KEEP GOING and FLY FREE (poetry)

My husband and I spent three days in the hospital step-down unit with his dad last week, and one day I sat in the waiting room for a couple of hours, listening to my mp3 player and trying to nap. The room was full though; worried people waiting to hear news from loved ones in ICU or surgery, all talking and moving around. As I listened to the shuffled songs on my varied song list certain words popped out at me, and I thought, 'Why not make a list of them and make a poem out of them?'

I love doing this with words that pop out at me off book pages, where I can cut the words apart and arrange them into a poem, but this day I had no scissors and, besides, I didn't want to cut up my Moleskine sketchbook.

Instead, I listed the words as they popped out at me from the various artists' songs, and when I had a page full of words in the pocket sized sketchbook I stopped and studied the words, seeing which ones could go together to form phrases and started stringing them together on the opposite page, crossing out the words on the lists as I used them. The following two poems are what I created in the two hours I sat amidst other patients' families, all of us sharing the connection of concern over a loved one.


KEEP GOING
By Sharon Prater-Pope

I know pain, confusion, purple anger,

                     and dreams, truth, reality.

I sometimes bleed and feel crazy lost.

The red violin feeds my soul

                      as I say to trust myself,

To walk away from my way

                       and ask God to help me.

Take time for running in strawberry fields.

                        Keep going,

Nothing is forever…

________________________________________

FLY FREE

By Sharon Prater-Pope

Blackbird runs with broken wings,

Speeding into the dark sleepless night.

Emptiness arrives,

And catching her begging,

Unlatches her heart,

Changes color to love,

Listens, sings, accepts memories.

She cheats death and leaves shame.

Time teaches; it’s alright.

Come! Fly free!

I really enjoyed writing this way, and I like the poems that came out. Much more fun than the game on my Kindle that I had been occupying myself with when I needed something to do. Waiting around a hospital can be very stressful and tiring. Besides I enjoyed creating something myself in stead of playing a game that someone else had created. I found it a great way to be creative when I'm away from my studio, and all it took was words borrowed from a few songs, a pencil, and a piece of paper to make me creative and happy for those couple of hours.

I hope you enjoyed your visit and my efforts! :)