Writing assignment
Use the metaphor of the sun, and then the moon.
Move on to using the weather: snow, hail and sleet.
Leave the postman out of that one, though.
Talk about these poetic effects in a way that is
Pristine. Once that's done, move onto
The metaphor of water: rain on a Spring day
When the flowers planted in the yard,
New annuals, first begin to turn towards light
And bloom. Next, use the metaphor of a pond:
How the reeds extrude themselves from murk
To break the mirrored surface,
And destroy the placid illusion. If you can,
Move on, then, to the metaphor of lakes,
But keep the large cargo ships tied
To the invisible wharves we won't include here.
Finally, speak to us in words that rhyme
Of the ocean's power: how the North Atlantic
Towers above everything when it's riled;
How the placid Caribbean Sea rebels
Against its friend, the shore, during
Hurricane season. Keep the browning bodies
Off the beaches. That would ruin
The image you are trying to build.
Keep everything pure, as it was before
People showed up and marred the picture,
Blocked the view, as through poetry.
Finally, throw us in at the end,
But not before: write about tears,
And how they flow, everywhere,
Behind closed doors and windows where
The drawn curtains muffle the sounds
We make when weeping. Write about these things
Without fear. Go now. Write the poem.
