Sustained Vision

28 November 2020 Saturday Poetry Prompt: defy physics prompt

Falling up to the skylight, begin to count the figures and forms in a city of madness, reduced to a human-sized rectangle. The people of the blue, white, gold and the other riots, the emotional expressions of bronze, mixed messaging the vision, separation from the text. The continuity of this cloud disrupts the sight, screaming against pressure that can’t be pointed to, head pressed to hard against the glass to check on the chair below. Cedarwood and spruce, stinging the nostrils, pointing to the past dreams of earth…scattered around a few deaths for pages, hurting and confused, maddened and giddy, all at the same time. Then, there’s no city to be seen, there’s a dark hole, now. And still not let down, and still no look at who’s got control of the pulleys. Exhaustion enters the room, can be felt against the back, hopelessly counting and recounting in an effort to bring the vision back. Or convince yourself it was there to begin with. And the outlying fragments of the horizon escape your notice entirely.

J.D. Harms 2020

Prompt:

For today’s prompt, I want you to focus your poem or writing piece around an idea that goes against the laws of physics. Let your imagination run away with you. The whole piece does not have to be an exercise in the bizarre, but at least use something fantastic to set up your oppositions/explorations. Needless to say, I want you to have fun! Tag me in it (J.D. Harms), and rock on!

As promised, today I am also unveiling the prompt set-up we’re preparing for December. Each prompt will be reflective of a theme: Saturnalia and Other Winter Celebrations. Medium has writers from all over the world, and I, for one, don’t want to spend all of December reading about Christmas stories. Much as I may love it (for the commercialism, anyway, the fun of watching kids open presents), I also find the themes of family, food, memories, love, and church exhausting and, thanks to the movie and greeting card industry, just so overdone and tiresome. Therefore, Scrittura plans to be your home for celebrating the many other winter celebrations that occur in December. What will also be different is that each of our editors will take a turn to develop a week’s prompt (starting with J.D.). The rule for each December prompt is you’re expected to write your response reflecting on

any winter holiday but Christmas.

And you get extra points for writing about something as far-flung and pagan as Saturnalia. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

The Scrittura Team

Lori Lamothe Georgia Lewitt Louis Dennis Lowell Woluchem Aspen Blue Mahnoor Chaudhry MDSHall Amy Jasek Mary Jones Barry Dawson IV Ian Cunnold Patrick M. Ohana Zay Pareltheon Viraji Ogodapola Eli Snow Ema Dumitru Kristen v.H. Middleton Hannah Dziura Janaka Stagnaro Joseph Lieungh Joseph Coco Samantha Lazar Paroma Sen Mimi Bordeaux Jasmine Abbi. Camille Fairbanks Kevin E. Pittack Jr. Sydney Duke Richey Sydney J. Shipp Josh Lonsdale Isaac Dennett Jay Sizemore Vera Hadzic Victoria Ponte Dermott Hayes Dr. Jackie Greenwood Gurpreet Dhariwal Ray Lobo Rosy Rane Charlotte Allan Debbie Miller Carolyn Riker Samuel Clarke Qalam Dana Sanford Suntonu Bhadra Wendell McQuary Suzanne V. Tanner Johanna Geary Jenny Justice Tre L. Loadholt Jenine Bsharah Baines Josie Elbiry AK (Aaska Aejaz) Johannes Mudi Lowell Woluchem Ana-Maria Schweitzer Ann Marie Steele Kim Cullen Sarah E Sturgis Simran Kankas C.J. Obikile The Conscious Wordsmith Jessica Lee McMillan Jasmine Abbi. Ronald Mathew Gerardo Rene Paz Rhonda Marrone Aaron Quist Mohan Boone Angelina Der Arakelian Amanda Dalmas