On craggy cliff I stand,
do not come round me.
Life spins round and round until
I sit in darkness.
So many footlights burned out.
I was never there, the day everything changed.
My kaleidoscope memories,
image blurs reality.
I’m skywriting now,
while Mother sings about the man in the moon.
Cold creeps up.
Written for dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Today Laura presents a truly challenging prompt.
We are to look back at all our poems posted in the months of January through November 2023, and write a “found poem”. Where do we find it? From the first lines of the first verses, of all the poems from 2023! BUT, we must use one poem’s first line from each month – January, February, March, etc, through November – hence an 11 line poem! The lines can be used in any order. They don’t have to be January, February, March, April, etc. Mine ended up October, April, August, June, February, January, September, May, March, November, November. I was allowed to use two from one month because I didn’t post any poems in July as we were travelling. The title must be the first line of the first verse from a poem in December 2023, or from any other month in 2023. Since I only posted twice in December, I again used a line from a November poem. So this is what I ended up with! Image created in Bing Create.
PS: it was fun to go back and see all the poems I wrote in 2023! I usually write such positive poems…this one surprised me.
lillian the home poet 
I love your poem, Lillian. Sounds like you are about to take a leap off a cliff! The lines flow really well together!
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Thank you, Dwight. Glad you enjoyed! What an interesting exercise this prompt was!
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You are welcome. Yes it is interesting to see what comes from it all. I believe we did this one last year as well.
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It is amazing how dark it became, maybe it is because every positive poem starts from a dark place to come to a positive conclusion.
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Yep. I think you nailed it!
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I too noticed the hint of darkness in your found poem, Lill, which has the atmosphere of a day’s ending. The pairing of these lines is perfect:
‘Life spins round and round until
I sit in darkness.
So many footlights burned out’
and
‘I’m skywriting now,
while Mother sings about the man in the moon.’
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Thank you, Kim. Yes, day’s ending is a kind reading of the darkness here…one I prefer.
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This is deliciously dark and brooding, Lillian! Wow! The poem feels like a prelude to a haunting tale. I especially like; “So many footlights burned out. I was never there, the day everything changed.” ❤️❤️
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Hah! Given our discussion yesterday….perhaps it’s a PREQUEL to a haunting tale! 🙂
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It is the shadow side of what you write Lillian – a fascinating discovery with some very nice blended lines:
“So many footlights burned out.
I was never there, the day everything changed.”
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“The shadow side” of what I write. What an interesting way of putting it. Glad you enjoyed, Laura.
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This poem really works. So many stellar lines and images. Loved it.
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So glad you enjoyed, Sherry!
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The poem feels very wintery, enjoyed reading!
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Glad you enjoyed!
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Very cool Lil this has kind of a mythical, mystical feeling to it. Worked quite well, my friend. 🙂✌🏼🫶🏼
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Thank you, Rob. So glad you enjoyed! 🙂
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Awesome, Lillian.
I like this expression a lot:
“kaleidoscope memories”. I can relate a lot to that image.
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Yes….sometimes sitting, or dozing, and memories coming to mind just all rush in and it is indeed like a kaleidoscope!
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The “found” lines you chose ~~~ created a masterpiece of a poem! I read with mouth open by the way, which is rare. Cheers.
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Lillian,
Your imagery of standing “On craggy cliff” and the plea “do not come round me” sets a contemplative tone, and the lines “Life spins round and round until I sit in darkness” convey a sense of introspection and the passage of time. This works so well…
~David
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O, the loneliness in this poem. It’s palpable, from “do not come round me” to the final “cold creeps up”.
It doesn’t feel like a “found” poem at all.
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