Poems

The Words Got Him

7 Comments

I found this nasty little poem lurking in my archives. I thought better than to share it at the time I wrote it, but now, well… What the hell? I feel like living dangerously. I dare you to read it.

The Words Got Him

Inspiration struck
In the middle of the night
Then it just kept striking
It didn’t care who it hurt

Sylvia Plath counted sheep in the oven
Anne Sexton lost count in the garage
Virginia Woolf slipped on her favorite coat
And lined her pockets full of rocks
Hart Crane dove in after her
Spalding Gray dove in after him
Then inspiration just kept striking

Hemingway sat at the dinner table
And ate himself a shotgun
Hunter S. Thompson said,
“I’ll have what he’s having.”

Maybe Edgar Allen Poe
Just had a little too much laudanum
But maybe, just maybe
The words got him

7 thoughts on “The Words Got Him”

  1. Monique Desir – Monique L. Desir was born and raised in Florida. She's an educator who hasn’t quite figured out how to escape the Sunshine State and is surviving and thriving within its alligator-infested clutches with her husband and three sons. The daughter of West Indian parents (Haitian father, Jamaican mother), she loves learning about different cultures, languages and people. She binge-watches forensic television shows and Soca dances until she glows! Why? So she can have seconds on cake! Her stories have been published in FIYAH Literary Magazine, Nightlight Podcast, Colorism Essays and Poems anthology Volume 2, and Rivière Blanche's 2019 Dimension Uchronie short story anthology, and forthcoming in The Dread Machine. Find her on Twitter @moniquedesir.
    Monique Desir says:

    Dare taken, Drew. It’s dark, but it comes from a place of truth and sadness that a lot of writers may experience at some time in their lives. I enjoyed it, Drew. ::cyber fist bump::

    Reply
    1. drewchial – When Drew Chial was very young, he found an attic hidden in his bedroom closet. He discovered it investigating an indentation in the ceiling, nudging it with a broom, until it fell inward. There was no stepladder for him to climb, so he scaled the shelves. Shining his flashlight, he found a long triangular hall, twice the length of his bedroom. Every surface was coated in pink insulation that made his skin itch. Creeping into the basement, Drew stole a sleeping bag that he unrolled on the attic floor. He set a tiny aluminum lock box on top of it. This is where he hid the things he wrote. Now Drew hides them in plain sight.
      drewchial says:

      Thank you kindly. ::cyber fist bump back at you::

      Reply
  2. SBibb – Stephanie Flint (formerly Stephanie Bibb) graduated from the University of Central Missouri with a Bachelor of Science in photography and a minor in creative writing. She merged the two interests into book cover design and photographic illustration, but she particularly enjoys writing speculative fiction. She writes The Wishing Blade series, a young adult fantasy, and she co-authored Distant Horizon, a young adult dystopian thriller. Stephanie lives with her husband, Isaac. Together they plot stories in the form of tabletop role-play games, and they enjoy the occasional cosplay. Online, Stephanie often goes by the nickname of SBibb.
    SBibb says:

    Interesting play on words. Inspiration struck and just kept striking…

    Dark poem, but I wonder how long it’s going to take for me to disassociate that pun from the usual meaning of the phrase.

    Reply
    1. drewchial – When Drew Chial was very young, he found an attic hidden in his bedroom closet. He discovered it investigating an indentation in the ceiling, nudging it with a broom, until it fell inward. There was no stepladder for him to climb, so he scaled the shelves. Shining his flashlight, he found a long triangular hall, twice the length of his bedroom. Every surface was coated in pink insulation that made his skin itch. Creeping into the basement, Drew stole a sleeping bag that he unrolled on the attic floor. He set a tiny aluminum lock box on top of it. This is where he hid the things he wrote. Now Drew hides them in plain sight.
      drewchial says:

      Yeah I pretty much turned Inspiration into a serial killer.

      Reply
      1. SBibb – Stephanie Flint (formerly Stephanie Bibb) graduated from the University of Central Missouri with a Bachelor of Science in photography and a minor in creative writing. She merged the two interests into book cover design and photographic illustration, but she particularly enjoys writing speculative fiction. She writes The Wishing Blade series, a young adult fantasy, and she co-authored Distant Horizon, a young adult dystopian thriller. Stephanie lives with her husband, Isaac. Together they plot stories in the form of tabletop role-play games, and they enjoy the occasional cosplay. Online, Stephanie often goes by the nickname of SBibb.
        SBibb says:

        That does seem to be the case.

  3. Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes – united kingdom – we are 'silver surfers' and writers of fiction, proving every day that you are never too old to have fun!
    jenanita01 says:

    I can see why you hesitated… I feel the emotion this poem embraces, and wish I didn’t…

    Reply
    1. drewchial – When Drew Chial was very young, he found an attic hidden in his bedroom closet. He discovered it investigating an indentation in the ceiling, nudging it with a broom, until it fell inward. There was no stepladder for him to climb, so he scaled the shelves. Shining his flashlight, he found a long triangular hall, twice the length of his bedroom. Every surface was coated in pink insulation that made his skin itch. Creeping into the basement, Drew stole a sleeping bag that he unrolled on the attic floor. He set a tiny aluminum lock box on top of it. This is where he hid the things he wrote. Now Drew hides them in plain sight.
      drewchial says:

      Yeah, I was feeling at little fatalistic back when I wrote it.

      Reply

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