POETRY PROMPT
Memories
With this, I do accept the challenge set forth by Melissa Speed in her telling of The High-Priestess poem in answer to a prompt by Alex Kilcannon.
Memories flood my mind as I walk. What can I do, to whom can I talk? Too few understand what I have been through, Drill Sergeant duty is lonely, just you and your crew.
Your wife doesn’t understand, you’re gone for hours. After too many 18-hour days, her opinion of you sours. It’s not your fault nor hers. Day after day, your absence occurs.
You go in early and come back late, training Soldiers your duties dictate, Your time is not your own. Before you know it, your children have grown.
It’s only three years but through the tears, Her love for you disappears. When you come to the end of your time, she’s already gone and so too our love once sublime.
I’m not sure I can match these two ladies’ talent for the written word in poem form, but hopefully, mine can stand on its own.
The prompt I accepted is Memories from the three she set. The other two were, “A retelling of a myth,” or “The Dance.”
Stephen Dalton is a retired US Army First Sergeant with a degree in journalism from the University of Maryland and a Certified US English Chicago Manual of Style Editor. He is a freelance journalist currently living in the Philippines.
You can see his portfolio here. Email [email protected]