Today's writing prompt is inspired by ButterflyEffect's poem "It's 3 am, I'm Drinking". With his permission, I copied his first stanza and riffed on it. I thought it might be a country song. My version is not finished. Please add a few stanzas or begin your own "Heaven is ___" and see where it takes you. Edit: Still tinkering...
- Heaven is a corner store
That went out of business
Thirty-three years ago
But nothing has changed.
First the customers dwindled
What it had, no one wanted
Magazines
Smokes, can of coke
I thought they’d convert it
to some kind of bistro
With maybe an apartment on top
But it sat there, all locked up
No owner - no reno
Just a sign saying
"Life is a joke."
Back taxes were owing
There were roaches in the storeroom
In the corner, a bucket and mop.
I saw in the window
an old bust of Elvis
and a poster of one raging pope.
Heaven is a corner store
That went out of business
Once, the open sign would flip
Against the red painted door
But not anymore She no longer smokes
She only sniffs at the air
Sitting on the steps
Of the old corner store "There's an ounce of expectation in everything"
She said, rising as the mailman walked past
One hand outstretched the other rests on the glass The mailman called out, "sure is a beautiful day"
It's the kind of thing you say
To make things go away
...and when they stay
as things tend to do
luckily there's always something
that grab's your attention
(usually near your shoes) so your eyes dance around the floor
and the mailman walks to another door
and just before melancholy sets in -
TICK!
"SNACK TIME baby!" everyday at 4. Eat a treat
clean it up nice n neat
the day goes on a few more hours
maybe it's best to to digest
under the covers, asleep? wake at 6
dried saliva round the lips
naptime drool
a pillowcase's pool
but ain't no fool
'left enough room
for dinner time with your friends
dressed up all nice, feelin cool food goes round
drinks go down
people smile and stuff
then go home and smile and stuff
then wake up and smile and stuff
but in the dreams?
the bluff is up DEMONS! MONSTERS!
LIZARDS AND EX-LOVERS!
what I like about this submission is that it gets farther away from the prevailing metaphor of the corner store. the first stanza explores it, and afterward the poem goes in a different direction. I think it's a "less is more" kind of thing, where the metaphor from the prompt is a strong one, but spending too much time pointing to it makes it lose some of its effect. one thing I wasn't sure about, if you don't mind me saying, is why the line lengths and constructions change after the second stanza. they lengthen and become full sentences instead of shorter phrases, which alters the rhythm and flow. I found it a little jarring, but I'm obsessive about line lengths so I may not speak for everyone. anyway, I just wanted to throw my two cents in. the poem also ends on a really good note.
hi djw, I just saw your comment now about line lengths. The hubski program did something to my line lengths and original stanza divisions - I still can't get it to handle the spacing the way I'd like and I have no time to fix it. The program seems to have changed other people's line lengths as well. Next writing prompt, I'll have a Poet Alert - and suggest people check their poem a week later and see what it looks like. I appreciate your comments.
mk, check this out. We all had our submissions posted with line breaks and it appeared as such at first. It seems an update must have shifted them to a paragraph format. Odd looking poetry. Any way to ensure this will not happen moving forward?
mk, check this out
the capital letters in the middle of TNG's lines and sirwfc718 is a hint to where the lines originally ended. BLOB_CASTLE's poem has also lost it's original structure. I don't recall what wrenauld's poem looked like originally.
I looked back at the past work submitted to past #todayswritingprompt and all my lines were turned into paragraphs... but not everyone's. I'll start a new one soon and see if it stays stable.
I'm no poet, just enjoy stringing words together and creating some imagery. I suppose I changed the line lengths in order to show a shift in style, it becomes an interaction at that point with actual dialog. Thanks for the feedback, glad someone read it. BTW, I actually started the poem thinking that "Heaven" could have literally been the name of the store. She could be the owner of the closed store waiting for some good news.
Heaven is a corner store
That went out of business,
With people still knocking
and trying to get in it. It's a corner store
That filed for chapter 11,
Since nobody needs junk food
when they're sittin' in heaven. Heaven is a corner store
that fanatics still frequent,
buying condoms and porn mags
while judging with meanness. Heaven is a corner store
where the poor still pay
for those things the rest of us
consumed, already thrown away.
Just a heads up that mk is not feeling well and is recovering, therefore this may be a bit longer before being fixed.
Heaven is an illusion
To those with a cynical view
Who have forgotten how to dream
Who have forgotten how to hope Heaven is a corner store
That is slowly going out of business
Customers come more slowly now
Distracted by their screens Heaven is still here
Ready for those willing to believe
All it takes is to mark "Yes"
On the manila RSVP
heaven is a corner store
that went out of business
because they ain't about to
sell candy pastries pop smokes,
the works.
you know
the neighborhood wish
they would just put
in a real corner store
and stop dragging their feet
because now the closest place to buy
toilet paper is across the bridge.