Remember when Howard Beale implored people to stick the head out of the window and yell, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” in the classic Network? The thunder rolling in the backdrop as voices were heard calling out their anger all over the country, punctuated the sound sharp cries of their distress. Without that rain and the thunder, the scene wouldn’t have had as much impact.
It wouldn’t have had as much impact without that rainy weather. In Alanis Morisette’s song, “Ironic” she mentioned rain on your wedding, which for some brides would be an absolute disaster. Others, may be tempted to kick off their heels and dance in the storm.
You’ve definitely seen the weather impact life events in your life as well. On a winter’s night when you’re curled on the couch with a cup of cocoa, the snow falling outside makes it all feel that much more cozy.
Let’s write a poem about weather impacting an occasion and making the moment that much stronger. Whether it’s more intimate, more secure, just more. Remember, we’re potentially looking at these poems submitted for the anthology. What is this, you ask? Learn more about it here. Be sure to backlink your posts or share your link in the comments below.
Sometimes a piece of music touches us and inspires us in amazing ways, and while sometimes we let you find your own music to inspire you, today I have chosen a piece for you.
Lukas Graham’s song, 7 Years, travels through one man’s life and through an unknown future. I love the way he marks the passage of time with certain ages and specific things that were said to him at that age:
Once I was eleven years old my daddy told me
Go get yourself a wife or you’ll be lonely
Once I was eleven years old
I will post the lyrics and video below for those that haven’t heard the song yet. I want you to let this inspire you. Think to a specific age, to your thoughts and hopes and aspirations as that age, to the advice given you then. Write about it.
Remember you have until Friday to submit your entry by either leaving it in the comment section below or linking back to this post. All entries will be considered for the second edition of the anthology.
Anthology submissions are open. Please submit here.
Write for Us submissions are also open. You can submit here for that.
7 Years by Lukas Graham
Once I was seven years old my momma told me Go make yourself some friends or you’ll be lonely Once I was seven years old
It was a big big world, but we thought we were bigger Pushing each other to the limits, we were learning quicker By eleven smoking herb and drinking burning liquor Never rich so we were out to make that steady figure
Once I was eleven years old my daddy told me Go get yourself a wife or you’ll be lonely Once I was eleven years old
I always had that dream like my daddy before me So I started writing songs, I started writing stories Something about that glory just always seemed to bore me ‘Cause only those I really love will ever really know me
Once I was 20 years old, my story got told Before the morning sun, when life was lonely Once I was 20 years old
I only see my goals, I don’t believe in failure ‘Cause I know the smallest voices, they can make it major I got my boys with me at least those in favor And if we don’t meet before I leave, I hope I’ll see you later
Once I was 20 years old, my story got told I was writing about everything, I saw before me Once I was 20 years old Soon we’ll be 30 years old, our songs have been sold We’ve traveled around the world and we’re still roaming Soon we’ll be 30 years old
I’m still learning about life My woman brought children for me So I can sing them all my songs And I can tell them stories Most of my boys are with me Some are still out seeking glory And some I had to leave behind My brother I’m still sorry
Soon I’ll be 60 years old, my daddy got 61 Remember life and then your life becomes a better one I made a man so happy when I wrote a letter once I hope my children come and visit, once or twice a month
Soon I’ll be 60 years old, will I think the world is cold Or will I have a lot of children who can warm me Soon I’ll be 60 years old Soon I’ll be 60 years old, will I think the world is cold Or will I have a lot of children who can warm me Soon I’ll be 60 years old
Once I was seven years old, momma told me Go make yourself some friends or you’ll be lonely Once I was seven years old
It’s time for a new wordle! This week, I’ve taken words from one of our editor’s books, The Shaping of an Angry Black Womanby Tamara Woods. There is no set amount of words you have to use, and you can use any form of the word listed below (plural, past tense, etc.)
Here are you words:
drippings
splinters
fickle
barcode
articulate
quivering
accusing
lipstick
DNA
jail
witches
kiss
mimicry
She woke in sleek lines and snapping tendons,
eyes parting on lavender fields – this sudden
awakening was ally to the bundle of lines
there, at the corner of her mouth.
Her smile lit the edges of dark shadows
and chased with the light of our sin
any chance of absolution with this sunrise.
I buried the sunlight in the
heat that gathered at her chest and
ravaged her cheeks, until red flags
possessed her and the purity of her skin
was wiped clean by kissing lips
and sympathetic fingers…
I tripped along the image of a Robin,
that she was named for,
red-breasted as
the heat of emotion and languid
tongue rolling along her ethereal length
left her – skin glistening and shining
bright as a cherry,
and I, parting her hair and twisting each lock
like twine around my finger,
I dug a wry glimpse of the divine from under
the crinoline of her lashes where
the clear depths of her regret
were washed free with each faltering
grasp at the edge of the precipice.
She woke in sleek lines and snapping tendons,
an abrupt fall from slumber to present,
from plummeting to bursting.
Written in response to this week’s prompt: Name It. Were you able to come up with a love poem this week? Did you find inspiration in a name? Let’s see them!
I remember when it came time to think of names for my children how certain names would remind my husband and I of people we had known. Sometimes those names brought pretty harsh emotions along with them. My husband still hates the name Zack, all because some of some guy with that name he went to school with.
The point is, there is power in a name. I want you to write a love poem today. I want something gushy and romantic and beautiful…
And I want you to write it with a name you despise. I want you to write it to that “person.”
Remember to leave it in the comments below, or leave a link to it so we can all read your work!
So last week we gave you thirteen romantic words and then asked you not to write us a romantic poem. It can be challenging to make words we normally associate with certain emotions work the other way around for us. In the same spirit of opposites attract, here are thirteen more words.
They aren’t romantic, but we want romance from you. Take these words and make us feel the love.
Remember to share the prompt and that every poem linked up for the week will be considered for this issue of the magazine. Submissions are now open, so send in your best work!
1. apathy
2. animosity
3. indifference
4. disdain
5. hatred
6. merciless
7. cowardice
8. fear
9. disloyal
10. lie
11. fake
12. broken
13. misery
The Reverie 