When gathering material for last year's literary magazine, I encouraged students not only to search through their best pieces to find good fits for our theme, but also to find inspiration in our section titles to create new pieces. I almost always tell students to title a work well after it is complete, after they know where the idea takes them, but it can also be an interesting exercise to work backwards, from title to substance. The following is one such piece I started then and continue to revisit.
Entrance Heels click against marble floors Pearlescent and pristine Hallowed slabs reverberate hollow snaps Don’t fall - Don’t fall - Don’t fall A staircase spans the length of the room A wide open mouth to swallow or regurgitate Handrails like thick ivy curl, seeking light, strangling Don’t fall - Don’t fall - Don’t fall Take the stairs one at a time, a truncated gait Arms and legs have lost syncopation Branches no longer communicate with the trunk Don’t fall - Don’t fall - Don’t fall Pay attention to your face Soften the grimace, bevel the edges Leech grace from the elegant floors Don’t fall - Don’t fall - Don’t fall Breathe in out in out Climb stairs carved out like notches, like teeth Cling with the toes and amble up and on and up Don’t fall - Don’t fall - Don’t fall Don’t forget who you are Don’t let them tell you why you’re here Don’t drop your gaze or speak from the top of your throat Don’t fall
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorMs. Jopling teaches English at Broadway High School, eats an unseemly amount of cheese, and laughs as often as possible. Archives
November 2017
Categories |