At writing class this month, we had an assignment to write a story that included certain words. Each person in the class contributed one word at that moment; and the words were: spelunking, no, accomplished, joy, green, deserted, mistake, and kaleidoscope.
My gift to the class was a poem that included those words. Here is that poem for you ….
Mission Accomplished
A Poem by Alice B. Clagett 7 July 2019
No! Spelunking is not for me!
When my first grade class went to the Luray Caverns in Virginia, I went on sit-down strike at the entrance.
I remember our teacher said:
“Sit right here till we get back!”
Then, one by one,
my classmates walked
down the stairs
into the cave.
Deserted! I was all alone!
Time went by. I stared at the dark entrance to the cave. A cool breeze welled up to greet me.
As if it had a mind of its own, my foot started tapping.
I stood up.
“This is a big mistake,” I thought.
I stepped down one stone step, then another.
Down, down into the darkness.
Gone, the green grass. Gone, the kaleidoscope of sunlit clouds and sky.
At creative writing class at the beginning of May, we were asked to write a story about a particular time of day. The time of day was chosen by another class member. I drew 5:30 am, and wrote this lyrical story … or maybe it’s a prose poem …
Slow-Mo Woe
An Unlikely Poem by Alice B. Clagett, 5 May 2019
5:30 a.m. Skeeziks! I slept too late. . . . All across California, dreams of luaus in Hawaii . . . are snapping shut, . . . like corporate valises, . . . boxing up wishes . . . in oh-so-regretful reels . . . of workday expectations.
5:45 a.m. All over California I hear: . . . Put another film on the projector, mister … . . . I wanna be the Amazon Queen, . . . not the youngest actress in “Les Miserables.” . . . Cast me opposite Fred Astaire – . . . I want to dance my way through life! … . . . Today I’d like to be ET – . . . anything but a secretary.
6:00 a.m. Wash face, brush teeth, feed cat, grab keys. . . . Out the deplorable door . . . to slo-mo woe . . . once mo’
Image: “Red Tiger Lilies,” by Alice B. Clagett, 2015, CC BY-SA 4.0
Image: “Red Tiger Lilies,” by Alice B. Clagett, 2015, CC BY-SA 4.0
WHERE DOES THE FORMLESS
EMERGE AS FORM?
A Prose Poem by Alice B. Clagett 2015
Where does the formless emerge as form?
Where does the Soul meet the Divine?
At the very back of the heart chakra,
at the point where it touches the spine.
From this point life springs, and healing.
Though there be many hearts,
for each this is the Center of all that is.
For each this is equally true.
In the manner that alternate universes exist,
and that all times are one eternal Now …
All places one eternal Here …
Just as every catastrophe
contains its opposite – supreme bliss.
As Christ, in his mortal body dying,
knew in greater consciousness his undying Self.
SHALL WE MAKE WAR ON WAR?
A Poem by Alice B. Clagett 2011
Shall we make war on war?
Or shall we apply the unguent of peace?
A peaceful thought, a peaceful prayer,
A peaceful life …
These simple acts
Like pebbles dropped into a pond,
Spread peaceful ripples everywhere.
Alice B. Clagett
–from Link: “The Awakening of Humanity: An End to War,” by Alice B. Clagett, written and published on 8 March 2011; revised on 16 May 2018 … https://wp.me/p2Rkym-5LR ..
Written in April 2013; published on 2 January 2019
ON FREEDOM, a Prose Poem by Alice B. Clagett
Dear Ones,
Here is a prose poem …
ON FREEDOM
A Prose Poem by Alice B. Clagett April 2013
What gives us freedom? …
Freedom to leave the subconscious scenarios.
Freedom to let go our fixed ideas.
Freedom to feel joy.
Freedom to travel time and space.
Freedom to co-create tomorrow …
The human heart.
Not the mind, mind you.
Just the heart.
–from Link: “Freedom,” by Alice B. Clagett, published on 26 April 2013 … https://wp.me/p2Rkym-5LE ..
ON FREEDOM
A Prose Poem by Alice B. Clagett 26 April 2013
What gives us freedom? …
Freedom to leave the subconscious scenarios.
Freedom to let go our fixed ideas.
Freedom to feel joy.
Freedom to travel time and space.
Freedom to co-create tomorrow …
The human heart.
Not the mind, mind you.
Just the heart.
Written on 27 September 2011; published on 1 January 2019; republished on 16 December 2020
LIKE THE FABLED PIED PIPER
A Prose Poem by Alice B. Clagett 27 September 2011
Like the fabled pied piper,
Microsoft and Apple
have taken away
our children
from their families.
It’s not just
the grief
of a little village.
The entire world mourns.
–from Link: “Like the Fabled Pied Piper,” a prose poem by Alice B. Clagett, written on 27 September 2011; published on 1 January 2019; republished on 16 December 2020 … https://wp.me/p2Rkym-l4a ..
EL CORAZON
A Prose Poem by Alice B. Clagett ca. 2010
A man told me something once,
and my mind keeps floating back to it
from time to time.
Not just to the words,
but to the way he said them
— with such certain, tender dignity.
“We are La Raza.
And what makes us
different from other people?”
He touched his chest.
“El corazón.”
–from Link: “El Corazon,” a prose poem by Alice B. Clagett, written ca. 2010; published on 1 January 2019; republished on 16 December 2020 … https://wp.me/p2Rkym-l4e ..
