26 October 2014

A Bag in the Road


At first she thought the lump in the road
was discarded corn casings,
the fine silk of corn tassel,
the curve of bag from stripped husks

left fom corn pickers, maize huskers,
the cobs were sent to cribs, shelled and ground for pone
or left for seed at the chandler
(seed corn must not be ground),

the botany of maize bran, of grain foraged 
from fields now bare. A world she knew.
But there was movement, slight, not from 
wind breeze or road heaves or passing cars.

She saw it, felt her heart beat faster,  
a wretch start in her stomach, she walked
on heavy feet that didn't want to carry her
to or away from that curved bag with the gold tassels.


For Margaret's Play it Again Toads over at the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads. I picked Hallow's Edge by Ella that had us take a line from a ghost poem. I used "at fist she thought the lump in the road..." from Red String by Minnie Bruce Pratt.

22 comments:

  1. The way things can be something entirely different than what we think at first.. the bag on the road moving sounds so scary to me..

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  2. Oh, I don't like this one! My imagination went into overtime when I read it. Scary!

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  3. Wow. Terrifying. Sad. Super effective, Mary. k.

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  4. a little stomach turning...i hate to imagine what was in the basket honestly...anything living would break my heart...

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  5. I love the mystery in this and the suspense that you create...well done, Mary!

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  6. You wonder what is there in those tassels...effectively written for our imaginations to answer it.

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    1. Are they tassels or just look like them? You can take this wherever your imagination wanders.

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  7. Suspenseful and so descriptive..I loved it! More, please~

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    Replies
    1. You had a good idea to use a line from other ghost poems- thanks for the prompt.

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  8. oh know.. the question is if what is in the bag needs help or if she tries to will harm her... ugh...

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  9. You got us thinking and fearing for the worse...

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