83 Comments

This is beautiful, Karri! I love the way you ground the poem with such rich images right off the bat. So many great lines, too - “the only place I’ll jump is to conclusions,” and that lovely ending - “a soft voice whispers firmly in the wind / you must choose.” This indecision is all too relatable and so engagingly expressed!

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Thanks! I just had that line about jumping to conclusions in my head and had to use it!

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Your title, rooted in the implication of your last line, worked for me (the whole poem worked for me!). I will confess that my inner rhymer was dying to find a way to add in the word "oasis" after "stasis," particularly because of the way you tied "thirsting" and "parched" together (you know how I can get about rhyming). Here's my poem, which is also a sort of reversal on the prompt:

*

Choices made without

the sunlight of consciousness

are not choices at all

but reactions

that erupt like fungus

from musty corners within,

feeding off the carbon fixation

of unhealed wounds

and

unmet needs.

With the next stiff wind,

spores drift complacently,

mushrooming easily, invasively.

Silently

carpeting over every

path home.

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Oooooh i love “feeding off the carbon fixation of unhealed wounds” and the beautiful imagery of the ending - “silently carpeting over every path home.” Beautiful!

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Thanks, friend - so glad to know those lines popped for you :))

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My brain did the same thing with oasis🤣 Also I love this, Keith. I normally think of fungi as being very good but I like the connection you draw between the fungal spreading and unconscious reactions in the absence of real choice.

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Haha! Great minds rhyme alike? Thank you, A. I'm glad you liked my metaphor. Fwiw, I have great respect for fungi and the good they do on the planet. Definitely no shade to fungi (pun intended).

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Keith, this is so fine. I love thre fungi imagery, and these lines "

Keith Aron

Big Blue Sky Dragonfly

2 hrs ago

Your title, rooted in the implication of your last line, worked for me (the whole poem worked for me!). I will confess that my inner rhymer was dying to find a way to add in the word "oasis" after "stasis," particularly because of the way you tied "thirsting" and "parched" together (you know how I can get about rhyming). Here's my poem, which is also a sort of reversal on the prompt:

*

"Choices made without

the sunlight of consciousness

are not choices at all

but reactions

that erupt like fungus

from musty corners within,

feeding off the carbon fixation

of unhealed wounds

and

unmet needs."

Oh, so good. and the ending is genius!

"With the next stiff wind,

spores drift complacently,

mushrooming easily, invasively.

Silently

carpeting over every

path home."

Your poems are always a magnificient read!

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Thank you for your kind affirmation, Larry - so glad you liked it :))

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I hope you don't mind me using your title idea. After reading your poem and the prompt, I started writing, and then it just felt like it made sense:

- the life I have created

.

It wasn't brave, really -

the unravelling.

.

What else is there to do

when you are twisted up in knots?

.

Sometimes it was painful;

there was more than I expected

.

that needed cutting away,

but what remains?

.

Oh, -

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This is so beautiful, A, and I don’t mind a bit that you did something similar with your title! Surely that’s a thing that’s already been done by a billion people before we got to it.

Your poem makes me think about my own life and the stripping down that illness necessitated . . . but also about what’s possible within the spaciousness that never seemed possible before, and how at the end of the day, losses notwithstanding, I would choose this life over that one every damn time.

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I adore that concept of it not being bravery but simply the only thing to do. Bravo!

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This is very clever, A. I especially love the way in which you ask, of the unravelling, "what else is there to do/when you are twisted up in knots?" So relatable, that place of surrender, when life seems to be living you...doesn't feel brave, even though it is, to allow that to happen.

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What a provactive and evocative poem, A. I like how youi use the two questions to hold us and invite us in, to reflect on our own choosings and reflections on the paths taken, and not.

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Love the powerful, big bang title

-

And these lines

-

'It was the big bang in reverse,

all my planets pulling in.

I thirsted for light,

found gravity.

I compressed down to

a dense clump,

orbited you.

I couldn’t stay

in that parched place'.

-

Maybe this resonates a little with what you wrote'.

-

https://open.substack.com/pub/theseainme/p/unsilenced?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=46rss

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It does. And how beautiful! I love “surrender the prison of winning.” Thank you for your kind words and for sharing your poem!

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"surrender the prison of winning" stood out to me, too. And the use of "ratchet" and "latent turning." ooph. Thanks for sharing.

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This is powerful, with vivid and dramatic lines and a strong cadence. I like the ending: "blooming a beautiful rose crown

from a cradle of thorns"

Very powerful. Thank you for sharing!

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I’m standing on a bridge out in the desert

The setting sun casts shadows all around

Don’t know which way to go; left or right the road goes on

Nothing so bad I’d choose the option down.

.

Cause the only place I’ll jump is to conclusions

That whatever way I choose won’t be the one

To make it all work out; middle age is full of doubt.

And the darkness settles in after the sun.

.

As the stars appear and populate the night sky

And the chill of the night air settles in

I know time is ticking fast: this indecision cannot last

Then a soft voice whispers firmly in the wind.

.

You must choose.

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I love how your poem is talking both about the immediate and literal decision and the bigger, slipperier, weightier ones as you navigate your larger life (and aging). Gorgeous.

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Thank you Keith!

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I agree with Keith, and I also think this illustrates well the way that night time thoughts are often more desperate than day time ones - at least, they are for me.

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Oh absolutely.

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This is so nice,Karri! Your poem evokes a splendid song for me, “See You in the Light” by Michael Franti and Spearhead.

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Interesting! I'll have to check it out!

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Beautiful and thoughtful poems all.

Just going to write and see what happens here.

CHOICE

We were us

Sharing a love

That no others had ever known

That no one else could understand

We were convinced

Of our invincibility

Nothing and no one

Could come between

We were us

Our lips

And skin

Our eyes

And hands

Searching

Exploring

Playful

Passionate

We made our promises

We made our love

We were us

That Spring day

You came trembling

And you had made a choice

Promises we made were broken

My voice drowned out

I’ll take care of you

I’ll be with you always

I pleaded for the dreams

I had built in my mind

We were us

It was to no avail

And you went

For the dreams you and your parents

Had built in your minds

And so those dreams

Came true

So many years later

I think of those few weeks

When

We

Were

Us

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This is beautiful and heart-tugging! You use repetition in such interesting and powerful ways, Billy. It doesn’t surprise me now that I know that you’re also a songwriter!

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This is moving and relatable, Billy...the ache (grief, disbelief) of your dreams not being the ones chosen after such an intense connection. Like Lisa, I like your recursion of "we were us."

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Heartbreaking 💔 but heartbreakingly beautiful

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That repetition of "we were us" and how it's separated in those last few lines is so powerful, Billy.

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This is so tender and fine, Billy. What a bittersweet story you weave with lyrical poetry.

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I wrote a poem earlier today with choice as the foundation, but it came out too dark, so it was sent back to the basement for now. This one uses the notion of choice as it might be viewed in certain contexts today.

^

The first time you made the choice alone,

without conversation, no future talk .

It was your choice, after all,

As we disintegrated into a memory,

rarely to be visited ever again.

^

The other times

we made the choice together;

tears and fears

stirred into a pot

of broken dreams

and what might have been.

^

Our naivete showed in so many ways,

not least that

this was the way

the world is

and will be.

The shadows prove us wrong.

^

Shape shifters and invisibility cloaks

let loose into a world

where absolute certainty is screamed.

Self- righteous proclamations blare

as theocracies rise from the ashes

of crusades that never fully died

^

Holy warriors armed for battle,

misogyny, fundamentalism and anger

clearing the room,

smothering the choices,

stomping human rights;

Drowning wisdom

In cauldrons of hate.

Their fear of choice

the perfect rationale

for their theft of freedom.

^

I choose a different way.

I choose a brighter day.

I choose to do more than pray.

I choose a humble witness

and a promise to be present

when the choice thieves come

for you, and for me.

The only choice worth making

In the wake of this storm.

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This is so beautiful, Larry! I especially love the ending and the catchy phrase “choice thieves.”

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Thank you, Lisa!

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"Their fear of choice/the perfect rationale/for their theft of freedom." Oh boy...this expresses so well the politics of hate and the fear, as well as so much of the religious dogma we all suffer under. Thank you for this powerful pied, for your promise to be present, and for choosing differently, Larry!

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Thank you Keith. Writing helps me process the absurdity and the toxic politics of these times.

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That last stanza is everything. Filled with hope for the “only choice worth everything”❤️❤️

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Thank you so much, Karri!

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Beautiful. I love the ending, and also how the beginning lines of each stanza can flow together.

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Thank you, friend!

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CHOOSE CHECKERS

.

.

.

Between a rock and a hard place.

.

The lesser of two evils.

.

The path of least resistance.

.

Sides.

.

Your poison.

.

Life.

.

Your battles.

.

Jif.

.

Shit or get off the pot.

.

Wisely.

.

.

.

King me.

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The juxtaposition of “shit or get off the pot” and “wisely” delights me to no end!

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Same!

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Choosy moms choose Jif...and so do wise kings (so I hear). Love this one, Chuck.

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This is sick, Chuck, as they say. I love the use of Checkers to frame the poem. Bring out the boards!

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This is weird but I was just coming back in here to delete those checker words, they were a last second whim add, the kind that i almost always regret, but then your comment jumped out at me. Thanks larry,

play on.🙂

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I too think the checkers absolutely work!!

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You are kinged, Chuck!

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Hello wonderful poets society! We are in Minnesota for a wedding then on to northern Montana for a couple of weeks, so I will likely be less visible and virtually vocal during that time. I am thinking of you all, so grateful to be among you, and consciously trying my best to do what this wonderful song by Beth Nielsen Chapman suggests, Choose Love! https://youtu.be/U2o1hvDNC2w?si=UkKMBC8FlGrUHY4R

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We will miss you, Larry, but it sounds like you will be in beautiful places! I hope you have a wonderful time!

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Thank you Lisa! We are having a blast so far in Minneapolis!

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Oh, thank you for letting us know! I know we all have different lives and obligations, but I worry when one of us doesn't show up for a while. I'll be thinking of you as you travel. Stay safe! 🧡

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Thank you A. I hope to check in enough to read your and others great poetry!

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Have the best time!!!

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Enjoy Larry!

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Thank you Billy!

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I love how you say so much in so few lines. I got divorced twenty years and it saved my life. And I had to blow my life up to do it. Thank you for sharing this.

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It felt for me like blowing my life up, too. Thank you, LeeAnn! 💜

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Congratulations Lisa! All the joy for you in your unencumbered life!

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Thank you so much, Victoria! ❤️

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I LOVE how the title is also the implied final line. This poem is so freaking stunning.

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Awww now I’m a smiling universe! Thank you, Margaret! ❤️

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I've been poetically a bit stuck recently and have been letting the prompts pile up! Boo-hoo! I'm still only partway through my exercise with "heart," but here is a poem about a choice I was faced with recently.

.

The choice was nothing: pushpins

and a foam board, a simple XY graph.

I was to plot my pulls in two dimensions:

cis-trans on x, straight-gay on y.

.

Mine was the squarest of squares,

I knew that much, minus-minus

in a Cartesian system, but

that wasn’t the exercise,

the exercise was to roam

my continent of self

and map the patch that stuck my shoes.

.

The gallery was empty.

The exhibit wouldn’t open for hours.

I had so much space to decide.

.

My quadrant winked at me

like the Great Plains

before people,

.

and remained untapped.

.

Thirty years since church

and still, when it comes to queerness,

I have the inner world of a quilt:

thick batted layers, stray fluff,

no answer bold enough

to raise a contour.

.

The room filled up

and so did my quadrant,

but not as much as you might think.

The plane has changed –

it is less flat.

How fitting that our kids

should have introduced

the z-axis.

.

To push my pin, I finally

resorted to math.

Here I am in purple,

a few millimeters north of

southwestern cis-het.

.

It was a nothing choice.

It is a start.

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“Roam /my continent of self / and map the patch that stuck my shoes.” I love this!

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This is gorgeous, Rebekah! I've missed seeing your poems lately and I hope all is well with you. 🧡

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Thank you, A! I'm good, just mad busy and I think that's been disrupting my poetic flow a bit. I've also not been spending as much time as I want to in the comment pages. I think it'll turn around soon, though. :)

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The title of this poem, the last stanza, all of it—so much power! What a creative force.

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Thank you so much, Claire. I hope your book launch prep is going well and is feeling more like nourishment than like labor!

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I absolutely love this Lisa. Thank you for sharing your decision and your pain in such beautiful words.

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Thank you so much, Karri! I can’t imagine a warmer, kinder space to share in.

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I’ve done that a few times with titles, sometimes using three dots of ellipses at the end of the title and also at the end of the poem as a hint to tie them together. Hard to say if it works, I’ve never asked anybody. And the poem is perfect.

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The ellipses are an interesting idea. Thank you so much, David!

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