one stop poetry photo challenge

by jhon baker

saw this image on a friends blog and it immediately struck me as something I should write about.

early childhood/ late summer life

found you

standing backyard, hiding from

the boys teasing your name

around the corner.

the image of Plath or Sexton,

and sometime

dancer.

but here is what I want from you:

follow though

burn their eyes out,

kick their balls so hard they’ll think of you

fifty years later.

then go

be someones little girl again

and wait for branches to untie leaves

and wither in fall

before you stop dancing.

– Hoc Scripsi

Posted on July 17, 2011 at 12:29 pm in Uncategorized | RSS feed | Reply | Trackback URL

Tags: prompted poetry

20 Comments to “one stop poetry photo challenge”

dustusdustus
July 17, 2011 at 1:03 pm

“follow though / burn their eyes out, / kick their balls so hard they’ll think of you
/ fifty years later.”

Damn. Very well written, and motivating.

Reply
Reflections
July 17, 2011 at 1:10 pm

A powerful write… love the lines leading to …. think of you/fifty years later. Ah, but isn’t that the kind of mark we all wish to leave.

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coalblack
July 17, 2011 at 1:25 pm

do i ever relate to this. i love love love it.

cb (fireblossom)

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the word bar
July 17, 2011 at 1:33 pm

“the image of Plath or Sexton,”…crissakes..

this poem crept up into my heart.. i can say no more..
flawless writing.

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Anna Montgomery
July 17, 2011 at 2:22 pm

be someones little girl again
and wait for branches to untie leaves
and wither in fall

Powerful encouraging words, thanks for sharing them.

Reply
Susannah
July 17, 2011 at 2:39 pm

“and wait for branches to untie leaves

and wither in fall

before you stop dancing.”

– Beautiful!

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lolamouse
July 17, 2011 at 2:39 pm

YES!!! This is every teased child’s fantasy, I think. To do something so vengeful to his/her torturers that they will remember years later and regret ever messing with you. Alas, usually just a fantasy.

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jhon baker
July 17, 2011 at 2:44 pm

Thank you all, I am so very humbled by your attention to this work. Thank you.

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brian miller
July 17, 2011 at 2:45 pm

heck yes…i’ll take that challenge…smiles. so they remember me 50 years later…back in school there were a few i would not have minded…

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- jhon baker
  July 21, 2011 at 9:22 pm
  
  This is why I tend to conveniently forget High School and recall only college where I was more able to distract and avoid.
  
  Reply
Jo Bryant
July 17, 2011 at 5:08 pm

So dark – so gripping – love it.

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- jhon baker
  July 21, 2011 at 9:21 pm
  
  Thank you.
  
  Reply
TheMsLvh
July 17, 2011 at 6:48 pm

be someones little girl again

and wait for branches to untie leaves

and wither in fall

before you stop dancing.

LOVED THIS PART!! Great poem

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- jhon baker
  July 21, 2011 at 9:21 pm
  
  Much thanks – I am proud that you have connected to it.
  
  Reply
Jingle
July 19, 2011 at 10:18 am

haunting, well done.

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- jhon baker
  July 21, 2011 at 9:20 pm
  
  Thank you much, ever much more than these two simple words could convey.
  
  Reply
pat tillett
July 19, 2011 at 11:11 am

Love this poem Jhon!
Too many good lines to mention just one. I’m sure most folks can relate to this poem, I know I can.
It doesn’t take much imagination at all to figure out what kids changed my last name into. Of course it resulted in many of them getting punched in the face. We moved so much that there was always a new group to discover the tease and the payback.

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- jhon baker
  July 21, 2011 at 9:19 pm
  
  Ive known several kids who needed their clock cleaned once in a while – lest they forget that we are all not that different and we all hurt the same. Thank you, Pat.
  
  Reply
Lydia
July 21, 2011 at 3:00 am

I would almost kill to write a poem this great. You are really something, Jhon, and your writing is even more.

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- jhon baker
  July 21, 2011 at 9:18 pm
  
  Oh, thank you much – normally I don’t write and post poems in a sitting – I usually let them breathe awhile but this felt of urgency to get out of me and travel outward into the world. Thank you again.
  
  Reply