Fledgling
Nobody knew
when she stood Sunday still
and held her breath
and pumped her arms
really hard
with total concentration
that she could fly,
rising straight up
until she reached the place where she could swim the air,
because
even when she did it
in their presence,
they were always looking
in the wrong direction.
Until that night
at the dinner table
when everyone
had someone
to talk to
except her,
and so she rose into the busy air above the table
to hover
over
mashed potatoes
until
dessert.
The NaPoWriMo prompt was to write a poem that stretches your comfort zone with line breaks. That could be a poem with very long lines, or very short lines. Or a poem that blends the two. You might break to emphasize (or de-emphasize) sounds or rhymes, or to create a moment of hesitation in the middle of a thought.
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
A good one, J. Regarding the effectiveness of line breaks to help tell the story, this one’s particularly effective because it’s centered. Left margin alignment would detract from that effectiveness. Good choice.
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Thanks, Ron.
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You’ve succeeded very well! I’d have found it a difficult task, but you’ve come up with a neat poem as well as meeting those complicated prompt directions.
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Thanks, Christine. I haven’t liked this year’s prompts much, have you?
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I’m out of it altogether, barely keeping up reading posts I follow. Rather doing some sewing. 🙂
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“She stood Sunday still” — Love that! This poem beautifully speaks the heart of a fledgling girl. I have a 12-year old granddaughter who would fit this to a ‘T’.
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Aww this is beautiful! Sometimes it’s so hard when a child feels like she isn’t seen. My youngest feels that way sometimes so I try to be sure I’m watching when she tries to fly! ❤️
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I have a complicated relationship with mashed potatoes but I loved your poem.
I took my poetry-writing to the beach today after observing bunnies in the wild. Highly recommended:
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Mashed spuds and I are intimate friends.
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Hihihi.
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Love this one, really speaks to a fledglings’ angst.
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Very effective poem
Loved it
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