Sunday Picnic With Wind-Chimes

[poetree_admin]

jjhunter

Sunday, every Sunday, let's have a community picnic. It's probably been a long week, and it's lovely to have a few minutes to sit back and relax and enjoy some good conversation in a less formal space. Feel free to bring something for the Picnic Basket - a poem you liked this week, a thought you had or something you experienced, or even something completely unrelated to poetry whatsoever that you just feel like sharing. Just take a moment to say hello, and maybe have a bite to eat; no one is going anywhere fast, and the shade promises some relief from the everyday heat. Let’s get to know each other a bit better, here under the branches of the poet’s tree.

Comments

Character poetry - TW for self-injury

[raze]

Normally I'd just link, but this one is part of an access-only post. I did another "poetry by characters" yesterday. The MC was in a conflict that included child soldiers and was stabbed by one; this poem is a reflection of some of the psychological trauma that resulted.

Over
The vice-grip of her fingers
on my sweat-slick shoulder
betrays her fear even as she says
"It's okay. It's over."

The words become a mantra.
She's trying too hard
to convince the nightmare
to end when sleep does.

And I can't tell which
I'm trying harder to hide:
the crack or the snarl
in my voice as I reply,

What does over look like, exactly?

There are things you hide
from people you love.
You hug their eyes closed
hold them close in your blindfold.

I'm sorry. I'm fine, really.

Because I know my embrace
is an eager tattle-tale
for shaky hands and gooseflesh;
I'm not ready to tell her

That every day
for three weeks
I re-opened the gash in my side
wishing it would scar.
It didn't seem right
that he only left a mark
in places I couldn't see.

Re: Character poetry - TW for self-injury

[fyreharper]

Ooofh. That hits hard.