APRIL 20, 2010 POEM A DAY CHALLENGE (WATCHWOMAN)

http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides

Today is a two for Tuesday prompt. Here are the two options:


Write a looking back poem. There are a few ways to tackle this one, I guess. The narrator could be reflecting on the past or literally looking back (like over his or her shoulder).

Write a poem that doesn't look back. This poem would be kind of the opposite, I suppose. Narrator who refuses to look back or who is literally looking forward (or I suppose another option even is that the narrator is blind or something).

Of course, if anyone has an interpretation that falls outside of my suggestions, then feel free to run with them. I always encourage poets to bend the prompts to their will.





Watchwoman

I have sat upon
Kaatskill Falls
For a millennium

My arms searching
Reaching skywards
My roots spreading

I have become gazer
Standing testament
Of long times spent

I have witnessed
The inhales and exhales
Of countless days

I have witnessed
Mankind’s brilliance
In fortitude and defeat

I am the original
Birch Tree who
Extends her reach

I am now a grove
Of Birch Trees
Canopying the falls

I am the Sentry
Watchwoman of Earth
Anticipating my rebirth

In the quiets of
A winter storm
You may hear me

“I open to the North,
I open to the East,
I open to the South,
I open to the West,
Elements complete my circle.”

I stand and wait
Bare and naked
In winter’s storms

For the coming
For my resurrection
For mankind to understand

Peace.