SeaGoat Writing Club, 03/28/2014
One step after the other and a super cosy adventure shoe poem. Yup.
Exercise One
Prompt: FIRST LINE IS, “I TOOK ONE STEP FORWARD AND…”
I took one step forward, and could feel the stability of the earth below my bare feet give way to the shifting rock. I was closer to the edge than I’d ever been before. The dirt was gone, the light gravel had been blown off or rolled over the edge, and large exposed sheets of shale were all that supported me here.
The sound of the water 200 feet below was nearly indistinguishable from the incessant hiss of air rushing past my face. In the dim red light of my headlamp I could see cracks propagating back from the edge a few feet away from where just last night there had been ten more feet of land.
I took another step forward. I was overcome by that sick crumpling feeling when your body starts to react on it’s own to a stressful situation. I knew I was about to start shaking and I wouldn’t be able to control it. The bare rock was cold. Or was it wet. That thought weakened my legs. I started to lock up and tried desperately to shift my weight backwards.
As I took that final step forward …
Exercise Two
Prompt: CHOOSE AN IMAGE OF A SHOE (LOTS PROVIDED BY JEN). WRITE THE STORY OF YOUR SHOE. WHO OWNS IT? WHERE HAS IT BEEN? WHERE’S IT GOING?
I’m only fulfilled
when you’ve slipped deep inside.
For then I am certain
that life will reside,
comfortable, warm, dry, and supported
inside my soft innards of cotton and Gortex.
Tie me up tightly
and I will embrace you.
I’ll keep you safe
while you travel and race
all around town or even abroad
I’ve been designed to stand up to it all.
I long and hope and
I pray and plead
that my final owner
is one that will need
to be held within my
strong cotton weave.
My life served no purpose
if I’m not remembered
kept and not tossed
because I never surrendered.
When finally I grow
old and distressed
I’ll feel pretty useless
and end up depressed
if my best effort
failed all the tests
of mountains and rivers
mudslides and pests;
small wooden canoes
with giant wet leaks
on long lazy trips
down small foreign creeks.
In the end I can
only hope for the best.
A life of adventure
and travel not rest.
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