Anmol is our host of d’Verse this evening. He has challenged us with:
So, the Poetics challenge today is to write a confessional verse in the style of any of these poets or write something which plays with the ideas expressed here — to put your regrets, your guilts, your sins, your humanity, your lived experiences, and all that you have kept within, out there through unbridled frankness or hyperbole or hidden allusions and metaphors or in any which way you want. It is all about challenging the restrictions that we impose in our written expression and to share something which is depictive of our own self.
This is about my parents. My dad passed over two decades ago. My mother is alive.
*
For decades,
I have visited him
in my sleep;
the first two
nightmares.
*
In the old house
in the basement
only a presence
cold and dark.
Chattering teeth,
stark terror
one step down
after the other.
*
That he’s left
home is a good sign.
I see him.
We talk.
No.
He talks, I listen.
*
He tells me things;
nothing of import,
but he’s talking,
and I’m not chattering
or afraid.
There is no fanfare
upon our parting.
*
I try not to dwell
but
will she keep
her promise to
visit me?
Death’s head
gleaming
lit by an
unholy light.
There will be
no truce —
and eternity
goes on…
Tao Talk 
Powerful writing. Beautifully crafted.
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Thank you. It is something that’s been eating at me but too scared to put into words until now.
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I imagine it was tough to write, but cathartic. Were you exhausted when you finished?
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Maybe not exhausted so much as relieved to bring that terror out into the open. So much darkness can be dissipated by turning on a light.
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The trick is, I think, having the guts to flip the switch. Good for you!
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thank you
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Somehow, WordPress dropped around a half a dozen bloggers I follow, including you. I’m trying to refollows all those that I discover this happened to. Hopefully it will stick.
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❤ Great. Sorry they dropped me but glad you realized it and refollowed. I wanted to say I've been busy and not able to keep up with your and the word of the day prompt. Hoping to get back in the saddle soon.
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If I may be so bold as to ask why did they drop you?
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I haven’t been with WP long enough to know what makes the programming do what it does. There was no reason for your comments to go into the spam box, but they did, but it was only your email that set things in motion to find a total of 50 messages in the spam folder. Wishing I knew more about it.
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Amazing.
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thank you ❤
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Welcome 🙏
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My sister died many years back – she and I had a love/hate relationship. One day, I was talking about her (negative) and a plate she had given me flew across the room – her wrath from the grave. Your poem reminded me of this.
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oh my. Hopefully she is leaving you be now? My mom has point blank said she will haunt me, and knowing her nature, it has me pretty much on edge.
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Oh boy. No recent visits from my sister, although I do feel my dad at times – mostly in my head (where all parents go when we moved out of the house, lol).
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glad she laid off of you.
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That’s a bleak and powerful ending.
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thank you sarah
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I’m relieved that when I dream of my mum it’s always in the days before she got dementia – I couldn’t bear to see her like that again. You’ve captured the nightmarish atmosphere so well in the second stanza, Jade.
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Thank you very much for the feedback. You are blessed to dream of her how she was before. Maybe I will be so blessed…
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Oh, that is quite a spooky poem — the confessional becomes that which makes it so haunting. The nightmares act as the bridge between here and there. Very well penned.
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Thank you, anmol, for your feedback and for the prompt that inspired it. It felt good to get it out in the open.
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This is an amazing write Jade. Haunting and real.
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Thank you so much Lynda.
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Oh this is incredibly dark and evocative!
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Thank you, Sanaa.
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I think dreams can mirror our worst and best experiences… sometimes waking up is a blessing.
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Yes it is.
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A great poem Jade! I really liked the transition from fear in the basement to walking and talking and facing your own demise head on! Well done!
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Thank you, Dwight. It is how it actually played out in my dreams. Finally my nightmares are working for me 😉
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That is a good thing!!
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Yes it is. If my mom does haunt me I hope it works out the same way….
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Ha ha! I hope she doesn’t !
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Well write rightful-cursing confession. Maybe we can’t make peace with everyone and perhaps we shouldn’t. Nice
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You don’t know how welcomed your response is. I will leave it at that other than to say thank you very much for your comment and your insight.
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Oh, glad it was useful. Enjoyed your comments too.
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Nice lines: “He tells me things;
nothing of import,” They seem innocuous and ominous at the same time.
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Very brave and powerful writing. When my father visits, I like to think he is checking in on me. He believed in more opportunities after his body’s death; I don’t, but I don’t mind that we sometimes visit in my dreams (my grandmother and various cats from across the years also visit.) When the time comes, may you have the presence to tell your mother that she’s not welcome and needn’t come back.
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Nora, thank you for all you say here. I need to be able to do that when the time comes.
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Knowing that you have the option is huge. You can do that.
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Thank you for making me aware of the option ❤
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