For Open Link Night over at dVerse Poets Pub, I was inspired by this wonderful poem about Persephone by A. E. Stallings, written as a multiple choice quiz. Political indignation is all my own.
She pitches forward
- in darkness
- under cover
- haunting waking hours
- with mocking laughter
He wonders quietly
- at her tangled shyness
- how such a vamp could
- where to shut her in
- why she’s so cold
Their children hesitate
- on brink of teendom
- always picking the other side
- which game to play next
- to pick up weird vibes
We are so convinced
- we have motley choices
- our minds are our own
- there is a right answer
- we’ve the right to stun
Entitled in title and privileged, created in our image,
we sit back and enjoy
picking over the poor choices of others.
findingtimetowrite 
This is a delightfully unusual approach to painting your verbal picture, Marina Sofia! Really creative! A lot to think about, too, which I always appreciate in a poem. And I like the points you make at the end, too…
I came across a video lecture by AE Stallings and she read out the poem I allude to above, which really startled me and awoke me to a world of possibilities, so I thought I’d give it a whirl.
I like the way you have described the many choices that one has in life. Interesting to ponder the ‘right answer.’ Hopefully, we each choose the ‘right answer’ for ourselves. But a universal right answer? No, I don’t think so.
And sadly, even the answer that seems right at the time may prove to have been wrong in the long run… but that’s part of the fun of living, right?
what a wonderful idea – and each of us makes different choices – i often wish there would be that one right answer – reality tells it doesn’t really exist…
I agree, Claudia. Only approximations of answers – and often we can’t even think of the ‘best’ answer yet, only in retrospect does it appear clearer.
I enjoyed the unusual format and its thought-provoking quality. “we sit back and enjoy
/ picking over the poor choices of others.” – sadly we do far too often.
And sometimes others have far fewer choices than we might have… Thank you for the comment, I really enjoyed this format too.
certainly we could write, “If you didn’t vote, please refrain from comment” too. This was a fine original offering.
Super creative, sparking all kind of poetic possibilities. Perhaps this could be a FFA or MTB prompt at dVerse; seems worthy of emulation, fun could propagate as well, or irony, or chaos.
I’ll bear that in mind, Glenn. It’s a really interesting form, isn’t it, all credit to AE Stallings – and I like her not just because she lives in Greece and loves her mythology…
I admire the process and approach Marina ~ Which ones do we pick, smiles ~
So we dither on, forever wondering what might have been if we’d picked the other…
Wow. Such a marvelous take on this – intelligent and original. Wow. If only life could be laid out for us before we do some of the things we do.
But that would spoil the surprise, right…
I smiled at the end, because here I am picking the choices for others… creative and very unique… it comes down to what you feel is best, tho you end up losing something no matter what you pick in life.
Exactly, it’s a zero sum game, no matter what you pick, if you forever yearn after the choices you’ve left behind.
A happy cynicism; I particularly liked the last lines.
Couldn’t resist getting a little political. Frustrates me when I hear wealthy people let rip about the way the less fortunate live their lives…
Oh I confess I am Guilty–picking over the poor choices of others (I guess I get tired of beating up on myself).
I tend to beat myself up way too much, so maybe I should be a bit more judgemental with others for a change… Bit tongue in cheek, too, though…
Well, I gave up striving for perfection–I’m trying for Improvement.
What a very cool idea this multiple choice approach is to poetry and you have done beautifully with it 🙂
Isn’t it a fantastic idea? I just really leapt to the chance to try it out for myself when I came across it. Perhaps we can use it as a prompt on dVerse at some point…
That would be awesome…really a challenging prompt, I would think!
interesting… a nice punch… i liked the tangled shyness
All of the above – I like “we are so convinced our minds are our own”
Don’t get me started on the whole ‘free will’ vs. ‘herd instinct’ vs. ‘originality’ debate…
This format really adds power to your poem, Marina. I used to like multiple choice tests but this one doesn’t have “all of the above!”
The poem by AE Stallings does, but I didn’t want to imitate her too closely…
Very cool – loved the approach and had to smile at the last lines!
What a cool idea! Like you, I’m much harder on myself than I am on anybody else. & you know what, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Too much of anything is a bad thing, though, so give yourself a break from time to time. Great poem.
Being able to make choices is a privilege! Making the better of other’s bad choices release the tensions of failures on oneself! Wise words Marina!
Hank
Indeed.. All those choices, yet it doesn’t matter in the end – does it? It seems like we just believe we have them.
inventive retelling of one of the myths that resonates deeply with me ~
A very unique form of poetry! I like what you did with it 🙂 Thanks for sharing the link to the original poem.
It’s a great poem, the original, isn’t it? I think I have to catch up with some of her other poetry too…
This is a really intriguing concept. And the ending really took me by surprise and made me think.
what an unusual…and brilliant format for a poem!