Friday….
Read about the Sunday scribbling writing prompt. To chronicle. Thinking about it.
Saturday....
Still no idea. Mind is closed up.
Sunday morning....
Still blank. Staring at the screen. Something forms.
One day in the life of a chalk…
After the assembly
I can hear her footsteps.
In anticipation
I await for her to
pick me up.
my friends get picked.
I watch her fingers moving
with fast pace
on the blackboard.
explaining there;
depicting formulae
of sums unknown
to me or them.
but how! Feeling
a slimy hand crushing
me to splinters,
powdered to dust.
............................................................................
49 comments:
interesting -- visited that blog and it looks like fun to me :)
I'm never going to look at chalk the same way again. I'll be sure my hands are the most respectfully dry when picking one up. :)
gautami,
I had the same thoughts as I pondered the prompt for today. My box of creativity was locked up and I misplaced the key.
I enjoyed your chalk poem very much.
rel
Poor, poor Mr. Chalk!! My kind of poem!!
I also enjoyed your chalk poem. It was beautifully crafted.
Of course, my warped imagination (or lack thereof) would have steered me in an entirely different direction:
"Chalk"
Tracing and placing
Giving one-dimensional boundary
to a multi-dimensional shape
From a form of existence
in this existence no more
Starkly the chalkline reveals
one fact from the case
Where the vessel wound up
in time and in space
Spirit released into limitless sky
Point no finger at me
I have an alibi
Wow, very powerful last stanza.
Thank you for visiting my blog and for your comment.
That poem reminds of being little and in school and feeling so left out at times... very powerful.
Gautami- that was weird! I was commenting to you at the same time you were commenting on my blog!
I am sorry for the loss of your father, too- I can't even imagine living 5 more years without mine...
makes me think and takes me back
life was never quite the same for me when we changed to white boards and marker pens
Thank you for coming by my blog!
Like you I had a hard time with this post to...I decided to go with color, and I see you went wiht chalk! Both give way to ideas!
Your poem was perfect for the challenge!
hee hee... I skipped right past the title of your poem for some reason, and was wondering if you were quite mad or just being incredibly angsty... until I hit the last, very puzzling line. Eh? I look at the title, and laugh out loud. Nice work!
andrew: It is an interesting site. Atleast it gives us something to think about.
gogo: Chalks are very precious for teachers. At least in India. I do not like it whn my students break and throw chalks at each other.
remimem: You will find the key, no doubt. Just don't think much about it.
pat: believe me, I thought of you when I wrote that!
puerileuwaite: You chalk poem is beautiful. The same mundane boring piece of chalk gives us varied ideas and thoughts. Do lkeep writing.
waspgoddess: Thanks. I liked your post too. You too are welcome here.
regina: I know what you mean. I am still in school but on the otherside!
It is very painful but we survive against all odds. I miss my dad but I know he always wanted me to be happy and full of life. So I try to follow all that he taught me.
floots: those days of white board and marker will take a long time to come. Till then I do with cracked, chipped BB and dusty chalks!
tongue in cheek antiques: Your posts are too good. I loved the pictures. Glad I visited you from SS. Chalk and colour serve the same purpose. Creativity!
Very imaginative take on the prompt! Well done.
How fun! I have always had a habit of anthropomorphizing things -- I think it goes back to how my mother used to tell us the cows would cry if we didn't drink our milk! So I sometimes DO find myself feeling sorry for inanimate objects, especially ones like your little chalk that didn't get to fulfill its desitny!!
I fine trick. The almost invisible ink of the title. I like exploring the powerful effect of words on our perception. I sometimes use titles as you did in this case, and in other ways. Enjoyed.fgxabr
:-]
i got a new prompt
for myself....
Nice job with a prompt that apparently gave many of us more challenge than usual. Chalk has a delicious place in art work and is unsurpassed for hop-scotch on sidewalks, but, as a teacher I was not sorry to change to white boards and their colored markers---so much easier on one's clothes.
Forgive me if this posts twice, just delete one. It didn't save on my first try.
Yes, yes, just so, like that, this be progression toward silly...
Really, really good stuff...much enjoyed.
powerful stuff... takes me many years back...
well done, gautami!
I love that last verse. i can feel it
slimy hand crushing me to splinters.
Nice.
I liked trying on the chalk perspective. Your Friday, Saturday, Sunday musings could have been from the chalk as well.
Cool.
made me remember a song,
Paladins - Five Minute Love Affair.
similar theme :)
Thanks so much for visiting me.
Reading posts like yours is what makes joining a group like this so much fun.
I can almost hear the chalk's voice.
See you next week
You did a wonderful job on this poem, Gautami!
I enjoyed it very much!
Margie
Oh! Is this an example of "Be careful for what you wish?" The poor chalk waited all it's life and now it's gone :-). Very clever Gautami.
You have such a way with words, Gautami, I really enjoyed reading the chalk chronicles!
Chalk popped in your head, you went with it and it worked ;)
There is a lot there, though you say you are not satisfied with it. It seems complete in many ways, and I felt satisfied with the ending.
Your process of reading the prompt to the writing the poem's last words is a chronicle in itself!
Hi Guatami,
Well, your creativity became unblocked to come up with this fun piece!
BTW, we met before Sunday Scribblings. I commented in here for Poetry Thursday during the past few weeks. Before that, I also commented because we already read many of the same poetry sites.
I've long enjoyed your work. :)
For example, I think I first saw your comments on Floots' site and decided to visit. Or was that Andrews? Or Dsnake's? Perhaps, I should have chronicled why my brain cells are declining in number instead of my painting process. ;)
lovely poem...
Gautami, I could not reach you in your e-mail, therefore, putting my oriya poem here itself...
Here is the Oriya one titled "icecream-bala"
Mu tumaku bhalapaye khalida
Sakalara bichana tume sauntilabele
Nalakua ra khad khad sabda
Basti bhitare kampi uthila bele
Sahala sahala bichana uparu
Uthipadila bele.
Masina gudau gudau
Tuma akhee re dekhi hue
Sakalia samudra ra bhanguthiba lahadi
Rati ra garjana nahin
Purapuri shanta, lajakuli lata bhali.
Tume kahinikee sakalu sakalu ete bhala laga je?
Aau dekhata
Mora sakalata kete chota
Pilamane
Khelachuti pare pare
Dhaun thibe icecreambala pakhaku
Mote ta pahanchibaku heba sethare.
He allha! E duniyare school jadi ntha-anta!!!
(Strangely I found it published in one of the unknown oriya magazine called “Srotaswatee”, published from Bolangir, strange… but I found it. Can you read and understand it? Let me know)
I would never guess that it was a struggle to come up with this poem--it seems inspired and effortless!
And I love the surprise ending!
I second Paris Parfait's comment. The Chalk Chronicle is very imaginative. well done.
Your feelings of being left out sing a song univerisal. This was me in Junior High School.
Lisa (otters43x365.blogspot.com)
Thanks for your comment!
I can really relate to the difficulty of some of the SS prompts. In fact, sometimes my mind just freezes and I have to skip that week entirely. Then there are other prompts that I know EXACTLY what I will write. The chalk poem was so well done!!
What a clever take on the "Chronicles. I would have never come up with that. I love your poem.
I am sorry I am so late in stopping by to thank you for your comment but my PC has not been behaving very well. Then add blogger and you have a mess.lol
I must go to the SS site and see what it's all about.
Great poem!
love-bd
I now feel so sorry for chauk. Now I know why it sometimes makes those screaching noises when it slides across the blackboard!
hfvrhthat was very cool!
You must be careful what you wish for...
in case it comes true.
gautami,
thanks for visiting my blog!!
i can relate to feeling stuck with this prompt! I didn't think I would participate this week, but then I just started to write and realized that I "chronicled" something...
love your poem!
I feel so bad for the chalk now! How awful, on the one hand, to long to be chosen for what you think of as your great purpose in life, only to find that being chosen and fulfilling it, crumbles you to dust...But then I think of that quote about sliding into homeplate, all used up and shouting "woo hoo" - I can't remember it exactly, but hope you know which quote I mean! Anyway, hopefully the chalk enjoyed fulfilling its destiny...
Great imagination and take on the prompt.
i used to be a big fan of chalk. i loved the way it could create amazing lines and shapes and shades but then one day, when my mind was off some where it shouldn't be, my teacher (good old and long dead Mister Ashley)threw a stick of chalk at my head.
a direct hit!
i have never had the same affection for chalk since!
Paris: Thanks. It wasn't easy.
laini: Thinking from the perspective of an inanimate object and writing like that wasn't easy butonce I started I finihed it in few minutes.
Borut: Yes. I try to use titles that way. I succeed for a few.
kai: Go ahead, do it.
sundaycynce: I love chalk. It is my salvation. Once you hold a chalk, it has a mind of its own. I like the flow of it on the blackboard.
percival: I am thinking of something silly. All I can think of is you..:D
Thanks with hammer and tongs,polona,homeinkabul,ish, inconsequential,margie, ces,lotus,tammy, lisa and angel for your appreciation.
frances: I too am glad I met you all from SS> Thanks.
kg: I wasn't before but now Iwill leaveit like this. Thanks.
gel: I know you before this but hadn't visitedyou. I am sorry. Glad I finally did.
amalendu: thanks for this. I have replied on your post.
firebird: you are very encouraging. I feel humbled by your comments.
lololo: I love your name. Welcome here. I read yours too.
jane: I agrre. Some prompts are a struggle. But I do try to post in all. I have to write everyday.
beloved: It does not matter. You are welcome here anytime. I too like what you write. Do visit SS. Cool place.
sage:YOu should. That is sound which means chalk has emotions.
h.e.: Welcome yet again. Long overdue. I though you were mad at me for my bluntness or was I rude?
rubyslippers: you did a great job. Writing prompts do help us in unblocking our minds.
teri/tinker: Chalk to thinks how it wants to be remembered.
cocaine: one of our teachers used to throw chalks at us. I never got hit. She did no have a good aim!
I thank all of you for your visits and your comments. GLad I am writing for SS prompts. Good to see like minded people.
I went through the same process to write my blog. Thank you for visiting.
that was amazing and unique as a concept
Thanks for your visit..I will be a regular visitor from time to ime (inshallah)
Nasra
jone: sometimes it does take a bit of pushing to be able to write something worthwhile.
yioeng: Thanks. Mundane chalks, interesting life.
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