Day 9 - Slam Idol O.W.C.

 

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It’s day 9 of the Slam Idol Open Writing Challenge. One day left!

Good news: I’ve finished my poem!
Not so good news: It’s almost 4 minutes long…

Well, I think the story carries the listener/reader through. We’ll see…

32 Degrees and 64 Questions 

This is not the best time to be
Contemplating the meaning of life
It’s 32 degrees out and the earth
Is frozen beneath my feet and

This weight on my shoulders is pressing
Pressing me down
Pressing me forward
Worrying me deep

Red gas can in hand and
Black wool cap pulled over my ears to
Block out the cold nipping at my lobes
To block out the sounds of my thoughts
To block out the questions in my mind
On why

And the chill in the air
Fails to take the heat
The heat the burns in my soul
And like the pilot flame
On a flame thrower
It waits

Against the sound of 18 wheelers
Family vans and
The sounds of my boots crunching
Snow and gravel
Comes the gentle, bubbling trickle
Of a fresh winter stream

And with one glance I froze

There at the side of the road
At the bottom of a slight hill
At the edge of a small stream
Stood a large white rabbit

He stood with the stature of
A medium built man with
Long, tall ears and
The right one stereotyplically bent

His eyes large, bright and pink
Stared at me and
Upon his buck teeth
I detected a slight smile

And with his eyes fixed upon me
I saw his body turning to his right
I saw his arms slowly rise and
His knees slowly bend
To run

And with one swift movement I
Dropped my gas can, I
Dropped every worry on my mind
Dropped every burden that could hold me back
And ran

In a leap and bound
I was over the guardrail
Sliding down the hill
Towards the icy cold stream

And with a squat and a pounce
The rabbit was running
Running towards the forrest
Running like a gangly awkward man

With his knees pumping high
Posture backward leaning
Ears flopping in the wind
And arms pumping fast

And as I gave vicious chase
I remembered the look in his eyes
The connection that we made
The strong desire to find out more

(click below for rest)

And I followed
In leap and bound
In zig and zag
In duck and scurry

Over hill
Into brush
Under limb
Into cave

We stopped

He found himself face to face with solid rock
I found myself wondering
And scared
Unsure of what to do next

His torso pulsated with every gasping breath
Steam rose from his body in the crisp morning air
He turned his head to the left
And looked over his shoulder
And smiled
And turned
And spoke

Though his mouth moved
I heard no sound
Though there was no sound
I felt every word

Every syllable pierced my body
And I struggled to hold my balance
I struggled to stand in place
I fought the desire to run…again

And with every word
I felt my body grow weaker
I felt my soul grow lighter
I felt my spirit rise higher

And I fell to my knees
And I closed my eyes tight
And I screamed out in pain
And the world went silent

I awoke to the sound of a trickling stream
And cars and trucks and 18 wheelers
Zooming by distantly overhead

At the edge of the stream
A few steps away
Sat my gas can
Ever so close to floating away

I picked it up on the way back up the hill
On the way back up to my life
Dumbfounded by what had just happened
But feeling strangely calm

Dreams of man-rabbits
Thoughts of chases
Moments of clarity
And I turned

And there at the side of the road
At the bottom of a slight hill
At the edge of a small stream
Sat a small white rabbit