A Blitz Poem about 2020. Daily Poem contest entry. |
POET'S NOTE: A blitz poem is meant to be read as quickly as possible, only pausing to breathe. I couldn't think of a more fitting poetic form to encapsulate my experience of 2020. Also, even though Blitz Poem titles are only supposed to be three words, I personally prefer adding the entirety of Line 47 of this poem to get the more complete, extended title of: "Months of Flames From the Ongoing Dumpster-Fire." Exhausting for days Exhausting for months Months of quarantine Months of anxiety Anxiety over the election Anxiety over public health Health of our institutions Health of our people People who look like us People who don’t Don’t want to change Don’t want to listen Listen to each other Listen to common sense Sense of morality Sense of equality Equality for race Equality for God’s grace Grace toward sin Grace toward mistakes Mistakes of judgment Mistakes of perception Perception of America’s standing Perception of the Other Other human beings Other ways of life Life is sacred Life is fragile Fragile peace Fragile balance Balance of sanity Balance of ideals Ideals for a better society Ideals for a better world World apart World divided Divided against each other Divided against our own Own our successes Own our failures Failures of imagination Failures of execution Execution of basic decency Execution of policy Policy of selfishness Policy of fanning the flames Flames from the ongoing dumpster-fire Flames from the Year 2020 2020... Dumpster-fire... -------------------- Lines: 40 Form: Blitz Poem Written for: "The Daily Poem" and "I Write in 2020" Prompt: Write a poem about seeing 2020 off. Will you send it away with a bang or a whimper? Is it dependent on something external? Maybe 2020 hasn't bothered you all that much. That's fair, too. |