Sunday, August 25, 2019

Melinoe's Carnival


Fragments of black and white
float through my dreams 
erasing color until my eyes
are an empty house of blue.

On a monochrome sea I beg
for moonlight, but the only
concession is flickers of gray.

In the distance I hear the insistent
notes of an alarm clock knife
the shroud I’m pillowed in. 

Paralyzed, I beg the sun to free me
from Melinoe’s shape-shifting
carnival of ghosts dancing my fears
closer to madness.

©Susie Clevenger 2019

This was inspired by two challenges, the photo from The Sunday Muse, and the prompt at Real Toads.
For Real Toads I chose Get Listed With Grapeling, May 7, 2015  Words I chose from the list for the poem are: fragment, empty, house, sea, and knife. ( Melonie is the Greek goddess of ghosts/nightmares.)


11 comments:

  1. You 'ink dreams' wondrously .....

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  2. Such a seamless combination of prompts has resulted in a unique poem.

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  3. I know these kind of dreams all too well, or should I say nightmare? You have captured it in such an intense and beautiful way Susie. You bring a beautiful light to the dark some do not know how to speak of. Life can be so difficult it carries into our dreams at times. Amazing writing as always, and thank you for joining us over at the Muse!:-)

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  4. Wow! The "carnival of ghosts dancing my fears" is wonderful! Loved this, Susie.

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  5. A perfect poem to slink toward October thinking on. :)

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  6. My dreams are often dark... and being saved by daylight from the grey is one image that I will remember.

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  7. especially the 2nd stanza, but all of it ~

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  8. I am quite familiar with dark dreams. This is wonderful, Susie!

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  9. This is incredibly penned, Susie 💜 Especially like: "On a monochrome sea I beg
    for moonlight, but the only concession is flickers of gray."

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  10. Too often, many of us beg the sun to free us from the darkness. Beautifully written.

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  11. Beautiful write, Susie, like the monochrome sea . . a lot . . :)

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