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The Ghost of a Flea - William Blake

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For Sara Jama's contest "Memories Lost Within A Frozen Mist"

parasitic it creeps between stage curtains floorboards collect grooves an advertised show that's bait & switch draws us in expected to stare into the near darkness whilst numbed & fed off by the small scale blood sucker it threw dice beneath the painted stars self assured enough to bet on itself yet now the blood bowl is drained the limelight holds a freezing mist of lost memories hidden from the spotlight the ghost of a flea lingers self soothing sustained by it's own defecation in the empty theatre reading tea leaves & tarot as evidence of it's righteousness ~ low life in low light ~

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Sara Jama

Date: 3/18/2025 5:10:00 PM

Thank you for writing on my prompt. Congratulations on placing. I loved how you took the prompt to a very abstract place. And the gritty imagery works perfectly. Blood bowl drained, darkly inventive.

Di11y Da11y
Date: 3/19/2025 5:42:00 AM

Thank you Sara, I knew that I could comfortably stretch into darker poetic terrain for your contest, so just went where the poem wanted to go without inhibitions on language. It's great to have you as a sponsor to encourage this type of exploration. Some of those words might be the one and only time I'll use them though lol

I Am Anaya

Date: 3/9/2025 10:41:00 AM

Compelling, Dilly. Such amazing detail for the peripheral eye in grooves of floorboards, the low life latching on, the blood letting, " reading tea leaves & tarot " etc. humanized. Spectacular, bravissimo. I love dark poems done-exceptionally well. Like music, I find poems healing from the atrocities of the world. We need them. Faving!

Di11y Da11y
Date: 3/9/2025 10:56:00 AM

Hurray! Thank you Anaya, there's all the detail in the painting and I just have to sit with it and see what jumps out. I know Sara likes darker poetry, so let more visceral elements free for this one. Poetry is certainly healing and allows us to process thoughts and feelings. Thank you for the fave, delighted to receive it :)

Arthur Vaso

Date: 3/9/2025 4:23:00 AM

beautiful poetry, and self righteous abounds here, one day we will care more for children than fancy words.

Di11y Da11y
Date: 3/9/2025 7:37:00 AM

Thank you for your praise on my poem Arthur.

David Kavanagh

Date: 3/9/2025 3:58:00 AM

If a picture is worth a thousand words, No need you’ve said it all in about a hundred Dilly, the human-like flea when out of blood (or in this case an audience) will sustain itself off its own faeces, Another spellbinding Ekphrasis that sheds real light, on self righteousness, (low life in low light indeed) A fave for me, cheers David

Di11y Da11y
Date: 3/9/2025 7:36:00 AM

Haha thanks David, sitting observing those fleas without engaging with them can be fascinating, but like you point out in your comment it boils down to rather simple and unappetising facts. Hopefully the flea circus will move along (and the dung beetle won't turn up in its wake). Love the fave, thanks for seeing beyond the excreta :)