Image by ChatGPT
The Sunday Whirl presents twelve words for us to use in a creative writing piece.
This week's words are:
grief, scarf, cradle, list, growl, swaying, sky, force, electricity, hazy, charm, secrets
The Book
The scarf is old and faded.
The box within its folds
Shiny with oriental lacquer
Bearing unfamiliar symbols.
The book within the box
Is cradled in a velvet-lined
Close fitting protective recess.
It looks new and untouched.
The writing within it is like lists,
Written in a strange script.
Are they recipes? Charms?
Prayers to an unknown god?
He works for weeks, at night,
Until the hazy veil is lifted
And the book’s deep secrets
Are laid bare before him.
◊
He stands upright beneath
A turbulent, unsettled sky.
The clouds growl and tumble,
They crackle with electricity.
The trees creak and groan,
Swaying with the tempest
That is champing for the release
Of the force of the book.
The book, heavy in his hand,
Seems to also growl and snarl—
Waiting with ill-concealed impatience
To fulfil its grief-laden destiny.
◊
Obsession. The man spends weeks reading, night after night. Slowly, the book gives up its secrets—but it doesn’t feel peaceful. It feels like something is waking up.
ReplyDeleteAnd then we reach the storm...
To me this poem isn’t really about a book.
It’s about how uncovering deep truths—grief, memory, pain—can stir up more than we expect. And once they rise, they don’t always sit quietly.
The poem ends not with peace, but pressure. It doesn’t bring comfort. It brings consequence.
Well written and carefully composed. Thank you.
Ominous. Threatening. And wonderful.
ReplyDeleteOh, what a cliff-hanger! You've built such a scenario, such an atmosphere; now I want to know what happens next.
ReplyDeleteThe magic of books wonderfully opened here - and thank you for your words of encouragement at mine - Jae
ReplyDeleteWhat a charm with words , it's so picturesque
ReplyDeleteominous. waiting for more.
ReplyDeleteYour poem is gorgeous ~~~ beautifully composed and a great way to use the words you were given!
ReplyDeleteVery intriguing, dramatic and hypnotic.
ReplyDelete