The "Stop Bleeding the Page and Write It Already" First Draft for Narrative Poem Attempt Try

Lamassu

Before the gates of Ninevah

Protectors guard the gate

Two fearsome beasts of stone

winged bulls with human heads

Lamassu, pride of the Assyrian Empire

Testament to the glory of civilization

Assyria lies in dust and ruin

yet Lamassu remain

They could not save their city

Now resigned to stand among relics

Still, they remain, dust covered

reminders of our common fate

Smash! Sledgehammer bashes stone

Soldiers advance on unmoving targets

Bravely facing stone carving in heated battle

Cameras ready to bring news of dark deeds

And the world recoils in horror, watching

Another statue crumble, crushed

By order of the mad prophet

All contrary meanings and measures

Whether man or works of hands

Smashed, burned, erased from the world

To demonstrate the resolve for war

Until only cycles of blood remain

Lamassu, unable to avert its gaze

Cold eyes watch the destruction

of men long dead, now dying again

The guardian will not leave its post

Even as the hammers turn upon

the ancient winged protector

For the first time since it birth

Lamassu may look up

Towards the sky, upon the world

It sees itself, head lost to body

Forced to watch invaders

Destroy its home once more

Art and beauty are silenced

beneath death's siren song

Edit Try the First

Edits try.

Frozen teeth hang

from roof above

poised to fall

Smoke rising from
behind the hill
lost among clouds

Short Pieces the Third

A single star
in winter sky
eaten by clouds


Smoke rising from
behind the hill
where is its source?


Footprints, no people
tread mark, no cars
the road sleeps alone

Short Pieces the Second

Dimly lit path
slush and mud
caution advised


All the world is yellow
beneath yellow lights


Behind dim yellow glow
the shadows wait
the night to claim
ground lost to light

Short Pieces the First

The wind carves
a dune of white
snow canyon
in cold of night


Frozen teeth hang
from roof above
eager to fall


Silken web hangs
from the lights above
who has spun you
and left you in the cold?

Write Plan

2/5
8-8:15pm, practice room overlooking road up to Shen (I like the lighting), pen and index card, ear plugs

2/6
11-11:15am/11:30-11:45am, Wesley Chapel by window, pen and index card, ear plugs

2/7
1-1:15pm, Roth hill, pen and index card, no distractions worth noting

2/8
9-9:15pm, Roth hill, pen and index card, no distractions worth noting

2/9
11-11:15am/11:30-11:45am, Wesley Chapel by window, pen and index card, ear plugs



Compile:
Lay out index cards on desk. Arrange in order any that seem part of a group. Ear plugs and headphones playing thunderstorm sounds drown out the worst of surrounding sounds.

A thin blanket of snow covers the path

Five minutes ago, a blanket thick

Five minutes next, a blanket again

The plow trucks will only run for so long

A sheet of snow covers the walkways

accented by pale grey ridges to each side

Emerging pattern becoming more intricate

with each pair of boot that treads over it

The texture an eyesore with increased traffic

Something picturesque with decreased activity

Look up, the hill is wash of white and grey

Look down, streaks of brown over blacktop

Footprints beside the path remain, frozen

but still soft as they fill with snow

Footprints shallow on the path easily erased

with the return of the plow and salt showers