The Daily Poem! #1 - Welcome

in #poetry6 years ago (edited)

The topic is the hardest part! Help! Your suggestions greatly appreciated 🖤

I've challenged myself to write a poem-a-day for the remainder of February (and maybe into March, we'll see how it goes...). Now that the Daily Doodle is a thing, and I know that I'm actually capable of creating and posting a brand new drawing each day, I'd like to see if I can do the same with poetry.

The hardest part for me is often coming up with a topic! So please, if there's something you'd like to read a poem about, post your idea in the comments below. No topic too trivial, too deep, or too weird. It could be anything from "the meaning of life" to "used bubble gum".

And now, without any further ado, here is today's poem:

Welcome

Familiarity
And belonging
Are two very different things.
You can have your favorite straitjacket
That seat on the bus you always go to
Insults worn so smooth
Through repetitive use
That their meaning is blunted.
You can stand in the corner
Facing the wall
And think about what you've done
And it can be comforting
same as yesterday
And most likely tomorrow.
But when you start to get an inkling
Of where you belong
It can be like boarding a spaceship
And traveling
Across the inky black ocean
In which stars
Meteors
Comets
Black holes and quasars
Swim like fish
And arriving
On a completely different
Fucking
Planet
And thinking:
I'm home

©2018 Bennett Italia

IOW COLOR MAP.png

Sort:  

What a nice poem! I will also publish a poem soon friend if you are interested! you have my support I wait for you on my blog

Thank you @Isabl09! Following you :)

I learned a lot from your poetry. really you have a good imagination to make a poem.

I really like.
thank you @bennettitalia for sharing

Thank you @elparsie, so glad you liked it! following you :)

Wasn't at all ready for that turn, @bennettitalia, loved how everything led to such an ambitious finish.

During the early stage of the poem, when you set out to establish the differences between belonging and familiarity, I was particularly struck by these lines:

Insults worn so smooth
Through repetitive use
That their meaning is blunted.

So often I come across vernacular used by myself or my friends that I have never stopped to truly evaluate, and which, when I do, I find myself disappointed with the true meaning and edge.

Really struck a thoughtful chord in my, Bennett, thank you for the share.

Thanks @carmalain7! Great feedback, I'm particularly glad to know that the ending was surprising :)

I'm fascinated by those moments of cognitive dissonance in my own internal experience, when I thought I understood the meaning of a thing, but it turns out to be something very different. Having a little bit of that right now, clearly :D

I can't get enough of that moment when confusion manifests epiphany, which to me is the essence of poetry.

As for the part about insults, it's interesting, that came to me last, after the straitjacket and the seat on the bus. I wanted a kind of cruelty that could become familiar, be woven into the fabric of daily life, and insults fit perfectly. So your commentary on that seems particularly relevant.

I had a much more polished comment on here, but I lost it when steemit flaked out on me. Anyway, the gist of it was that I liked it when you said "fuck". We don't say fuck enough in poems. <=====Hey, that makes a great title if I do say so myself. Sorry for being too lazy to re-write the better comment.

BTW
I still sing that black widow song in my head every time I see your name.

LMAO @moeknows I'm familiar with that situation! No worries, thanks for taking the time to comment, and for being so funny about it :D

I agree, we don't make use of profanity nearly enough in poems. I also agree that "We don't say fuck enough in poems" is a great title.

This poem, by one of my favorite poets, doesn't use the word "fuck", but it does have the word "penis" in the title... along with the word "pope"... https://genius.com/Sharon-olds-the-popes-penis-annotated

"My Pet Spider"! Hah I'm so glad you liked that one, and evilly gratified that it stuck in your head mwahahahahahah! >XD

Hey welcome to the Club :P I am writing at least a poem a day since I have joined here and I will be making this until I am here I hope ;0 So That is why I have created the Daily Dose :P I love it Daily :) This is the way to success for sure persistence is the key. If you need any ideas you can ask me anytime I got plenty from the never ending source :)

Hah! Thanks I may actually take you up on that :D

So glad to be a part of Poets United!

Good luck on writing a poem every day! I've been doing it since last December; it's a great challenge to defy even the greatest of writer blocks. Then, I love how you went to explain belonging into outer space. Anything so 'foreign' can yet be where we belong.

I love how drastic you went to show that familiarity is not belonging. Upright with the straitjacket, we just know it.

Thanks Jeremy! Glad you liked this one, and thank you for the encouragement... it's a little bit scary, but I think I can do it, two weeks is not a big commitment. On the other hand, I might get addicted and just keep doing it...

Well said. This elusive feeling captured succinctly.

Thanks @wandrnrose7, I'm so glad you liked it! Haven't been by to see you in a while, on my way over there now :)

Your Post Has Been Featured on @Resteemable!
Feature any Steemit post using resteemit.com!
How It Works:
1. Take Any Steemit URL
2. Erase https://
3. Type re
Get Featured Instantly � Featured Posts are voted every 2.4hrs
Join the Curation Team Here | Vote Resteemable for Witness

Another wonderful piece. It makes me think of the number of people who stay in abusive relationships because they don't know any other way to be. Sad then, triumphant. And fuck yeah, fuck needs to be used more in all literature in my humble opinion ;)

Lol ok, in that case both you and @moeknows are going to love tomorrow's piece ;D

Oooh! Foreshadowing...

You got a 18.29% upvote from @adriatik courtesy of @bennettitalia!

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.15
TRX 0.12
JST 0.025
BTC 56208.10
ETH 2476.58
USDT 1.00
SBD 2.26