Mighty Morphin'

Yup, just wasn't in the mood for it. A couple of days ago, though, I took to one of the prompts: "Where do you come from? Describe the landscape, people, etc. Do you visit?"

In the middle of writing it out as prose, though, I struck an irresistable rhyme (...defeated, the wind sighs and flies and soars out the French doors.) (Hey, the prompt required describing the landscape, a'ight?)

My brother, who actually went to college to study poetry, tries to steer clear of cheesy archaic conventions like rhyming. My mother and I, however, keep up this really stupid fun game--

Me: (normal dialogue) ... and threw me a furious glare, like it was all my fault! How dare he!
Mom:

He dares,
to throw glares...
What a beast! Like a bear,
so then you come to share this?
Do I look like I care... miss?​

Me:

A female horse is a mare.
Hey, don't diss
how ignorance... is bliss.​

... yeah, it can go on for a while, because nothing is too contrived.


The contrived, casual rhyme in the where-do-you-come-from text block original version didn't make it into the penultimate (or even second) draft of the poem, and neither did the vivid vision of childhood or whatever that the prompt asked for. But the process just surprised me, I guess, showing how self-centered scribbles can be made into something almost presentable!

Prompts from the same chapter of Baldwin's Storycatcher:

Spoiler

• Describe one of your earliest memories. Who is with you? Bring in all five senses. Do you know if this is an actual memory or a story you have heard others tell about you?
• Describe your relationship with grandparents or elders. How inolved in your life were they? Do you know much about how they grew up? What effect did having elders around (or not having elders around) have on your life? Imagine a conversation with a grandparent or elder who is no longer around: What questions would you ask? What do you wish you knew?
• Describe the place you come from. What is the landscape? Who lives there? Use all of your senses to describe the way you remember this place. Do you still visit?
• Choose a family heirloom or artifact and write down as much of its history as you know. Where did it come from? How old is it? How did it come to be valued in your family? Who has it now? What will happen to it in the future?