Happy Poetry Friday! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
A couple of weeks ago, the Poetry Princesses shared poems written to the title “Statues in the Park.” I shared my poem and writing process (via time lapse video) in that post. Today, I thought I’d share one of the other poems that came out of that writing session. This is actually a mash-up of the two acrostics I wrote. I didn’t intend for it to be spooky, really. But then I found this image last week, and it gave the poem a whole new feeling to me. And then Charlottesville happened, and that added a whole new feeling, for me. A sad, despairing new layer. The words didn’t change at all, but the art and then the political context made it feel like a different poem. Now it feels like this poem might be describing how a person in a minority feel like he or she has to behave to survive. Or racists might think I’m writing about the actual statues and what they symbolize and saying even if they’re gone, the racist attitude just has to persevere. Nope! I was just thinking of kids playing hide and seek in the park. It was that simple. I was actually remembering playing Midnight Ghost at my friend Janie Sauerman’s house as a kid. But I couldn’t quite remember the rules to that game well enough to write about it. So I just went with hide and seek. Anywhere, here it is:
To find more cool poetry, check out the Poetry Friday Roundup with Kay at A Journey Through the Pages!
12 Responses
Oh, my goodness.….remember playing statues? I do. It does give me a sense of creep.…not because of the camo.…but because sometimes I’ve seen people who have endured against themselves to the point of harm.…like they are going to win. I was reminded of that when I read this poem. Which is weird because I’m betting that’s not the intent. That word win and endurance got me.
Succinct, powerful message…I love it! Gave me goosepimples.
Hair standing up on the back of my neck. Time changes everything, doesn’t it?
So interesting how your poem takes on new meaning–hopefully with the passage of time, your original playfulness will be what the reader sees first.
Ooh. Context changes everything, doesn’t it?
I loved this when I thought it was just about freeze tag, and now it’s… about freezing internally. Still like it, though not every night-dark space is safe, even within ourselves…
Wow! Thanks for sharing the process behind this poem. I remember that edge of fear when playing Hide and Seek, especially in the dark. Your poem captures that intensity.
Thanks for sharing your process as well as the poem. I am always amazed at how words take on a life of their own once they fly into the world. A different reader, a different time, a different context gives whole new meaning.
A perfect example of how words can say so much — often more than we’d every imagined! Which is the beauty of poetry. Open to interpretation, based on what you bring in your backpack.
Another Wow. Context really changes the meaning and mood!
This image poem is a beautiful compilation of digital technology and poetic expression. It allows the reader to enter and deeply reflect in their own way. Love this one!
You’ve highlighted what I feel makes poetry so powerful, and that’s the ways in which a poem can be interpreted in different ways, and evoke different emotions, to different people and at different times and in different environments.
Hiding does require endurance, how clever of you to remember. I once waited far too long, and everyone else was inside having ice cream!