POETRY PROMPT

Storm Sick

A poem on the LI prompt of ‘Hiraeth’

That ache for what’s evaporated but still is in your heart in your mind It’s vapor for a time then it rains down on you and soaks you again in sentiment Your back bends with the load of what you’ve lost but still carry in your body in your hands hindered by the heavy things you don’t want to have to hold anymore They slipped through your fingers and now you are compelled to pick them up over and over again to examine them to make wrongs right in your eyes in your hindsight Looking back you forge ahead to walk against the wind you trudge against what is and step towards what isn’t Sweat is wicked upon your brow, with the condensation on your skin Panting breaths rise up into the sky The rains are here again You can feel it in the air in your senses in your bones Your resistance rains down on you when the sky is letting go of all the cares you clutch, of what drowns you once again: the pain of never letting go of all the things that end

This poem is in response to Literary Impulse’s “Hiraeth” theme. “Hiraeth” is a Welsch word whose closest equivalent in English is “homesickness”; however, its meaning is more complex. It can not only apply to nostalgia for a physical place but for a place in time or for a person or thing you’ve lost. The poem I wrote focuses on the aspect of “Hiraeth” that conveys a sense of longing or regret for what has passed.

As instructed I am tagging five people to write a story on a prompt inspired by a theme of my choice. Tree Langdon, America Zed, Imad, LB, and Ora, write a poem on the theme of your favorite song if you so choose. No obligations!