Monday, October 12, 2020

OctPoWriMo, Day 12

When I was a little girl, a friend and I used to seek out places in the woods where we could just be; the woods were always where I felt at peace, connected to the world, and safely myself. As an adult, when life became overwhelming, or when I needed to clear my head, a hike in the woods would always set my head back on straight.

So, when faced with the single greatest personal tragedy of my life, it made sense to go to the place that always soothed my soul before. Today's poetry prompt took me back to those early days, discovering the healing power of nature, but that's where my adherence to the prompt ended; it took a direction that was unintended, but it's my truth, and I stand by it.

One year ago today, Doug and I were sitting in first class on a Hawaiian Air flight to Kauai, drinking Mai Tais and eating the most incredibly delicious breakfast, at the beginning of what we thought was going to be our long, travel-filled life together. Our love story began at a dive bar overlooking a lake; our marriage began on the most beautiful spot on the most beautiful island in the United States; in the four years between, we visited mountain cabins where we could watch the sunsets together, beaches where we saw dolphins frolic in the surf, and the quiet beach house where Doug asked me to be his wife. Nature is where we pledged to love each other forever; to nature is where I will go to mark the first anniversary that will never be.

Poetry Prompts: Write for ten minutes about how you liked to play when you were little. Did you enjoy coloring,  hopscotch, swinging on the swing set? See if you can tap into those playful feelings and pick one to do for a few minutes to remember what it was like to be a child at play.

Word Prompts: Playful, Childlike, Silly Poetry Type: Zanila Rhyme, Tongue Twister (because the prompts are merely suggestive rather than iron-clad rules, I wrote a sonnet instead)

Nature Retreat

The woods were always where she found her peace;
The flow'rs in bloom, the music of the birds.
Their beauty seem'd eternal, without cease;
Too wondrous to describe with solely words.

When tragedy befell, she thought, escape!
Retreat to where her Mother Earth would calm
Her fears, and begin to new life reshape;
Attune with nature; feel Her soothing balm.

Alas! That pure connection is no more.
She sees the beauty, but she feels it not.
Her sorrow not diminished like before,
No peace for her; serenity not caught. 

Defeated, she gives in to threat'ning tears,
Resigned to live in sorrow all her years.


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