The following excerpt is from the poem, P.O.W., which is the work of the talented, singer, songwriter, musician, Alicia Keys.
P.O.W.
I'm a prisoner
Of words unsaid
Just lonely feelings
Locked away in my head
I trap myself further
Every time I stay quiet
I should start to speak
But I stop and stay silent
And now I've made
My own hard bed
Inside a prison of words unsaid
I am a P.O.W.
Not a prisoner of war
A prisoner of words
Like a soldier
I'm a fighter
Yet only a puppet
Mostly I only say
What you wanna hear
Could you take it if I came clear?
Or would you rather see me
Stoned on a drug of complacency and compromise
M.I.A.
I guess that's what I am
Scraping this cold earth
For a piece of myself
For peace in myself
(You can read the rest of the poem here.)Of words unsaid
Just lonely feelings
Locked away in my head
I trap myself further
Every time I stay quiet
I should start to speak
But I stop and stay silent
And now I've made
My own hard bed
Inside a prison of words unsaid
I am a P.O.W.
Not a prisoner of war
A prisoner of words
Like a soldier
I'm a fighter
Yet only a puppet
Mostly I only say
What you wanna hear
Could you take it if I came clear?
Or would you rather see me
Stoned on a drug of complacency and compromise
M.I.A.
I guess that's what I am
Scraping this cold earth
For a piece of myself
For peace in myself
The challenge today is to write from that inner voice you silence. Perhaps you are better known for your darker poems, but you have this happy space in your head just bubbling for expression. Write it out. Or perhaps there is something you've wanted to speak out about, yet you haven't. Write it out. Maybe you have wanted people to actually hear you say those words you've held so close, create an audio or visual poetry reading. Pen a new poem for the challenge, post it on Mr. Linky and visit your fellow poets to read/listen to their work.
What you say is so true, Susie! I shall certainly be giving your challenge some serious thought over the next few days, and hope to find an outlet for the voice which remains deliberately silent.
ReplyDeleteVery cool post and idea, Susie. I think I mainly say too much (ha!) though that is probably not completely true! Will think about it! K.
ReplyDeleteThank You, Susie, for the challenge and for Alicia Keys.
ReplyDeleteThat video is awesome!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the awesome spring-board for inspiration, Susie. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for your support! Looking forward to reading your responses.
ReplyDeleteSusie, such an interesting challenge ~ I have to think this over ~
ReplyDeleteI will think about his while I'm at the hospital today. I wonder, wonder, wonder...
ReplyDeleteNot easy to write "out of the comfort zone"… I will try again, but not sure I will come up with a poem I want to post. :)
ReplyDeleteSo true, Susie. It's so hard sometimes to open those prison doors we ourselves have locked. I am written out at the moment, but if something happens to make a jailbreak, I will be back.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea, Susie!
ReplyDeleteThanks again everyone for you poems and comments. I knew it might be a difficult challenge, but Alicia Keys' poem really prodded me to speak up after recent events in my life.
ReplyDeleteWow, challenging prompt. Really difficult to get the words out for this one.
ReplyDelete