Saturday, September 10, 2011

A Dark and Stormy Blog Chain



It's Blog Chain time again! This time the lovely Christine decided to get our creative gears rolling. Here is her topic:

Since we are all writer's, I thought it was about time for us to stretch our creative muscles and do a little writing. So, take the following topic and go crazy! Show us what you've got. 
Your story can be as long or as short as you choice. 

The topic: A dark and stormy night.

Okay...since I have incredibly lax on doing anything poetry related lately, I decided to do a sestina. (For those who don't know what that is, a sestina is a poem that has six 6 line stanzas and an envoi. The ending words in each line of each stanza follow a specific repeating pattern and the three line envoi uses all six words (usually two words per line) The lines usually contain 10 syllables each. ) :)

Anyhow...I've been really sick this week and with the flooding out in my neck of the woods the kids have been home from school all week. So...I'm definitely not bringing my A game LOL But...here you go:


****

We are hidden in the dark, moonless night.
I welcome the rain as it strikes my face,
cool drops washing away my tears, my blood.
“Breathe,” he pleads, his lips brushing mine. “Please breathe.”
I shudder, my breath escaping at his
command. “For you,” I sigh, “only for you.”

He holds me. “I won’t let them reclaim you.”
Shouts roll with the thunder through the night.
Only one life matters to me now. His.
“You must leave me.” The horror on his face
breaks my heart, but he must run. “Go,” I breathe.
They can’t find him with me, covered in blood -

Mine, his…theirs. His pained howl rips through my blood,
burns his image on my soul. “I love you,”
I whisper, shattered, unwilling to breathe,
unable to stop. They’re coming, the night
rife with vengeance. Once more I touch his face.
“Go!” I cry. One last look and he runs, his

tortured fury echoing through me, his
pain my own. They come, find me bathed in blood.
“Where is he?” they ask. But I turn my face.
They lift me. “Your father’s waiting for you.”
Others fan out, searching into the night.
They won’t find him. He’s gone…and I can’t breathe.

They carry me through dark forests. I breathe
grudgingly, praying the storm hides him, his
trail. My father’s fortress looms in the night
and too soon I am before him. My blood
freezes. “Thought you could run from me, did you?”
His drawn sword scrapes across my face.

They drag in my love; blood drains from my face.
Our eyes lock and I forget how to breathe.
Father’s rage unleashes. “Traitors! Both of you!”
The sword strikes, but my eyes never leave his.
Father screams, his vengeance soaked in our blood.
He fades. I see only my love, my knight.

“I love you,” we whisper. He strokes my face.
Our blood mingles, our lives entwine, mine and his.
The night is ours. And one last time…we breathe.

****

There are some really great entries on this chain, so I'd highly recommend starting from the beginning with Christine's post. Our fabulous new member PK posted before me, and another awesome new member, Tere, will post tomorrow.

11 comments:

Sandra Ulbrich Almazan said...

Very impressive!

Michelle H. said...

Wow. I never heard of this type of poetry before. Nicely done!

PK HREZO said...

Wow, very nice stuff there, Michelle! Chilling and poetic at the same time. I love it!

Becky Mahoney said...

I have mad respect for anyone who can pull off a sestina - the only one I ever attempted was probably the worst poem I've ever written! This is lovely and chilling. Excellent work!

Christine Fonseca said...

I KEEP telling you - WRITE A NOVEL IN VERSE!!!

Jonathon Arntson said...

That was extraordinary. I think you should definitely draft a novel in verse - it suits you.

Eric said...

I don't know what I'm more amazed at - the beautiful structure or the quality of the content. This is an incredible job, Michelle!

Oh, and I had never heard of anything like this before (being the uneducated literary guy on the chain LOL), but I really admire the skill it takes to craft such a thing. You pulled it off.

Matthew MacNish said...

I can't believe I missed this! As usual, I'm a moron.

Luckily, also as usual, you rocked it!

Kate Karyus Quinn said...

Ooooh, tingles on that last line!

Unknown said...

Beautiful, Michelle. That was really wonderful and chilling.

Abby Annis said...

So beautiful! Great job, Michelle! :)