The Drama Triangle

 

Enjoy this response to our April prompt, written by Janine.

The Drama Triangle

The clothing of abandonment 

has fit me for so long

complimented my fierce survivor

with her tough girl boots

kicking up the mud in indignation

But am I not also some sort of predator?

seeking to rip off 

the misogynists’ masks

and toss them in triumph

on the pile

the garbage in your sweet seductions

revealed

And what about my trash?

What’s to be found in there?

Maybe just me

steeping in a victim’s love of victimhood

fulfilled best through repetition

my game is to say You put me there

but I can see now 

that I trashed myself

Too late to find another way

but that’s okay

your mask on the pile

me 

safe in the recesses 

of a metal can

Janine S. Brunell

for Wilbur - 2020

April Prompt: Abandonment

 Fear of Abandonment

The following poem imagines what is in my trashcan and lets those items stand as metaphors for the sense of loss and abandonment that led me to use alcohol as a “solution.” Notice that the poem ends with a wine glass.  I did not intend this image when I wrote the poem, which was before I went into recovery.  I realize now that I “knew” alcohol was hurting me even before I went into recovery. This is an example of a poem telling the writer something they didn’t know they knew. 

Taking Out the Trash

Gritty coffee grounds

Crushed and wet

Release morning’s breath

Grapefruit shell

Pink pungent taste

Small close compartments

Eggshell’s jagged edge

Embossed with shiny film

No longer home

Ragged edge of newspaper

Curled into itself

Forgotten admonitions

A half-smoked cigarette

Lipsticked cherry red

A moist pink tongue

Broken wine glass

Slender stem intact

Aftertaste of loss

Prompt:

1. Write about what is in your metaphorical trashcan, car, basement, attic or anywhere where there are unwanted things, or perhaps things you are holding onto that you know you should get rid of.  You can put people in there too!

2. Try to work with concrete images rather than "story" or "narrative." If you begin with a story, look for the images that appear in your story and "unhook" them.  See what happens.

Response to March prompt: Where have you had a spiritual experience?

                                pinterest.com m2c0...faf.jpg

 "Northwest Coast" 

        by Marcus H.

headlands  

hands of the earth

fingers of lava that dance with the ocean

wind, water, fire, earth

etched in basalt faces

Elephant Rock wades into the spray

Stone Whale blows its spout

Giants stand seaward,    no ship can pass

beach above my head  

wave polished stones 

frozen in crystal rock 

that flowed a thousand years ago

a beach of black marbles 

that sing with the waves

a beach of boulders 

that I must leap across 

a boulder

a pebble 

a grain

how big am I?

where do I end?

I can feel that....

rounding the headland

beneath the cliff 

under the arch

slick 

wet 

dripping 

where the ocean pounded 

an hour ago

listen to moon’s tidal heartbeat

and don't wait too long

but

stop 

see the world in a bowl 

an animal?

no a plant?

no a rock? 

squirting water

out of lips 

closing tight 

until the ocean kisses it again

ant crawl 

over the finger

animal trail through vaulted forest

ocean murmurs of cliff edge 

thick with bushes 

enter through their tunneled vein

scramble down a rock bed 

to water’s edge

sea peeks

through wall of pillars 

that touch gray cloud ceiling 

waves do not enter here

inches from the depth

I stand upon a table stone 

dinner scraps discarded there

am I alone?

whose house is this?

a head emerges

from still ocean

close 

as my boyhood dog

with talking eyes 

speaks to my soul

We are all one.