POEM STARTER
‘All in a golden afternoon, under the skies of cloudless blue.’
Write a poem that begins or ends with this line, adapted from Alice in Wonderland. Don’t feel limited to the themes and images of the book – see where else you could go from these words.
The Thing That Rots
All in a golden afternoon, under the skies of cloudless blue,
Laid a body much to cold to be real,
Fiery hair bright like lava, singed the ground dark and true,
Emerald eyes vast and vacant, saw the truth none should see,
For beyond those cloudless blues, something putrid watched with glee.
It writhes and pulses among the stars, singing a ballad of lies and scars.
Rotten skin, thick with tar, sees through cracks both near and far,
A visage that rips and tears, looks for those too aware.
So for those who see far beyond be aware of the thing that rots.
Beneath the seams and cracks gleeful eyes do stare back.