abandoned beautiful child wandering like a lost leaf
all she can do is quiver as rain splinters fall like a river
her name was Clara and she has scary thoughts chimera
she has "tattered, tangled, tatty" hair with eyes aching
she is "hungry, hunched, hurt" a fragment in a chasm abysm
"dangerous, dark, daunting" doorways she seeks as a sleeping place
frail, gaunt, helpless her spirit is disconnected and broken_
in the morn' dead on the cement . . . ending her torment
_________________________
September 12, 2022
Poetry/Verse/FRAGMENT
Copyright Protected, ID 09-1486-757-12
All Rights Reserved, 2022, Constance La France
Written for the Standard contest, 'The A's Have It '
sponsor, Joseph May, Judged 10/02/2022
Fourth Place
Categories:
chimer, child, lost,
Form: Verse
a double acrostic
S - Scared to death, I dreaded failures
E - Exams in high school were formidable.
L - Leery as I was, my final grades were phenomenal
F - Finishing with a B- average I stood in disbelief.
A - A little less shaky, I headed to higher academia;
C - College-life was stressful but I refused to panic.
T - Test taking became part of becoming an adult.
U - University structure was a different milieu;
A - Actually I finally got rid of the false chimera
L - Learning who I was and liking how it made me feel.
I - Independence was not the roadblock that I
Z - Zeroed in on as an unsure teenage klutz.
A - Actualization is a work in progress. My agenda
T - Takes on a different focus now; I am less of a pessimist.
I - I graduated with a new motto, a kind of alibi -
O - Occasional failure is not an opportunity to forego
N - New learning experiences because of intimidation.
written Nov. 10, 2016
Categories:
chimer, growing up, meaningful,
Form: Acrostic