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      November 27, 2023This PoemSusan Trofimow

      This poem is a dog
      that shits all over your house.
       
      This poem is the shit
      you find ground in your carpet.
       
      This poem is you
      abandoning the dog
       
      on the side of the road
      where you found him.
       
      Free! This poem is the road
      as you drive away,
       
      but then your car stalls out
      in traffic, and suddenly
       
      you miss the dog—
      his company on the couch.
       
      And you feel
      that old bone he’s buried
       
      in the hollow of your chest.
      And you imagine
       
      him back home, nose pressed
      to the sliding glass,
       
      tail wagging when you let him in.
      Oh, how that beast will leap
       
      and bound across the carpet,
      laying himself down
       
      an inch from where you started.

      from #81 - Fall 2023

      Susan Trofimow

      Prompt: “This prompt came from a workshop with Peter Campion: ‘I’d like you to write a poem no longer than twenty-five lines in which the speaker relates an encounter with an animal. The only other guidelines are that the poem should contain one sentence that’s five lines or longer, and one sentence that’s an interjection, exclamation, oath, or swear.’”

      “To be honest, I wouldn’t say I enjoy writing prompts. Often, I read one and my mind goes blank! But if I continue, and something clicks, I find myself writing poems I would have never imagined otherwise. Prompts challenge you. They focus you. They give you a net to shoot for and the chance, sometimes, to have some fun.”

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