Line 1 is a short phrase or image. Line 2 is another short phrase or image using the same first word as line 1. Lines 3 and 4 start with the same word used as the last word of line 2. Then, lines 5 and 6 use the last word of line 4. This pattern is followed until line 48. Line 49 uses the last word in 48. Line 50 begins with the last word in line 47. The title is three words long. The title format is the first word of line 3, a preposition or conjunction, and the first word of 47. You can’t use any punctuation. Luckily, these poems don’t need to rhyme. This poetic adventure will either be a lot of fun or leave me frustrated. I almost made it, but I came down with COVID. This poem I will call Festivals and Path. It’s the first piece of writing I did for almost a month.
Festivals and Path
Maple Leaf Crème Cookies
Maple Syrup free fall festivals
Festivals doting the Indiana countryside
Festivals with Blue Grass music
Music played with pride
Music erupting in the crisp air
Air-filled with a sweet fragrance
Air light and breezy
Breezy with leaves falling from trees
Breezy with a hint of a new romance
Romance to warm the long winter nights
Romance to quake a cold heart
Heart and soul of summer passing away
Heart that beats in expectation of a new day
Day of sunshine to warm the cold
Day of courage to stand bold
Bold in the promise of the potential of change
Bold beyond the passage of time
Time that waits for no one
Time you can never retrieve
Retrieve once the minutes are spent
Retrieve and recklessly repent
Repent of the seconds squandered
Repent of the dreams left buried
Buried and burned like cast off leaves
Buried in shallow graves awaiting resurrection
Resurrection because they never died
Resurrection to take on a new life
Life beyond the fallacy of perfection
Life pointed in a new direction
Direction divided by a road that’s twisted
Direction forged in the curves of a dream
Dream that led you down a tangled path
Dream of words dancing in your head
Head of a poet searching for words
Head of a woman clinging to creativity
Creativity as fragile as the falling leaves
Creativity as elusive as wisdom
Wisdom that is so hard to find
Wisdom to know the right path to travel
Travel to the end of the twisty road
Travel until there is no other way to go
Go until you can’t walk anymore
Go until you know it’s the end of the path
Path littered with fall leaves up to your knee
Path where you know you are blessed and free
Free
Knee
Who is Molly Shea?
Molly Shea is an accomplished fictional short story writer from Indiana who writes short stories and novels about a fictional town called Tecumseh. To read more of her short stories and adventures, click here.
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