Afraid
(words from first and last lines, Molly Peacock, The Second Blush)
In the dark basement,
in a numb swerve,
I was undone, senses
out of check,
hanging in a net.
Unseen, it could
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leap from behind —
my haunches bit. I’d be
dragged, head twisted
to its white eye. It
could break my neck.
In that ruddy green room,
fear lunged every time,
then died with the light.
This poem is part of a series, a prolonged challenge I set for myself. Vocabulary for each poem was taken from first and last lines of a poetry collection on my shelf. (The source appears beneath the poem’s title.) As I composed these, I allowed a couple diversions from the set vocabulary. I changed a verb tense or form of a word as needed. And on a few occasions, a word was added to complete a thought. I think of these as collage poems.
