a few good lines

well hi. there’s not a lot going on behind the scenes in Poetryland today, but i did participate in the London Writers' Salon event, Poetry of Presence earlier and the prompt got a few good lines out of me. i wanted to share them as part of my personal mission to write good/bad/mediocre poetry and be proud of it. it helps me take up a little space which, as it turns out, is good for me.

the prompt was related to saying “no” and the phrase “today, i won’t (fill in the blank)”. here’s part of what i got:

…today i won’t worry about the letters never written or the way words have begun to collect around my shins like children wanting attention.

today i won’t worry about the unsaid or the unfelt multitudes i‘ve kept at bay, those unexpressed truths hidden like battle wounds from long-ago wars.

today i won’t say “yes” when i mean anything else and won’t scream “no” at the top of my lungs. i won't be seduced by the desire to reject every request or the lure of running away from the obstacles that rise out of feverish struggle.

today i won’t let the shadow of my mind cast a pall over small joys given by a hand i cannot comprehend. instead i will listen for the red-winged blackbirds and remember that i was precious to someone, once.

what will you say “no” to today? drop a line in the comments and let’s celebrate the determination not to give way to things that no longer serve us!

happy writing!