Box
Box (by robert)
He wrote of monsters from the deep
Of Christmas children half-asleep
Of azure skies and rolling tides
Of mended hearts and broken brides
He crafted every fervent word
Recorded every sound he heard
Pen and paper, filled with lines
Captured all his best designs
But never were his works complete
Perfecting stanzas on repeat
He stuffed his writing in a box
Adorned with grey cobwebs and locks
Toiling hard for seventy years
He never shared them with his peers
Instead, they rotted in his crate
Surviving past his headstone date
Years later, his son would find
The tales and stories left behind
He hunted down the rusted key
Pulled it wide — and set them free
All the paupers, all the kings
Soared away on spectral wings
Published poems spread like flames
Posthumously gaining fame
The son still kept the antique box
But gone were all the webs and locks
He’d see it empty ‘till he died
For poetry was meant to fly
He wrote of monsters from the deep
Of Christmas children half-asleep
Of azure skies and rolling tides
Of mended hearts and broken brides
He crafted every fervent word
Recorded every sound he heard
Pen and paper, filled with lines
Captured all his best designs
But never were his works complete
Perfecting stanzas on repeat
He stuffed his writing in a box
Adorned with grey cobwebs and locks
Toiling hard for seventy years
He never shared them with his peers
Instead, they rotted in his crate
Surviving past his headstone date
Years later, his son would find
The tales and stories left behind
He hunted down the rusted key
Pulled it wide — and set them free
All the paupers, all the kings
Soared away on spectral wings
Published poems spread like flames
Posthumously gaining fame
The son still kept the antique box
But gone were all the webs and locks
He’d see it empty ‘till he died
For poetry was meant to fly
Good job robbi!!! Im so proud
ReplyDeleteI love the dichotomy between the celestial imagery and the earthy undertones the imply a state of transience between the world of mortals and that of the unchanging.
This is a very creative take on the prompt! I like the sound and rhythm of the poem and the imagery. Also, I enjoyed the fact that the poem has a plot and how the son finds the key and sets the poems free. And the way you end the poem with a slant rhyme makes the reader feel as if you really set the poem free and let it fly.
ReplyDeleteYou took an interesting writing prompt and made a lovely poem. A nice resistance against putting your own ideas in a box, huh?
ReplyDeleteWonderful! I love this poem, Robert. It's very satisfying and imaginatively engaging. You create a powerful argument for one of many reasons poems weren't meant to be confined to boxes, and I love the approach you've taken to this. The flight imagery at the end works very well.
ReplyDeleteWow Robert! I love how you expressed your answer in a poem. "For poetry was meant to fly". This line sums up everything and does a great job of wrapping up the blog.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWell done Robert! This was an impressive poem. I liked all of the imagery and the twist at the end. I also liked the rhyme scheme and how it was catchy and consistent throughout.
ReplyDeleteLawrence told me he loved your poem, so I decided to investigate this opinion of his. And I must say I am very happy with what I found. This is a well written poem. The rhymes not only helped the poem flow like melted butter but it also helped paint a picture in my mind of the box rotting away. And when the poems flew away I imagined white doves flying free from a cage, If that makes any sense.
ReplyDeleteYou used some great imagery and colorful words throughout this poem, which made it enjoyable to read. The story you tell is also very nice, and in some ways your poem could be speaking about a specific case or maybe poetry as a whole and how we discover and share poems by previous authors.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really well and deep written poem. Good job! I too believe that poetry isn't ment to be confined to to the corners of a "box".
ReplyDeleteVery good deep well-written poem. I do not think poetry should have constraints. Instead, you should be free to let your mind run where-ever it chooses and express yourself however you want!
ReplyDelete