The word: Bright

Antxon works as a lifeguard at the pool where my kids take swim lessons. When my little guy plunged too far from the edge, Antxon held out a pole to pull him back safely to the side.  

The Stranger: Antxon

The Word: Bright

The poem I wrote:

We are higher than the fog
can reach; you can get here
with a strong ladder but few
are so bold. Ten years and forty-six
stories below, churning, and
don’t think we haven’t looked down.
How can water be so many things?
People change like the ocean,
bright and deep, impossible
to know. I have wasted
my eyes looking for the shark.

The Challenge: Do you have a poem in you on this word? Write one here.

4 comments on “The word: Bright

  1. Run for Your Life

    Headlights probe the road but the road looks away.
    As if to say,
    “No way to see the future here,
    so near the border,
    dust in your eyes,
    spotlights so bright
    you can be blinded”

    And the blind hung on razor wire
    along that dirt road.
    Spotlights spun and paced
    as the dogs had taught,
    barking when they caught
    each others eyes.

    We watched another future
    run down from behind.
    The road said,
    “Learn to be prey,
    stuck in the sun,
    brown and running…
    toward,
    never from.”

  2. I slept all night
    with Sappho.

    The night nudged
    toward bright dawn,

    My knee touched
    her spine through a sheet.

    I’d fallen asleep
    reading poetry.

  3. Martin Mayland of Cedar Creek

    March 2, 2019 at 10:32 am Reply

    Bless His Heart

    He is one brick scant of a full load.
    A sandwich short of a picnic.
    His attic is a little dusty.
    Not playing with a full deck.
    His elevator stops before the top floor.
    He’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.
    With his brain in neutral, his mouth in gear,
    Shake your head at what he said.
    He might be dumb as a bag of hammers.
    Not the brightest crayon in the box.
    As a moron, he’s more than off.
    You can tell by the way he talks.
    In rock, paper, scissors
    He always goes for blunt force trauma
    Though scissors cut and papers cover,
    They do not have impacting drama.
    The lights are on but no one’s home.
    A few wigwams short of a reservation.
    Being clueless is his superpower
    Remaining worthy of preservation.
    In his body, no mean bones.
    At least, he’s not belligerent.
    You see him reaching for right words.
    What he says is not what’s meant.
    In spite of all, he means well
    And, though he tries just as he might,
    He always laughs at his shortcomings
    This is where his star shines bright!

  4. Worry
    Steals the bright light
    that resides within

    Dim the gray veil,
    Open the brocade curtain,
    Deliver your spontaneous lines of life

Write your Poem