Day 22. Wednesday. Earth Day. List Day. Cubs Game.

I cheated a little on the Read Write Poem prompt. All of my books of poetry are currently in storage so I just picked five of my favorite poems. The lines that belong to other poets are in color, and the poets and their poems are listed at the end. Now, I have a Cubs game to go get ready for :) Happy Earth Day!

Speak

I take my seat
Among the many passengers
Through the window
I can see people
Caught
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn
They don’t speak to me
They’re eyes are hollow
They don’t understand

In front of me are signs
Maximum Capacity 312
All baggage must be stored overhead
Emergency Exit located on the left
Emergency exit…
The words swim around in my head
This is my exit
I’ve boarded the train, there’s no getting off
Not for me

There’s a rumble in my stomach
Nerves perhaps
No
It speaks
It’s the memory of all the things
We used to be
Struggling to get out of me
Memories…
We loved with a love that was more than love

I run down the list of reasons
Weighing out the consequences
The smell of winter on your skin
Is all that I’ll truly miss
I’ll draw you a map
If you want me
You can follow me
There’s a place where the sidewalk ends
That’s where I’ll be waiting

The train begins to fill
I can sense we will soon
Be moving
I avoid the eyes
Of the empty people around me
Instead I stare at the space in front of me
It speaks to me
Of two imaginary roads
And sorry I could not travel both


Under the brown fog of a winter dawn- T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land
I’ve boarded the train, there’s no getting off- Sylvia Plath, Metaphors
We loved with a love that was more than love- Edgar Allan Poe, Annabel Lee
There’s a place where the sidewalk ends- Shel Silverstein, Where The Sidewalk Ends
And sorry I could not travel both- Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken