The Creativity Well
Those Pangs of First Love
April 02, 2023 — Poem a Day: a B-movie Poem
Not Your Stereotypical Teenage Love Story
The moon hung low in the sky and was brighter than the welder’s arc my daddy used to use. The air was chilly. Like the deep freezer
at Mo’s Butcher’s Shop. Tommy Joe swaggered down the street. His cronies Kenny and Lennie are on either side. Three teenage boys playing grown men
on a Saturday night — big men from college school. Linda Lou pretend to swoon as he walked by. Tonya shook her head and yelled, “Woah! Wait.”
Looking around she realized everyone stopped — eerie silence descended on the street. She visibly gulped, took a breath, and began to sing — off-key:
Who do you think you are swinging those hips? What’s up with the blinking of your eyes? When are ya gonna stop all your lies? How can I convince you not to trust those lips?
She never had you on her mind last night when she was with Peter, Michael, or Brad. That girl isn’t true to you. Her love ain’t right. Tell me you know she’s playing you something bad.
Torrential rains open and the streets empty leaving Tonya alone. She dashes to the doorway of Fast Frenchie’s Fried Foodie. Sliding down – she lets the tears fall into the rain. Puddles join.
Gentle arms pull her into a hug. A familiar scent tickles her nose. Leaning back, she relaxes. Tilting her head to the side she feels his lips on her neck — a tender kiss. Oh, happy sigh!
Dogs start barking in an unholy symphony. Screeches echo along the alleys. Blood drips from the moon as his fangs pierce her jugular. Drinking deeply. Deeper.
Sun sets and rises and sets again. Time races forward at a standstill. As the moon reaches its apex, Tonya’s eyes flutter. Ah, you’re awake my love. Resounds through her
brain. Warm like heated caramel — melting her insides. A sense of home spreads from the center out quickly replaced by hunger. Go take your revenge, my dear! FEED!
The Challenge
April 1, 2023, started the 16th annual April Poem-A-Day Challenge on Writer’s Digest and ran until May 1, 2023. Each day during April, Robert Lee Brewer posted a poetic form, explanation, and his attempt on the Writer’s Digest website.
My Process
Woke up to the annoying internal alarm clock left over from my teaching days, I roll hopped out of bed, wheeled to my so-called workstation, and I logged on to the Net. I went to the site, turned the page into a PDF, downloaded, saved, and logged out. Took a moment to open the prompt and read. Then re-read.
Each poem has a different gestation period.
After some growth and stretching, the labor pains came — giving birth to a brand-new creation: a first draft. A work freshly born. Not edited. No perfect word choice. Raw from the creativity well.
I invite and encourage you to engage with the words.
What strikes a chord in your soul? What might make a great spin-off poem topic?
Until next time, Bonnie L. Boucek