The writers group I co-lead occasionally takes on special assignments to break up the routine. Believe it or not, even the creative process brings its own drudgery every now and then.
Recently, we tried our hands at “Flash Literature.”
We picked a completely random “prompt” from a batch of ten, then wrote whatever came to mind in fifteen minutes. As usual, the range of creativity in our group amazed and astounded me.
The second prompt — “Did you see that bright light in the sky last night?” — produced this short poem.
Not the best thing I’ve ever done, but not bad for fifteen minutes of work, plus a smidge of post-deadline polishing.
BRIGHT LIGHT
I saw it, did you?
The light in the sky
Last night, so bright
That the moon shaded
Its eyes
The light so bright that
lovers stopped loving just to take
A peek,
Unsure if it was
A beacon of their
Passion
Or the promise of
A new dawn at the
Night’s end
I saw it, did you?
The light in the sky
Last night, so bright it burned
My soul
Purple and green, crimson and gold,
Some say it’s just pollution, but to me
It looks a lot more like
Glory
Fifty and Counting 