At Mid Point

For 1sojournal NaPoWriMo Poetry Prompt #29: Day 29
http://1sojournal.wordpress.com/

tiger, pain, healthy, drifted, tomes, drug, cheated, baths, voracious, space, seek, boulder, skin, breeze, scent, swaying, mesmerized, admiration, habitat,
grace, epitome, haunches, bidding, stunned, sent, secret

At Mid-Point

A secret untold
waiting to be unraveled,
like a scroll made of thinly tanned
skin, or fine linen parchment.

A boulder that moved,
grew into bright green dragon
who said his name was Peter
meaning rock.

A habitat for voracious reader
seeking grace from pain,
safe, healthy space to nurture,
life lived within it.

A creative fire of words
with need of being written.
Giving breath and warmth
to a soul in search of expression.

A river of ink where owned
words built raft that drifted
on waves of scent, sight,
and sound.

A butterfly of transformation
finally set free to flutter
from one satisfying sweetness
to another.

All bits of story revealed by gentle
tiger who came at his own bidding,
chose to stay, mesmerizing middle-aged
woman with his wealth of abiding wisdom.

Elizabeth Crawford 4/29/14

Notes: This final word list came from an essay I wrote about spontaneously creating my Personal Mythology. That essay may be found here: http://1sojournal.wordpress.com/2008/12/13/a-tiger-named-pain/

Yesterday the words led me to write of my beginnings as a lover of written words, a seeker of information and understanding. It only made sense to try to continue in that vein by writing about the middle piece of my story where I discovered that Mythology and how that in turn, transformed a reader into a writer who taught others to do the same. If I am honest, I would have admit that I would be the last person to think I would begin to write poetry, but I did. For me, it was simply the cheapest therapy. These word lists are posted for three days, which made me think of how any good story (or piece of writing), must own three elements: a beginning, a middle, and an ending. And I think it’s a great way to end this year’s journey for NaPoWriMo, which is completed tomorrow. The image is one of my digital paintings titled The Burning Bush.