Friday, June 20, 2014

The Unknown Beast Poem

I wrote this my freshmen year in high school. This was about a childhood experience on my neighbor's farm. I'm pretty sure the prompt had specifics we had to follow for how we wrote the poem. I ended up being one of the few picked to perform in front of the class and I won. Enjoy :)

Think of something white and fluffy
Something soft, not roughly shaped
Something with colorless eyes
Varieties of its size
This something can jump, leap
This something is a sheep
I have encountered this untamed beast
And that is to say the least
You may be surprised
But I did collide
With a sheep

It happened one morning
The dawn with fingertips of rose
That I stood at the gate of the lair
No warning, no weapon, just clothes
This battle was totally not fair

Okay, so maybe I did have some warning
From my old neighbor Cory
"Right!" I had sarcastically replied
A sheep ramming me would be a sight
I arrogantly stormed into the cage
Not knowing the predator's rage
My back to Cory and the herd
The sudden flying away of the birds

I hear the pounding of feet
And my heart misses a beat
Cory flashes past
Running fast
His figure turning back to see
Not needing to outrun the sheep, just me
Falling behind I then realize
Today it's not Cory that dies
We head towards the gate of freedom
Regretting that we are not already freeman
A locked gate, we quickly decide
To run to a tree nearby
Just as I grab the branch
A sharp pang hits my back
I flail my arms like wings under the beast
Grimacing at the muscles I lack
The white wool blinds my eyes
The fuzz against my face

Finally in the tree
Around it the sheep still paced
I am panting
My body giving way
The beast still circling
This is really not my day
When the wild animal is on one side
We jump out the other, oh brother where art thou?

Making our way to the gate
Dreaming, hoping of being safe
Cory jumps over the fence, dirt flying up
I try so hard to follow, if only that was enough
Today I have the marks on my back
My brain not quite intact
The memory burned in my mind
From the experience, one of a kind
I still dream of the sheep
My fear increased
From the attack of the unknown beast

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