Amaya is the host of dVerse today. Amaya says:
Our prompt tonight asks you to incorporate the word “cascade”, or reflect on its metaphysical significance of a multi-level fall, or write a shape poem showing us a picture of a cascade. And, even though we’re not technically “Meeting the Bar” tonight with a set form, a bonus challenge is to write a cascade form poem with however many stanzas you choose… You may recycle either full lines or modify the form to use only a word or phrase from the original lines. You can choose a rhyme scheme or have unrhymed lines, but the motive should be to go for a tiered, cascading effect.
They are beckoning me
I hear them
Come out and join the fun
*
New to this world
“Let us teach you our way”
They are beckoning me
*
Talking right from wrong
But reaching when there’s pain
I hear them. I see them.
*
Raising their bottles
The pain goes away
They go out and join the fun
*
They split me in two
And I have to move
New to this school
*
They are beckoning me
Come out and join the fun
“Let us teach you our way”
*
Parties at night, then in the day
I’m his, but he’s not mine
Talking right doing wrong
*
They are beckoning me
Come out and join the fun
I’m reaching — there’s pain
*
I hear them. I see them.
They split me in two
Raising their bottles, taking their pills
*
Drinks at night, pills in the day
Playing and working
The pain goes away
*
Gavel says choose
Prison or rehab?
They split me in two
Tao Talk 
Pretty heavy duty cascade poem; but the message is clarion. I wonder how many of those rich kids that cheated to get into college end up in these circumstances?
LikeLiked by 1 person
This template crosses all socio-economic and gender lines. I bet a lot of them. It’s The American Way.
LikeLike
Glenn, you should talk about heavy duty 😉
LikeLike
Oh, I feel the pain in this poem! It’s so sad knowing how some have dark demons that call to them through various addictions to drawn the pain. Unfortunately, there are people I love who suffer from these sorts of things and it hurts me so. Nice job! Thanks for visiting my Little Mermaid Art Sketch series featuring ARIEL post! Happy A2Zing!!.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cathy, I can totally relate to the poem also. Alcoholism runs in my family. Thank you for the kind words. I’m going to make some A2Z rounds for today here in a minute now that I got my prompts out of the way 🙂
LikeLike
Cathy, I just tried twice to leave a comment at your blog and both of them disappeared. Are you getting them?? I think the same thing happened yesterday, but it looks like they got through as you saw I visited you?
LikeLike
A little dance with excess here Jade, and the consequences. A bit dark but I like it…!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Rob. I tried to show how substance abuse (or other addictions) starts out from birth and cascades from there. So many people are addicted to something. Our whole society seems addicted to something…
LikeLike
The pain left me speechless. BTW, the Reblog button is not working.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad you connected with the poem, Reena, I’ve seen this scenario played out many many times, in my own life and in the families I worked with in my job. About the reblog button, WP is becoming a real pain. Any time I want to like or comment on a post, I have to literally sign in at the bottom of the blog with email, name, and blog address. And even then, sometimes the comments just disappear 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am not comfortable with the Gutenberg Editor as yet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m not using that new editor and have found few saying they like it. Sounds like at some point everyone is going over to it?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was compelled to. The old one was just discontinued, though I did not opt for it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
😦 that is the pits
LikeLiked by 1 person
The repition of “they split me in two” is so powerful. Perfect in the cascade.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very much. It was a tough one to write.
LikeLike
Hi Jade. You inquired about whether my poem “Secret Cascade” was drawn from a real personal experience. It is, and I have just posted another picture with the piece showing Bridal Veil Falls Orego, my direct inspiration for the poem. The new photo shows a kayaker running the dual cascade falls. It will give you a great perspective of the scale and scope of Bridal Veil. You should go back and visit “Secret Cascade” to see the new photo. Also here is a link to kore info about Bridal Veil… https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridal_Veil_Falls_(Oregon) Hope you enjoy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rob thanks for letting me know. You are blessed for being near that place. We have a lot of waterfalls in the UP which need to be visited.
LikeLike
There’s something about the repetition in this poem, like beating your head against a wall, that makes the poem even stronger than the sum of its words.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I appreciate your view, Jane. There is a closed loop futility about it now that you mention it. It mirrors the life of too many.
LikeLike
Not being able to see a break in the loop is what drives people to finish it, I think. You have to have hope just to get out of bed in the morning.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, the closed loop as in dead? You could write a poem just on that, Jane. Yes, hope is sometimes but a faint glimmer, but it is enough.
LikeLike
The loop as in the same awfulness repeated over and over. Like the poverty spiral. When you can’t see how to break it, you get desperate.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, as the avenues for escape continue to narrow, making it ever more difficult…
LikeLike
It’s like that for so many people.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can feel this a lot from memories… those little choices and changes you do to fit in a crowd… most of us spiral out of it and grow up, but there are those who fall all the way to the bottom..
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree, Bjorn. The biggest danger zone is during teen years, when they start out drinking for fun with their friends, but then it becomes chemical dependency. Because they never learned to cope with issues and turned to the bottle instead, the bottle becomes the coping mechanism. Very difficult to break out of it.
LikeLike
Dangerous peer pressure and foolish choices make for a life cascading over the edge! I think there may be a prophetic warning in this, Jade.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Lynn. It is an epidemic across the land, for sure.
LikeLike
Yes, with tragic implications for all of us.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice last stanza. On the bright side, getting split in two would be one way to see if either of the options worked.
LikeLike
This form worked well for that fragmented, one-step-ahead-two-steps-back type of life. You’re prone to be split in two, forever divisible by that gavel clanging down in your distorted mind.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Amaya, yes.
LikeLike
We all want to feel part of something, connected to a group. The ways of belonging are broken. (K)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh yes, very much so, especially for young people.
LikeLike
This is so true for so many, this split. I’ve seen results of both.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I remember
LikeLiked by 1 person