My NanoPoblano2018 post for today is a poem I wrote in response to a prompt by Jessie Stevens. On her blog site, Behind the Willows, Jessie posted a picture prompt, a photo she took of a red gate latch, complete with a few mouse droppings. She said we could use the photo as a prompt to generate our own writing ideas, and I did. I’ve copied and pasted her picture prompt below, with her permission:
So now, here’s my poem, with apologies to poet William Carlos Williams. (Be sure to read his famous poem, The Red Wheelbarrow.)
THE RED GATE LATCH
So much depends
upon
a bright red
gate latch
decorated with mouse
droppings
beside the
tall trees
for instance:
if it had been blue
or even green
would the mice have
picnicked there?
and if it had been
v
e
r
t
i
c
a
l
instead of F L A T
where would they have put
their cheese?
and what about the
mouse music?
where would they have
sung their squeaky songs
and danced all night
to mini-violins
if not upon the flat red
dance floor?
where would they have
spun their partners?
twirled their tails?
and twitched their whiskers?
I like to think they
used the gate latch
as a stage, their
little crescent ears
casting furry shadows
on the bears and foxes
who watched them in
the moonlight.
loristory 