Merril is the hostess of the first dverse poet’s pub of 2019. Her prompt today:
So, today, I want you to consider time and space and what if? What if you–or someone else—or some THING else–took that less or more-traveled path? Would it make a difference? Will it make a difference? Look backward, forward, inside, and out. Then wonder, what if? Ponder it into a poem and post it for us to enjoy.
*
She, cozy, reposed
in the overstuffed velveteen chair,
gazes out onto frozen pond,
brandy half full, cheeks rosed.
*
Pond, gleaming yellow gold
in the slight melting of the sun.
She, warmed by crackling flames,
reminisces of the day things changed.
*
On her uncle’s lap, squirming for escape,
while bright-eyed relatives drank coffee
and played cards, joking, oblivious.
The door being kicked in caused quite a stir.
*
Sturdy foot soldier in blue, reading mom her rights
As the nice lady gently instructed uncle to let me go.
Afright as if dropped from a cliff and tumbling,
Yet relief so dense, like the heart of a star.
*
Falling into the hearts of Maman and Papan,
their home, incubator of healing,
awakened burgeoning worth of being,
Not a possession or an object.
*
These days her libraric realm is filled
with such beasts in fairy tales.
She tucks hers onto a shelf
And revisits every now and again.
Tao Talk 
A poignant narration. Intriguing!
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Thank you. Its a what-if story that I wish was true.
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Ohhh–wow. I wish it was true for you, too.
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Thank you, Merril.
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An intense poem.
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A delightful tale.
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thank you 🙂
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Damn those lecherous uncles–excellent poem. I liked the concept of escaping the beast, and only finding others on library shelves.
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Like your world of Atlantis if we hadn’t infected the land, yes, imagining a world without uncles…
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What Glenn said. This is a poignant what if indeed. Thank you for sharing. That last stanza is wonderful.
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thank you again 🙂
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You have a vivid imagination. Love specially the last stanza.
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Thanks, Grace, glad you liked the last stanza.
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I like the “libraric realm” where beasts can be tucked on a shelf.
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Thank you, Frank.
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The last stanza is wonderful
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Thank you, Kanzen.
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beautiful poetic prose
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Thank you very much, Gina.
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This sounds like a rescue story. The “what if’s” can be the difference of survival. A very vivid poem.
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Thank you, Mish. What’s not said but implied is “what if it didn’t”.
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I like the way you set the scene for your what-if wondering, Jade, with the ‘overstuffed velveteen chair’, the frozen pond and brandy. The use of colour and light is mesmerising, drawing the reader into the dream with you. I find the scene on the uncle’s lap with the oblivious relatives disturbing and was glad when the door was kicked in. I cheered at the final stanza!
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Kim I really appreciate your feedback. If time is relative and does warp as it may, perhaps in another reality, it does happen. So glad you liked it.
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Lovely. Thought the first two stanza were wonderfully evocative
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Thank you, Jeremy. Did I see you say you write poetry?
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Ummm nope…haven’t tried to write poetry yet. One day…perhaps!
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As you are sure we’ll go to the far reaches of space, so too am I sure one day you will write poetry.
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That sounds likely then!! Thanks
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Good, good, writing. I love the voice in this. You nailed it!
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Thank you very much for the feedback and the compliment. It is appreciated.
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If only we could tuck the beasts inside the books… the comfort of that chair is wonderful…
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Thank you, Bjorn 🙂
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We are the inescapable tapestry that is our life. One hopes it’s beautiful, inspite of tye snags and runs…
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Very well-said, Rob.
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The clarity in this is impressive. I don’t want to say beautiful, because while the first description is, you put across the little girl’s discomfort so succinctly, and powerfully without smacking the reader in the face with it. Show don’t tell executed to perfection.
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Your feedback is very much appreciated, thank you.
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To move from sitting in a velveteen chair, cozy and sipping brandy … to sitting in a lecherous uncle’s lap, squirming…is a shocking movement for the reader to take. Would that all children be rescued from ogres like this….in reality and in the pages of library books.
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Yes
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Nicely done Jade…. The story of way too many in this world!
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Thank you, Dwight, and unfortunately yes.
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Oh Jade Li, oh wow (somber wow) and I must say, damn (whispered in reflective terror)… I am sorry, but if the realities in time and space includes the wormholes of memory, this may perhaps in a sense be more than a “what if,” it may be a kicking down of the door and the needed rescue. A knocking down the house of regret and happenstance. Let us grab victory in our words and in our hearts if we cannot do so in our past. There are sadly too few millstones. Courageous write, courageous right. Thank you! The link is to an unhinged version of “Knock down the House of Regret”… it felt relevant
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w_8fptuEvqU
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Just finished watching the video and looked up the lyrics. I love the way everybody gets up on stage and communes with the musicians. Lona, there is magic in the way you think and what it takes is magic to vanquish against what was so consuming back then. “Let us grab victory in our words and in our hearts if we cannot do so in our past.” THANK YOU for your solidarity and support
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🙂your poem touched me deeply. Victory through magic 🙂
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