Hey hey hey. Spring break is this week for me, which means more fun writing (well, any fun writing at all). It happens to line up with Holy Week, which I’m really happy about because I wanted to write some Easter poems. Ugh, guys, I’ve missed poetry writing so much I can’t even describe it. Not being able to do NaPo this year is painful. But this week I’ll be doing what I can, and I’m excited to share whatever poems or musings I come up with.
So. Palm Sunday. Here’s the story if you don’t know it.
when we sang
hosanna
we were dreaming of
white horses and grand armies,
freedom from oppression
and the destruction of Rome
we imagined riches and peace
and comfort and defeated enemies
so we paved the path with palm branches
and all these gilded dreams
and we cried
hosanna
`
but when your path led only
to shame and pain and dark,
when instead of conquering the Romans
you became their next victim,
their next victory,
how could we sing
hosanna
then?
`
this does not look like what we dreamed
this is not glory and power and freedom
this is suffering and sorrow and sacrifice
this is hard and lonely and
we do not want it
`
we will only sing
hosanna
when you give us what we think we want
when your path lines up with our dreams
when you save us from anything but ourselves
an unseen kingdom, a spit-soaked cross
is too high a price for our
hosanna
I love how pretty the lengths of the lines are ^.^ Gorgeous and so so true
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Abi! It’s funny, I wasn’t even paying attention to the line lengths, but it’s cool that they ended up looking nice. =P
LikeLike
This is so amazing. Just wow.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Esther!
LikeLike
Dearest Abby,
This is excellent!
All my love,
Grammy
LikeLiked by 1 person
That ending hit me hard—so much truth. Wonderful work, Abby.
Also, I’m doing NaPoWriMo for the first time this year! It started out pretty well, but now it’s beginning to feel like a chore (I barely managed a mediocre haiku last night). Do you have any advice for staying inspired?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, Lydia.
Yay! Heh, that has happened to me too, to everyone I’m sure. One thing I liked to do was find a list of unique words or foreign words with cool meanings and write a poem about that word. It gives you direction and helps you delight in words, which you can sometimes lose durain’t NaPo. xP Also, variety variety. Switch from pencil to computer, from free verse to sonnets, from writing before bed to right when you get up, from abstract stuff to descriptions of objects. Like, even if you don’t like writing at night or about objects or in rhyme, try it. You might find a new love, and a huge benefit of NaPo is exploring poetry and what kind of poet you are. Also, haikus are valid poems. XD So are four-liners. Just write something. OH and word wars. Or sharing your poetry with someone/a group of people. Because writing with or for others is quite motivating. And the slump will pass, I promise: in a week or even tomorrow, you’ll strike gold again. I’d super love to read some of your poems, too. =D
LikeLike
Thanks so much for the tips, Abby! I actually collect cool words, so that’s a great one for me. I wrote one about the French phrase l’appel du vide last week, and I’d like to try some more now. *nods* Variety is definitely important; I should at least start writing some poems earlier in the day. xD I’m also doing a creative writers’ meeting on GP6 tomorrow, which ought to afford some inspiration. (I’d love if you could participate/observe!) You’re welcome to read the six poems I posted on my forums blog. 🙂 And you were absolutely right about the slump passing; I’m working on a song now, and I’m pretty excited about it.
LikeLike
The last few lines gave me chills. *shivers*
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! That makes me feel quite accomplished. ;D
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is beautiful. The last section in particular . . . ❤
And I miss you doing NaPo too. xP But I'm glad you can at least write some poems. *huggles*
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, dear. And that means a lot, thank you. *huggles back*
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤ Fantastic and true. Such beauty and I love the format.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much!
LikeLiked by 1 person