Happy New Year to you. If you’ve just tuned in here, Poetry Tag is where Rebecca and I take turns challenging each other to include a set of words in a poem. Topic and form are the poet’s choice, but the set words must be included.
I have to admit, this is the first time since we started that I’m posting something I’m not best pleased with. It’s my fourth attempt to use the words, and I’ve decided I just have to post something, to show that I tried, I really tried. And to show that sometimes poems just will not behave.
The problem lies in one of the words Rebecca gave me ‘pirate’ – or, to be more accurate ‘the pirate’. As soon as I saw that word, I vowed that there would be no actual pirate in my poem. I would use the pirate as a metaphor for something else. But my metaphor just would not behave, and each attempt was not only trite, but also didn’t flow as a poem.
This latest attempt presents the idea I wanted to get across – of doubt being a pirate trying to rob us of success or happiness or pleasure. But I did want my final version to be cleverer and read less preachy. Still, time has tick-ticked by since Rebecca set the words, so I have decided to post this version, and then let it rest, in the hopes that my subconscious treasure box will work away at what I was really trying to do once the pressure is off.
So, here’s my response to the words ‘the pirate’, ‘idle’ ‘eats’ and ‘will’. And watch out, Rebecca. You might have stumped me, but vengeance will be mine because now it’s my turn to set words for you!
New Year
A new year
Is a an uncharted sea
on which to set sail
aiming for lofty horizons.
Goals are the ship you board
hoping for treasure before year’s end.
Doubt is the pirate
that battles will
and eats
eats
eats
at courage
and determination
and hope
in idle moments.
Trust is the noble warrior
brandishing the cutlass
that forces the pirate
onto his own plank.
Belief is the sailor
who takes the wheel
and redirects the vessel.
Success is the ultimate goal
though it rarely looks
exactly as planned.
Sometimes the treasure is
different than imagined,
other times it lies in simply
looking back at the journey
and still others
it’s being alive to tell the tale at all.
(Copyright Sally Murphy 2018)
Poetry Tag 