Looking at Dread

21 August 2021 Saturday Poetry Prompt: painting the fear

A new Phaethonic impulse – take the whole fucking chariot – all the fire to smother – drown beautiful horses and all – catastrophic temperatures because the sun has never gone down quite like this –

Orpheus staring at a growing hole in the ground – bits of snake and venom chased from the oak and olive trees and laurels – the smoke of the next breath – subsumption – total castigation of flesh reaching for the music – again –

Here’s a pool of blood – indifferent to the red it was – dark black on hollow ground – the blind man once woman once man swirl their clawed hands to make the dead speak –

Another soon to be blind man – daughter for the last time – sons will leave too – is there some compassion in the bronze heart – but what has gripped here – what has failed doesn’t return undone –

A not so heavy father carried out of a burning city – then lost to Aeneas – later visit to Hades twisting hearts – the rhetoric has grown so cold – and after all these falls

a reach to another end.

J.D. Harms 2021

Prompt:

For today’s prompt, I would like you to explore depictions of dread/horror. No, I don’t want a bunch of Dracula-werewolf inspired poems, but you can use that story, in part. Also, remember, there’s a lot more myth out there that isn’t Ancient Greek or Roman; there are fantastic tales in Native American culture, the middle-East and Asia, and the Viking sagas. Be inventive, be divine. The challenge for today is to compile your piece by the inclusion of various pictures of dread. Make something that explores this. Tag me in it!

And keep rocking by reading more of Scrittura’s offerings!

Zay Pareltheon Jessica Lee McMillan Eli Snow Viraji Ogodapola Melissa Coffey Adrea Kore Paroma Sen Era Garg Samantha Lazar J.L. Littlejohn Thief Jeff Langley Fox Kerry Jesse M. Gonzalez Joseph Lieungh Daniel Barry Carolyn Riker Caitlin Rebecca Gary Chapin Barry Dawson Jr. IV Pablo Pereyra Ann Marie Steele jenine bsharah baines Lindsay Soberano-Wilson Dennett Joe Luca Vic Spandrio Vixen Lea Mimi Bordeaux Terry Barr Somsubhra Banerjee Saugat Menon Gurpreet Dhariwal Akhtar Mehmood Georgia Lewitt Renee Podunovich Michael Centrone Connie Song Ana-Maria Schweitzer Lennie Varvarides Theodore McDowell I am not a Robot Wry Welwood Suzanne V. Tanner Chris Mooney-Singh Aaron Quist MDSHall Kristie Darling Andrea Juillerat-Olvera Sydney J. Shipp Harley Bell Annine Massaro. Charlene Marron Rhonda Marrone Lori Lamothe Jaylee Reign j.calabrese