JB’s poetry challenge
Okay, so John Birmingham (Australian author) puts out a challenge today to write a poem inspired by his last book Without Warning.
Imagine you’re the new (Post Wave) Poet Laureate of the US.
It’s your first gig at the (western) White House.
You’re reading from your first epic bit, entitled, ‘The Disappearance’.*
Gimme what you got, poets, it may be your only shot at mass market publication.
So, umm, while I should’ve been working, I knocked up this quick ditty:
Men and women, children all
Millions of us vanished
Buildings burned and choked the earth
Our innocence was banished
With one fell swoop the wave destroyed
The lives and loves we’d known
Sweet Liberty and Uncle Sam
Unseated from their throne
But from the farthest point northwest
A light dawned bright and clear
Noble deeds and love prevailed
To drive away the fear
A shared resolve to build again
The country we revere
And when we’re done to not forget
The ones no longer here
Whaddya think eh? Not bad for an IT nerd :p
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