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183rd Virtual Poetry Circle

Welcome to the 183rd Virtual Poetry Circle!

Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s books suggested. Look at a line, a stanza, sentences, and images; describe what you like or don’t like; and offer an opinion. If you missed my review of her book, check it out here.

Also, sign up for the 2013 Dive Into Poetry Challenge because its simple; you only need to read 1 book of poetry. Please visit the stops on the 2012 National Poetry Month Blog Tour.

Today’s poem is from Ruby Urlocker:

Hidden People

There’s a man between my bedroom floor
And the wooden kitchen ceiling.
I heard him once when I was younger,
Before the walls started peeling
And there I sat in the bedroom, reading
And I heard the sound of feet.
Loud echoing shoes from under me
In sync with my heart beat.

My mother told me it was nothing,
My father only scoffed
And as the rolling days went by
They eventually forgot.
One morning I combed my six year old hair
And my reflection made me cry
For instead of the freckled face I knew
With glimmering mischievous eyes
I saw a woman with skin like snow
And eyes, two empty sockets,
Grinning at me as I gasped in horror,
My little hands clutching my pockets.

Then she faded away and left me there,
Crying my eyes out in hopeless despair
And wondering why her long flowing hair
Was only strands of cobwebs.
When I was eight I became best friends
With a boy who I found in my closet.
He’d be there staring back at me
Each time I unhooked the locket
To my many clothes and things
Because I wanted to see him again.

We wrote down our hearts
In permanent pen
All across the closet wall
And laughed and whispered until the nightfall
When my mother would tuck me in.
His eyes were the twinkling midnight sky
As we talked of mystery
And I did not stop to wonder why
Nobody else could see him.

As I grew older I did not sense
As much of the secret world
The figures slowly disappeared
Along with the little girl.
But even now I’m afraid of the dark
And I wake up to somebody singing
So far away that it’s more like a whisper
That tingles and leaves my ears ringing.

I used to think I’d never see
My ghostly friends again
When the silence between us was so long
My conscience would pretend
They never existed and I’d only dreamed
Of the beautiful and horribleness
My family had never seen.
I put on makeup and watched more TV
And detached the shadowy part of me.
That playful and magical mystery
Was a figure that lost its way
In the sea of labels and one way traffic
And words we’re forbidden to say.

And I let my hair turn gray
And my face grew wrinkles across it.
The friendly spidery shadow of mine
Turned to mist and I thought I had lost it
Until last night when I turned on the light
Of my dingy old bedroom closet
And felt my questioning face turn white.
There was a boy with tear-stained cheeks
Who turned his head to me,
A sparkling fragment lost in the storm
And turned to a memory
And an ignorant woman, taken by surprise
Who met the gaze of his unforgiving eyes.

About the Poet:

Ruby Urlocker is a teenaged author, singer and songwriter. She has been writing and publishing stories since she was seven. Ruby lives with her family and dog, Rufus, a wheaten terrier. Monsters in my Closet is Ruby’s fourth book.

What do you think?

If you want to win a copy of Ruby’s book, please leave a comment below about the poem.  U.S./Canada residents only

Deadline to enter is Jan. 11, 2013, at 11:59 PM EST

Comments

  1. The poem was enchantingly creepy and also magical. Like Anna, I liked that it came full circle in the end. The rhythm bothered me a little because it kept changing, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

  2. I really liked this poem. It was haunting and creepy, and coming full circle at the end was very satisfying.

  3. Beth Hoffman says

    Wonderful, magical, and utterly enchanting. It played out like an award-winning film in my head and I absolutely loved it.