For Big Tent Poetry Prompt : rewrite personal history
http://bigtentpoetry.org/2010/09/come-one-come-all-september-10/#comments
No
That’s what I said
and meant it,
as you bowed
your head, slid
eyes aside, took
deep breath
as if getting ready
to speak a piece
of mind intended
to over ride, change
mine.
No
What? You want me
to add a please, cut it
off at the knees, bend
it to a maybe, and then
maybe to the yes
you expected because
you won’t accept
anything less?
No
No fancy banners
of exclamation
or explanation. No
openings, just one
closing, and that
without a period
No
It’s beautiful
in simplicity, needs
no complicity
while standing there
alone not prone
to other
interpretations.
No
I’m liking this.
Might be late
in coming, but
now its humming,
demanding its freedom
at last. The past is gone
behind us now and you
should know
I’m neither friend
nor foe,
just me, finally free
to say,
No
Elizabeth Crawford 9/10/10
Soul's Music 
In Alanon they say, “No is a complete sentence.” Very often something like that is what we should have said.
Christopher, I like that quote, only wish I’d heard it long ago. I’ve been far too busy couching my words reaching for something unattainable.
Elizabeth
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Elizabeth, I just love this poem. This is you putting your foot down with a vengeance! Good on you, and keep doing it with you know who.
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Viv, I think that’s why I had to sort of walk all the way around the word, stopping at every angle to see if it was still standing, lol. Thanks for your support and encouragement.
Elizabeth
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Pity it is late in coming but now you’ll always be able to be you! Really enjoyed how you wrote this Elizabeth.
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Derrick, we good little Catholic girls are trained to bend ourselves until we break. If only we could all break into a No. Glad you enjoyed,
Elizabeth
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I like that this (how it reads, words, rhythm) feels heavy and yet light at the same time – obviously not one of those writings where writer is still in the process of trying to convince self. Bravo! And I don’t know, it almost goes without saying now, I suppose, that you write for me too… 😉
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Ruth, thank you again, for understanding. I did write out some process, which turned into a process poem and was going to put it up to clarify this one. Then decided this one must of itself, stand alone. And I write for anyone who has not yet found the freedome to speak for themselves, just as you do my friend. I refuse to forget what that feels like, and hope I never will.
Elizabeth
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Yes! The downbeat of those important “no’s” is so great here–they help the poem build to its end, such good rhythms.
Thank you, eskenosen. The number is important as well, but only to me. Glad you enjoyed it,
Elizabeth
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free to say no! great response to the prompt!
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Thanks Carolee, I almost skipped this one altogether. I do have a tendency to go still and quiet when its personally important not to do so. This is an excellent prompt, but then they have all been.
Elizabeth
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No, it’s so easy to say, yet so hard to escape our mouths sometimes. Excellent work! =)
-Weasel
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Weasel, I loved your spiral meaning and find it here in my own No, and all the feelings you expressed as well. This prompt certainly got down below the skin of things, didn’t it?
Elizabeth
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Elizabeth
Now I love this! The hardest thing for me to say sometimes is `No`
Pamela
And the longer the relationship, the harder it gets, sometimes. This may very well be my Declaration of Independence. I am so tired of the cardboard cutouts some people wish to place in front of me and then are disappointed when I won’t stay put. I’ve had these moments before, and need to remember each and evey one of them, now. Thanks Pamela, glad you like it. I do too, lol.
Elizabeth
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Wonderful and doubly so! Good for you!
Thank you, Tumblewords. I am actually feeling that freedom, with each poem I read today and each comment I find here. It’s a very good day. To the prompts!!!!!!!!!!!!
Elizabeth
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Elizabeth, this is a strong poem. NO NO NO. Nothing more. You had reached your limits, needed to put your foot down. NO …unashamedly no.
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Oh Mary, you bring up a good point. Why is there a sense of shame and guilt in saying no. In admitting that one has reached ones limits. We all have that right, but don’t practice it or use it until pushed to it, it seems. Thank you for hearing this one.
Elizabeth
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This is one tough poem, showing how you refuse retaliation. You go, Eliabeth, go, go, go! You are an asset to all of us!
Diane, thank you. As long as you realize that I ususally go pretty slow, and sometimes need a cane to get there, lol. But, an asset now, I kinda like that one. Kudo box here we come. Thank you much,
Elizabeth
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Yes! I enjoyed it. Yes, I did. There is a lot of power in saying no, and I love what you did with the prompt.
Thanks Nan. I’m glad you enjoyed and I certainly must agree about the power in saying no. And I struggled with the prompt for most of the week, but after reading so many other’s responses, it felt good that I was far from alone in doing that. These prompts are getting more and more impressive.
Elizabeth
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There’s a syncopation in this poem—and I love how the narrator of the poem becomes strongr as the poem progresses. No is defiantly no.
Hi Linda, and yes it certainly is. It seemed like the words wanted to march all around it and expect it closely for any flaws. Certainly am glad they didn’t find them, lol. And you are right about the narrator’s progress, I could feel it growing as it worked its way to that conclusion. Thanks for reading and commenting,
Elizabeth
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Saying no is so liberating…
crooked window
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Yes and that liberation can be far more than communicative in nature. It is freeing to the mind and the heart, and even to the soul. I don’t think we even begin to realize how much we bind ourselves in knots when we try to avoid what may be inevitable by saying that word. It doesn’t necessarily mean that we must cut ourselves off from anyone or anything, but perhaps free ourselves to be better who we are by doing so. Thanks gautami, I’m always glad to see you here,
Elizabeth
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It takes guts to say no and mean it.
Thanks Tillybud, and I agree, but also think it takes other things as well. Like a change in what we have been programmed to believe is right and good. Just as many women have been taught that anger is not appropriate, many have been taught that saying no is selfish and wrong. And because anger is often the first impulse to say no, it is doubly hard to do so.
Elizabeth
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Like the tempo of this, how your “no” on the page supports the other ideas. Terrific idea well executed. Yes to no!
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Deb, thanks for taking the time to read and comment. I wasn’t exactly sure how this was going to fall out on the page, just knew it was going to begin with the word NO and end with it, as well. Once I started it all fell into place rather easily. And thank you for showing your appreciation.
Elizabeth
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This is powerful. Something I can identify with in more ways than I’m ready to say.
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EK, thank you for your honest response. I think there are many who can identify on some level. the socialization process is meant to make us into good citizens who don’t break the rules. A no, is often seen as a breaking of the rules, whether that’s between two individuals or groups. And that might be a good thing in some senses. Maybe it should be difficult to come by the no’s in our existence. They certainly have deep consequences.
Elizabeth
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