Move him gently
Anything might rouse him now.
No prayers nor bells
Nor any voice of mourning.
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells,
And bugles calling.
I should die, I think.
His face bears a wrinkled smile of completeness.
From this heart: all evil shed away.
But his sights and sounds; dreams happy as day;
And laughter?
Is he so hard to stir? Was it for this
That he slept at all?
Did he sleep at all for this?
(Written in response to Writing Challenge 201: Found Poem. This is a kind of poetry composed of words and letters you’ve collected from elsewhere, and arranged in a way that it gives a different message. Our theme for this was “faces”, which I’ve used in two ways. One is the face of this person in my family that I saw yesterday. He is awake but he is not awake. He is just….there. Second is the face of the greater thing that leaves us all helpless before it. Nature, death, disease. Anything like that.
Our assignment also included the task of adding a chiasmus which is a reversal in lyrics. I invented one in the last line. Apart from that, the words of this poem have been taken from four random classical poems of English literature including Futility, Beautiful Old Age, The Soldier, and Anthem for Doomed Youth.)
Randomly Abstract 
:O Mind blown.
Honestly, I’m proper dumbfounded.
Heeey. Thank you so much. Matlab. ❤
I won’t comment much on how good your poem is, because it is. However, what impressed me most was the work that went behind to compile those specific phrases. Selecting the words from a fixed sample that exactly fit your idea must be really difficult. I’m amazed.
And I admire whoever came up with this challenge. It’s quite brilliant.
Thanks a million! I am so glad you like this.
Also, Ben Huberman is the man behind these challenge ideas – all for a poetry course (writing201, as you may have heard it) hosted by WordPress.
It means much to me that you commented.
Oh, okay. Pehli baar suna hai. I’ll look it up.
And don’t mention it. It’s good stuff.
🙂
Speechless. I liked the idea behind this poem very much
Hey there, thank you so much! I am glad you like the idea.
Ria, this is beautiful. I sit in awe. 🙂
And I, in humble gratitude. 🙂
Thank you so much. Maria x
I LOVED this!
Heyyy.
Thank you so much. 🙂 I hope you’re good.
Kind wishes and peace!
I have been reading this over and over again for the past 2 hours. Although I haven’t forgotten a single moment from the night my father passed away, been reliving it since then but this… I am unable to put it words what they truly made me feel. Your writings have always been so relate-able that too without any difficulty. This one was like it embraced me or I really don’t know how to put it. I am sorry
written beautifully!
Sahrish ❤
You don't have to put it in words. Your comment is moving enough with your feelings.
I wish I could just hug you right now.
Love you much. Inna ma'al usri yusra! He is yours.
Best wishes. xx
Thankyou so much Maria! ❤
Reblogged this on Lost amidst chaos… and commented:
I have been reading this over and over again for the past 2 hours. Although I haven’t forgotten a single moment from the night my father passed away, been reliving it since then but this… I am unable to put it words what they truly made me feel. Maria’s writings have always been so relate-able that too without any difficulty. This one was like it embraced me or I really don’t know how to put it. I am sorry
written beautifully as always!
Oh wow, yours turned out amazing. I missed this the other day
Thanks a million! x
“From his heart, all the evil shed away.”
Amazing line.
And really your imagination works in mind blowing ways. Very well written. A nice collection of phrases.
Jazakillah! ❤ You should try "found poetry" too. All these different forms are so challenging, but once you do it there is this inexplicable feeling of putting something out of yourself into a different shade of that same color. I am glad you like this. 🙂