Journey
Wonderland Poetry Prompt Challenge Day 7
The oracle didn't speak.
She just raised one eyebrow
and handed me a cracked mirror
so I would never see myself clearly.
I tucked a silent map
under my tongue
cartographed by things left unsaid.
The path was unclear.
The signs were written in a language
I'd invented at thirteen and immediately forgotten.
I fell in love with a ghost
and argued with the fickle wind
in a labyrinth they'd made of expectations.
They told me I was "almost there";
they meant emotionally codependent.
By the river I tried to barter with my past
The ferryman shrugged
"everyone does," he said.
I crossed anyway to find a barren land
with a single wilting flower
that looked suspiciously like me.
I knelt beside it,
watering her with my tears as
I bloodied my knuckles,
cracked them open from digging out
the roots of shame.
It didn't thank me.
But it stayed,
blooming gently, stubbornly.
And I think that means
I made it.
Participant's Poems
About the Creator
Ellie Hoovs
Breathing life into the lost and broken. Writes to mend what fire couldn't destroy. Poetry stitched from ashes, longing, and stubborn hope.
My Poetry Collection DEMORTALIZING is out now!!!: https://a.co/d/5fqwmEb
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Comments (18)
Here is my entry for the day 7 prompt. Sorry to blitz attack you with so many all at once, I was out of commission for almost two weeks. <3
Day 7 entry, thank you! https://goodofferhub.top/poets/the-compass-in-the-stone%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
Amazing!
Finally: https://goodofferhub.top/poets/goodbye-farewell-adieu%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
Here is my take: https://goodofferhub.top/poets/hair-journey-vs4nx0vv1%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
Definitely a more somber and haunting tone, but with a note of triumph at the end. A very fitting piece for such a word of inspiration!
This is very beautiful, Ellie. I like the part with the flower very much.
Here’s my entry for Day7: Journey https://goodofferhub.top/poets/journey-g43m06dl%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
I tried to barter with my past, I especially loved that.
Here is my Day 7 poem: https://goodofferhub.top/poets/life-is-a-journey-tread-it-wisely%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E 😊😊
Very nice, Ellie. Full of subtle but good analogies of life. Especially liked the lines: "They told me I was "almost there"; they meant emotionally codependent."
Another lovely and emotional poem, Ellie! Like Angie, I love the lines describing the "silent map." Here is my poem for today! https://goodofferhub.top/poets/journey-7r2fw0bph%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">
Lovely! I especially liked: “I tucked a silent map under my tongue cartographed by things left unsaid.”🩵 The Ferryman lines remind me of Chris de Burgh’s song “Don’t Pay the Ferryman”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kNwvIEQsg0
Well-wrought! The labyrinth of expectations... I think of it as a labyrinth of mirrors, and have often asked: When mirror regards mirror, which is the reflection?
This was like an Everyman parable but more lyrical.
Fantastic 😊
Fascinating!!!
Powerful. What a journey to find a new version of yourself.