The Big Tent Poetry prompt this week was seven prompts, boiled down to one that I chose: write what you would shout down the street.
This is a true story (with a little poetic license) of what I witnessed on a family trip to Washington, D.C. this past week, so I felt I really had to select this particular prompt. My nine-year old niece saw her first protest. It was very cool to see, actually. The rhythm and cadence of the protesters' urgent refrain, sung in military drill-sergeant fashion, is still in my head.
the protest
What does democracy look like?!
THIS is what democracy looks like!!
There must have been 35 of them
college students and others of the same age
What does democracy look like?!
THIS is what democracy looks like!!
They were marching down C street
heading to Capitol Hill – shouting with intensity
What does democracy look like?!
THIS is what democracy looks like!!
The little girl wanted to know what
hydro-fracking was and why it was bad
What does democracy look like?!
THIS is what democracy looks like!!
Goosebumps formed on her arms
she felt the fervent cries of the protesters
What does democracy look like?!
THIS is what democracy looks like!!
Posters and signs bobbed up and down
like lifeboats floating out to sea
What does democracy look like?!
THIS is what democracy looks like!!
Congress was not in session.
Copyright © 2011 Nan P.
8 comments:
Oh, this got to me...the set up of the scene, and then the question from the child, along with goosebumps. I really get this!
Right on!
Oh, the irony of your last line! You could also claim the repeating prompt as a well-earned bonus!
What does Democracy look like, nan?
Well done and I think also, to both prompts.
Pamela
Demonstrated quite well... love the ending.
~laurie
Yes—this is what democracy looks like. Loved this.
Ouch!
We've got to get our acts together.
(nicely done as a poem, though)
It is. This is well-crafted.
Post a Comment