Today’s poem is “The Coming of Night” by Skipwith Cannell. The poem is in the public domain.
The Coming of Night by Skipwith Cannell (In the city) The sun is near set And the tall buildings Become teeth Tearing bloodily at the sky’s throat; The blank wall by my window Becomes night sky over the marches When there is no moon, and no wind, And little fishes splash in the pools. I had lit my candle to make a song for you, But I have forgotten it for I am very tired; And the candle … a yellow moth … Flutters, flutters, Deep in my brain. My song was about, ‘a foreign lady Who was beautiful and sad, Who was forsaken, and who died A thousand years ago.’ But the cracked cup at my elbow, With dregs of tea in it, Fixes my tired thought more surely Than the song I made for you and forgot … That I might give you this. I am tired. I am so tired That my soul is a great plain Made desolate, And the beating of a million hearts Is but the whisper of night winds Blowing across it.
Prompts:
1. Begin with “Become teeth…” 2. Begin with “A thousand years ago…” 3. Draft a poem that has an urban landscape. 4. Draft a poem prompted by a memory and the emotion it evokes.
5. Photo by Pixabay via pexels.com. Use the image as a writing prompt.
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