read write prompt #76: changes

by Christine Swint

There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
– Anaïs Nin

Since today’s prompt is the last one I’ll be writing with Read Write Poem, I thought it would be apropos to write about change, or changes. I’m going through a few changes myself right now, with Ouroboros Review and Pindrop Press, the publishing ventures Jo Hemmant and I have begun, as well as a new course of study I’m beginning in the city where I live. These new developments mean I’ll need to stop writing prompts for a while.

Change is a constant aspect of life, which is a sort of paradox, isn’t it? Even though we aren’t always aware of it, it’s there, a ceaseless flow. You could write about molecular changes, changes in the weather, a change of heart, a transformation in a relationship, a spiritual awakening, or a change in direction. Writing about change is one of those all-purpose prompts that includes everything in the cupboard plus the kitchen sink.

When I think about change one of my favorite poems comes to mind, “Sailing to Byzantium” by William Butler Yeats. In this poem the speaker is on a quest to define and envision paradise and immortality. I think that’s what my changes are about.

Here is the penultimate stanza:
O sages standing in God’s holy fire
As in the gold mosaic of a wall,
Come from the holy fire, perne in a gyre,
And be the singing-masters of my soul.
Consume my heart away; sick with desire
And fastened to a dying animal
It knows not what it is; and gather me
Into the artifice of eternity.

Come back next Thursday, and leave us a link to your poem.

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