forever lost. Yes, it’s true, we each siphoned off little treasures,
I have the hurricane lamp, the bird bath, and the funny garden pelican, and
you never knew or had to know or ever would have understood
why we want to hold on to the loss of you.
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