The Morning Taunt
After James Wright's "Lying in a Hammock"
It says, “you wasted life.”
I see the new sun stretch below my bleariness;
a meadow vole skips by, darting home to sleep.
Fading into blazing rays,
ducklings sail in a paddling drift
under a wreath of low hanging oak.
Up the dewy field behind my shoulders,
to my left,
sheep are singing an inchoate melody
to the unrealized swiftness of their day.
So, yawning like a beer lid fresh opened,
drowsy in half-light,
I sit up as the morning clears
and sidles on.
* * *
Thank you for reading! This is part of a series of poetic emulations, where I take a poem I love and either write an answer, a continuation, or something new inspired by it.
If you like this one, you may also enjoy:
About the Creator
Mackenzie Davis
“When you are describing a shape, or sound, or tint, don’t state the matter plainly, but put it in a hint. And learn to look at all things with a sort of mental squint.” Lewis Carroll
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Day 4 of Quitting
If this is how sobriety feels, maybe it’s better to go through life a little buzzed… this, along with other hits like, I want to kill myself, I wish I was dead, and I’m going to throw myself off a bridge have been the only thoughts on rotation these past few days. I promise myself that if, in a month, I still feel like this (‘this’ meaning despondent, full of rage, and simultaneously numb) I can go back to smoking. Until mid-February though? Nicotine is off the table.
By sleepy drafts4 days ago in Longevity
Comments (4)
I also love that you used the word "inchoate" and that you introduced my to that poem. Yours has a more toned and literary edge, but both capture something deeply akin, leisure Fantastic imagery and flow to it. I have a weird association with meadow voles though, my mom's dachshund was with us on a picnic when one was scampering by, and Oscar chomped it up in one bite... poor vole. :(
Oooo, inchoate! I learned a new word today! I loved your poem!
"yawning like a beer lid fresh opened" you genius
❤️😉