Today’s host of the March Open Write is Katrina Morrison of Tulsa, Oklahoma, who inspires us to write poems from the shadows – from places of memory or distanced wonder. You can read her full prompt here – and join us, if you’d like. Come and peruse the poems today – there will be some moving poems, I predict. I hope to see you there!
I write from a place of childhood haunting – a movie scene that has branded my heart and left me wondering about the thin veil between strangers and friends.
The Speed of Love When I was little There was this movie A man and his chimp Were best buds The man gave the chimp Treats to coax good behavior Trust was built At the speed of treats Love at the speed of Time together And so it was Until the scene In the biohazard lab Where the deadly spores Diffused into the air Where that door Got stuck And the double whammy - the bomb was ticking Tick tick tick tick tick No one could Break the code or the glass The man on one side His best little buddy stuck on the other The fate of mankind Hanging in the breeze The camera panned To the furrowed brow To the moment of knowing the heartsick feeling in the man's heart But he had to do What he had to do The man dangled the treat at the window Pointed to the problem directed his best little buddy to deactivate the bomb The chimp pushed the button Saving mankind No more spores spewing No more bomb ticking Returned to the window for his treat for his good behavior for saving mankind But the chimp’s fate was sealed He’d breathed the spores Opening the door would only kill more The camera panned to the Man’s hand holding the treat Against the glass The chimp’s fingers feverishly Trying to grasp it Trying to grasp the treat Trying to grasp the truth The question mark on his brow The tears in the man’s eyes The grief in his heart thud thud thud thud thud And that was where the movie ended But it has never ended It still plays on In a quiet chamber Of my heart
Very haunting.
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Wow! You captured that movie scene with amazing precision. I could see it and feel it. Reminds me of why I don’t watch horror movies. My heart is still racing.
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Yikes, what a moment. And well done. This is art.
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Thank you!
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Oh, Kim. The scene is so vivid and real I can hardly bear it. I want to rush in and save the chimp – or least to let him have his treat – I feel his consternation and honestly I sometimes wonder about the better species. More than sometimes. Now I will carry the image with me, too.
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Fran, thanks for reading and commenting – yes, that one scene in that movie may have left some permanent damage and some permanent values – the good and the bad.
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Kim,
This ekphrastic moment of turning art into art offers a double haunting, a sad commentary on what humans do to other sentient beings in the name of survival. I’ve been thinking about this often the past few days, contemplating the pecking order, the ways some both sides of the fence for utilitarian reasons. Before the poem you write, “ left me wondering about the thin veil between strangers and friends.” That captures the essence of life right now.
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Thank you for reading and commenting today, Glenda! Yes, that veil can be perplexing.
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Kim, your poem is riveting! What was the name of this film? Do you know? Sounds like so many biological terrors we need to be concerned about today.
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Barb, I would love to know the name of it. I was hoping that someone in the OW or the SOL group would recognize the scene.
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It definitely sounds familiar.
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Kim,
I’m haunted by this movie now too. You have brought us all into your childhood memory. I too hope to know what it is called and see this scene myself. I wrote a 32123 poem, inspired by you. Maybe next April on 4-21-24 we’ll write palindrome poems together again!
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Now I am haunted, too! I do not know this movie. The image of the man holding the treat against the glass is heartbreaking. I like the formatting of this poem – stair steps going backward, as you did with your memory.
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Thank you, Maureen, the hands and the eyes in that scene still play out. Thanks for reading and commenting today!
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