The Lesson
Maya Angelou
I keep on dying again.
Veins collapse, opening like the
Small fists of sleeping
Children.
Memory of old tombs,
rotting flesh and worms do
not convince me against the challenge. The years
And cold defeat live deep in
Lines across my face.
They dull my eyes, yet i keep on dying
Because i love to live.
----------
Snapshots woven deep in
the matted coils that reside on my crown.
All 98 of them.
Chest stinging with the anxiety
I am only human
commonly overlooked like the
Right Answer.
Shave my head and shine it clean
Crocheting courage from the dreaded
coils that fall to the ground.
Recycle, reuse
It'll grow anew.
I really enjoyed this. It was very lively and pained a terrific picture. I felt it was slightly cliched to say "Overlooked like the right answer" as though it was a little cheesy in quality but still a good line. i am also unsure about that "recyle, reuse" line, it seems to "go green" in nature and takes away from the effect of the poem slightly. But nothing to the extreme where it causes great issue. It is still an excellent piece of poetry you have written.
ReplyDeleteAngela,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the language you used in this piece like "matted coils." As a reader I am not entirely sure what you are talking about in the first half of the poem.. mainly the first three lines but yet I still find it fascinating. Perhaps you could add a little more detail for more of a clear image? I feel like I follow the rest of it . I also wonder if coils in the third to last line could be a different word? Maybe coil doesn't need to be a recycled word for this piece? The words were delightfully put together.