At We Write Poems, a prompt went out: Write a poem about writing a poem. You never know when or where the inspiration will strike. I’ve long since given up on sitting down and deciding to produce something… and yet, the more I write, the more I want to write!
This poem is also posted at Writer’s Island, where I’m posting daily for National Poetry Writing Month. Amy
Prelude to a Poem
Teapot screams meeeeeEEEEEEEE
demanding attention
Drip of the French Press into the mug
Pressing grounds through as
ground falls from under my feet
taking me back to that cafe in the Village where…
Drifting with the breeze down State Street
Lots of UW students hang and hacky-sack here
Whole lives ahead of them
One potent whiff of a fattie gives me
a contact high and suddenly I’m on Venice Beach…
We march in solidarity with unions at
Madison’s Capitol Dome
The golden statue atop is called Miss Forward
The governor inside is called Mister Backward
My anger at injustice boils inside my gut
I plop down on the pavement and start to
scribble on the back of my sign…
Startled awake, sweating, full-body tremble
recalling those nights when
a little girl was tucked in tight until
HE decided it was her turn
I switch on the light – it’s NOW, dammit, not THEN!
I pick up a pen…
© 2010 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Sharp Little Pencil 
Sherry Blue Sky
Wow. So powerful. A scary world for little girls, through all of time.
Sharp Little Pencil
True, Sherry, and some little boys as well. The most important part to me was that, despite the lingering pain, a poem could rise from its ashes. Thanks for caring. Amy
PKP aka Pearl Ketover Prilik
Terrific poem Amy….great use of teapot’s scream…to move throughout poem until empowered…end hen you ” pick up a pen”. Bravo!
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Pearl Girl! Our teapot, the new one, actually does sound like it’s screaming meeeeEEEEEE! Funny how those little experiences with onomatopoeia are enough to trigger thoughts such as these. Thanks, Amy
pmwanken
Clever! I like these preludes…..makes me linger and wonder what the poems would be….
Well done, Amy! 🙂
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Paula. A lot of them are actually on this blog already! And some are inklings of scribbles to come… Amy
vivinfrance
A stunning evocation of a nightmare which must have been a daymare to live through. Please, what`s hacky-sack?
Sharp Little Pencil
A bunch of kids (usually college age) in a circle; a ball that’s filled like a beanbag, only circular, about the size of a baseball, and they use only their feet to try to pass it around and keep it in the air as long as possible! I think that about does it. Usually accompanied by beer or such…!
As for the nightmare, yes – but see what came out of it? Amy
Mr. Walker
Starting with the teapot for a prelude poem – inspired – I like how you started with a sound like that. It’s sensual, a memory, political, and then scary – jumping to the present, no longer a prelude. Good stuff, Amy.
Sharp Little Pencil
Thanks, Carl. The poem actually came to me in that order. I was making coffee and it clicked, how sense memories are connected to the urge to write. As always, a thoughtful comment, and much appreciated. Thanks, Amy
Roger Green
great prelude!
Gloria Bostic
I’ve been there and no that feeling completely! Sounds like we might have a lot in common. And so we write….
Well done Amy, and thanks so much for your comments on “Is it Time?” I really do appreciate them. 🙂
Sharp Little Pencil
Gloria, we have so many sisters in the poetic world, it’s amazing. Yet poetry is a way to let go of hurt, of the past… and create something that will reach out and say to someone else, “Oh, I didn’t realize they, too…” Thanks so much. Amy
Gloria Bostic
Sorry….’know’ that feeling (need to slow down) 😉
booguloo
I was thINKing and I thINK we’ve discovered the great secret; Put The Shit Down on paper.
Sharp Little Pencil
I thINK you are right on target, Michael! Even when the shit stINKs!
Mike Patrick
Aye, you have to strike while the iron is hot, or write when the ink is wet, or something.
Sharp Little Pencil
Mike, I could add a few, but let’s not go there… LOL Amy
Debbie
Great job, Amy. The poems just pour out of you. And I’m so thankful they do. You are helping all of us when you write. 🙂
Dan Paicopulos
Bless your leftie little heart, Amy. My godson, Zach, was one of the 30 carried out of the building on the penultimate night, and his sister was outside waiting. I love those kids, and their dad is as Republican as they come. Hah! If Scott Walker did not exist, we would have had to invent him. He’ll surely help Obama carry the state next year, just by running his mouth.
Sharp Little Pencil
If someone DID invent Scott Walker, I hope to God they broke the mold!! A
Madeleine Begun Kane
Well done, and a familiar experience.