Every month for the past several years I have been challenged by my online writing group to take on a form or a style of poetry and create an original to share. (Mine are linked here.) I haven't been able to keep up this year, but last month and this I have been back in the game.
This month we are challenged to write something using the poetic technique of anaphora. Our theme is gratitude and grace in loss. Losing keys, books, earrings, memories - surrendering them to the void and chaos that is life, and looking for and accepting what we receive in return. I lost my oldest son last year and am still reeling.
Anaphora is the repetition of words or phrases in a poem, as a way of amplifying or intensifying the meaning and effect. It's used in speeches and songs, as well. Here is my attempt:
Living In The Space Between
Between the tight green bud in hardness,
And the sweet rose open in tenderness,
There is a movement of spreading shimmer; a bloom.
Between the moist pale pillow of dough rising,
And the crisp crust of brown bread baking,
There is a movement of rising fragrance; an expanse.
Between the sweet sharp joy of each childhood breath,
And the blind weight of his iPhone after death,
There was a movement of growing discovery; a potential.
Between the last warm time we hugged goodbye,
And the hollow nights when I do nothing but cry,
There was a movement of dim confusion; a dissolution.
Between bright then,
And darkest now,
Movement.
-Andromeda Jazmon 11.1.18
Please take some time to enjoy the other poems shared by my Poetry Sisters at these links:
In the Laundry Room
