Day 3

Despair is nothing without disarray
it flies with indifference
and stammers in cacophony
and ceases – not at all

And bitter – out of the Still – undetected
And indolent isn’t drought
It won’t soothe the brute
That released the hostile
And chilled them all

I never heard it in the warm
But in the familiar Storm
And – always within my soul,
It demanded all of me

. . . .

Today’s prompt in NaNoWriMo was a great challenge. I met it with simplicity not changing too much and not worrying about the meter. Altogether too depressing is the outcome. But it was a good learning experience.

Here is the prompt as given: “Last but not least, here’s our prompt for the day (optional, as always). Find a shortish poem that you like, and rewrite each line, replacing each word (or as many words as you can) with words that mean the opposite. For example, you might turn “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” to “I won’t contrast you with a winter’s night.” Your first draft of this kind of “opposite” poem will likely need a little polishing, but this is a fun way to respond to a poem you like, while also learning how that poem’s rhetorical strategies really work. (It’s sort of like taking a radio apart and putting it back together, but for poetry).”

And, of course, the I used.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers

BY EMILY DICKINSON

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.