Spin-Offs

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Spin-Offs

April 12, 2012 Claudsy Leave a comment Go to comments

The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided gorge carved by the Colorado River in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park ? one of the first national parks in the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area, and visited on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When Robert Brewer posted his poem prompt for today, it led me on a short mental journey, as prompts are wont to do. His instructions read something like this. Day 12 Prompt: Take phrase “Something (blank), fill-in blank with another phrase or word, use as title, and write poem.

My mind is one, perhaps like yours, that will begin in Poughkeepsie, then hop the mental freeway, and before I know it, I’m looking down the throat of the Grand Canyon. That’s what happened this morning.

I saw the word “Something…” and immediately hit on the wedding tradition, “Something Borrowed.” That led me to things we’re likely to borrow from one another, returned and unreturned, cared for while in our possession or treated badly, with little or no respect for their value. That took me to some of the things that we worry about now.

And the following poem is the result of that mental drive I took in the 30 seconds or less from the time I saw the prompt.

Something Borrowed

Dawn brought its light,

Moon brought darkness,

We brought ourselves,

Grasping, clinging to life.

Our days began when

Dawn brought its light,

Showing us the work

Awaiting our hands, minds.

We rested at day’s end when

Moon brought darkness.

We labored throughout

An off-chance of success.

Time flowed as time does.

We brought ourselves

To this, our future,

Where alarms sound loud.

Our future now seems stark,

Grasping, clinging to life,

Watching our destruction

Return to show its legacy.

I hope you enjoyed today’s effort. Drop a comment here, if the spirit moved you. Come back later for the rest of Robert Brewer’s manic poetry gauntlet in a separate Poem Form Challenge.