The retreat I chose when life was a little more than my child-ego could deal with . . . |
Last Slam Prompt:2006 POET'S CHOICE - You may write your poem in FREE VERSE (35 lines or less) or use the form of your choice. If you use a form, please specify what form it is. Note: The poem has since been lengthened slightly. As children, most of us had a secret hiding place, or a spot we went to get away from our families, our problems, our ordinary lives. It might have been a place in the woods, a fort in the yard or basement, a roof of the house, under the bed, or some imaginary place - or maybe reading a book or writing a story was a means of escape for you. Write a poem about the special place of your childhood/adolescence, and, if you want, a particular event/incident you recall that made you seek it out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the Cave of My Mind When everyone laughed, I, the brunt of their joke, learned very quickly not to speak my true thoughts. But in the cave of my mind, no one could hurt me. No one could jeer at the stories I fashioned, where I was a princess astride a black stallion, who tossed its long mane and arched its fine neck, as we galloped across miles of emerald fields. In the land of my dreams, dragons shimmered in greens. They flew me about Then we dipped down our toes in the gentle warm seas, while visiting dwarves always plucked at their beards whenever I kissed them. And oh, how these friends were awed by my powers, for I could throw magic at any who crossed me. I could churn fountains into the crests of high peaks, or with a wave of my hand cause a rainbow to tremble. Whenever I whispered all ears turned my way, and the leaves of trees lowered and bowed, for I was that potent, my magic that fierce, though I never did use it since everyone loved me. You see, there I was clever, courageous, and grand, in that forest of fantasy, in the cave of my mind. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |