At dVerse Poets Pub we were asked to go beyond the poem and speak of what prompted it, the psychological state we were in, the dreams or vision that created the piece. I chose this poem because the subject matter is one that had a profound effect upon my life.
This photo was given as a prompt on Magpie Tales. From the first time I saw it I was uncomfortable. The longer I looked at it the more it brought back memories of the terror I experienced from childhood sexual abuse. I kept the horrible secret for years and tried desperately to erase it from my memory. This was written from the darkness that once tormented me.
Psychedelic escape,
drugs altering my reality,
attempting to erase all thoughts of you.
Mind contorting in colors
blue sky rests on my fingertips,
green grass with teeth
gnashing at my feet,
purple flowers walking
with stamen canes along my arm.
Why is everything white?
I see you standing there,
a face with only one eye
boring its way through
my consciousness.
Go away! You are my terror!
I see your hands tearing
away my innocence.
Secrets spiral around me.
I kept your hideous silence.
You are dead! I saw you placed
in the ground, dirt thrown upon you.
Why are you here? Didn’t you take
enough from me?
I can not breathe!
I smell the scent of your cologne.
Someone please help me!
Fear is tearing its way through me.
I want to go back to that land of color
where memories don’t exist!
©Susie Clevenger 2011
Magpie Tales Prompt 82
Comments
— K
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel
I also like the way you introduce other aspects, drugs for instance. Fine response to the prompt.
Hank
I want to go back to that land of color
where memories don’t exist!...this sums it up so perfectly..the seeking to escape those haunting memories or feelings which sometimes don't even have a face... sometimes pictures can touch us on a deeper level, bringing things to the surface that have been buried for a while..
Hank