“…witches are quite careful about what they say. You can never be sure what the words are going to do when they’re out of earshot.” ~ Terry Pratchett
My grandmother mistrusted impulsive wishing and promises given without thought.
“You just never know,” she used to tell me. “Your wish for rain, so that the
nurse can’t make it here to give you a shot, might drown someone’s crops
and starve a whole family to death.”
So, my dearest Toads, today I’m wishing for poetry that
explores Terry Pratchett’s quote and my grandmother’s (mildly paranoid) wisdom.
The
Prompt: Write a new poem that illustrates what might happen when a
good wish renders a not so good outcome.
Please, feed Mr. Linky (below) with the direct link to your
poem.
Visit other Toads. Wish responsibly. And don’t forget to grin.
Grinning
is really, really, really important.
14 comments:
Be careful what you wish for... this was a nice prompt Magaly... once I started the poem wrote itself
Once I started a perspective I could run with the concept. Thanks.
Bjorn and Gemma, your poems were wonderful to wake up to. I shall be thinking about them all day, and probably after that... ♥
Great prompt. It led me in a pretty ominous direction.
Me too, Bjorn. I wasn't sure where I was going, and then it wrote itself.
For some reason I found this one difficult. I can think of lots and lots of examples but my muse won't help make them poetry.
Great challenge! I am at the poetry conference trying to keep up with my commitment to writing 30 poems in 30 days. I may get behind on reading what everyone has written, but I will catch up!
Thank you for the inspiration! I'm posting and running...but I promise to return reads. Thank you for patience...we've a new kitten and kids are home this week...busy busy wowsers!
Hi Magaly--I'm not sure this fits the bill, but what came up. k.
I've enjoyed all your contributions. It's so wonderfully satisfying to see a prompt take so many different paths. I'm glad almost everyone seems to have found that their poems wrote themselves. Like in Linda's case, the muse and I were not seeing eye to eye. I had something completely different in mind... I'm not quite sure where the wendigo came from. But it felt right in the end.
@Susie, I hope you are enjoying yourself doing so much.
@Hannah, I hope the kitten and the kids are having a good time. ;-)
@K, I think your poem is fantastic.
My father often referenced The Monkey's Paw as a cautionary tale. My poem at poetryofthenetherworld.blogspot.com referenced his feelings in regards to making wishes.
I can't tell you how long I've struggled with some of the challenges, walking around for days, saying 'I dunno", yet as soon as I read this one, the idea presented itself, the poem wrote itself, and the mind said: "Finally, we've commented on that. Good. Next topic please."
I'm starting to fall behind (life interferes with poetry) so I'm making my last piece for Magaly's 'Dark Poetry' series double up with this prompt. It's a bit of a stretch but I can make a case for it!
@Cara Ha, I'm still picturing that leaping heart.
@satyapriya, I am very glad!
@Rosemary, I completely understand. By they 21, I think most of us are walking the path of stretched words and case making. ;-D
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