Morning After the Election
by Nicole R. Zimmerman
I composed two poems in my W & Th writing workshops, based on a prompt below:
The copper chandelier reflects the same sunrise
& my wife purrs, her arms secured, as always
around my belly, limbs twitching in fevered
sleep like a puppy chasing squirrels while
an unfamiliar bird chirps in the plum tree
just a month ago so ripe, so full of promise
its autumn leaves still turning, not yet ready
to let go, to enter another dormant season.
Coffee drips into the mug like a metronome,
a clock ticks above the stove and the house
finches chatter while the yellow-haired cat
stalks in the yard then leaps to a lounge chair
cushion like a throne to lick its claws clean.
PROMPT:
The following stanza describes mundane things that indicate the everyday, but the last line suggests something stirring.
Borrow the poem’s title or structure to prompt your writing:
Morning After the Election* by Linda Mills Woolsey
The teakettle whistles the same tune as always
& the cats purr over their kibbles while
three finches in olive drab cling to a feeder
tilting crazily in the wind.
*first stanza of poem published October 2024 in About Place Journal, Vol. VIII, Issue 2
Shaping Destiny: Election Season, Before, During and After