Entries for Promptly Poetry Challenge |
The trees that lined the path are gone, fallen to buzzing chains and hauled away. Leaving the birds and squirrels to find new homes in other trees, outside other windows they play. I learned the shouted names of children, quietly have they grown and gone. I miss the old man always chasin’, Unheeding dogs on the run. I see his wife trying to maintain mowing, raking, white-haired and alone. My heart understands the pain of living on when everyone else is gone. I miss the yellow, one-eyed cat his bell a cruel betrayal, a warning to creatures that might otherwise keep his belly full. He was, instead, kept full and fat a prisoner of the orange bowl that upon the grey porch sat. No kill to feed his hunter’s soul. Even the crows abandoned their nests, they understand these streets are dying. The morning is still and silent rest, not even the sound of mourning doves crying. (I can’t go home at all, those trees grew too tall, those neighbors just ghosts. My childhood so lost) Written for "Promptly Poetry Challenge (2024-2025)" Week # 15 Write a poem about your neighborhood. Required Form: poet's choice Line Count: minimum 12 lines, no max |