Open Sky Heart
For Poppy's Prompt Challenge
It went off with a bang.
Bullet holes opened their fanged mouths in my chest
As the rest of me curled backward in open-mouth shock.
Flailing arms, widened eyes, and hot disbelief blown skyward...
Another Wednesday.
The green summer grass could look through me,
Look through my open sky heart.
.
What did the grass see?
Was it the betrayal scattered like landmines in my ribcage
Or the erupting dreams in my arteries?
Could the grass see the ghost lifting out of my body,
Shifting into something full of fury?
Or was it focused on the blood aerosolizing around me
As the long road ended?
.
It's the end of something, for sure.
Dwelling thoughts spell "inescapable end"
But I can't widen the focus because
The bullets have already been fired,
One, two, three.
They flashed in my core with clarity,
With the blinding force of finally seeing the truth.
.
It was a farce.
.
The encouraging hand on the back was a gun.
The words I clung to, poison.
Lies whispered enough become the truth and someone
Was a very good puppet master, tricking me closer to the altar
So I could be blown open and bleed for them.
So I could satisfy.
And I have not satisfied.
.
I have not jumped when asked
Nor slipped the pretty bow back in my hair.
I spread roots in the earth
And shaved my head free of expectations.
I reached blooming branches towards the dreams whispered
In my ear only for thorns to erupt from the ground
And give me an open sky heart.
.
* This was in response to Poppy's Prompts Challenge since it looked like so much fun! The link to the original article is below.*
About the Creator
Silver Serpent Books
Writer. Interested in all the rocks people have forgotten to turn over. There are whole worlds under there, you know. Dark ones too, even better.
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Muses & Musings
Welcome to my new series, a weekly blog on what’s inspiring me. I spent much of last week in bed with a stomach bug. I’ll spare you the details of that—but in addition to the grotesque physical symptoms, I had some fever dreams I won’t soon forget. Imagine my surprise to see Vocal’s newest challenge: Write a fiction story about a recurring dream or nightmare.
By Davina Zinn McKee6 days ago in Journal
Comments (12)
Wow! Amazing!!
The decisive imagery tied the poem together and kept my attention from start to finish. Great job!
Wow, so powerful.
Painfully powerful.
That was so good. I'm just blown away. The real thing. You are truly a poet.
Just sublime - wow!🤍 The metaphors are fantastic - the image of fanged Bullets is inspired!
Wow! I'm not sure what more I could say that many of the others have said. Congrats on your win!
Open sky heart...beautiful concept amongst all the bullet holes, ghosts and disbelief. Heartfelt.
This is incredible. Firstly, I adore the title. “Bullet holes opened their fanged mouths in my chest” Perfect perfect perfect!! “Was it the betrayal scattered like landmines in my ribcage Or the erupting dreams in my arteries?” This is astounding!! “Dwelling thoughts spell "inescapable end"” Another favourite line!! “ The bullets have already been fired, One, two, three. They flashed in my core with clarity,” This is truly a masterpiece!! “ It was a farce. . The encouraging hand on the back was a gun.” Okay THAT has to be one of my new favourite lines from a poem EVER!! Like that is amazingly written!! And then all there lines after that are my favourites too so there’s no point copying and pasting anymore😂 That is breathtakingly incredible. Omg.
Wow. Just wow. Utterly fantastic.
The encouraging hand on the back was a gun. The words I clung to, poison. These lines hit me so hard because that felt so relatable! Your poem was so poignant, intense and emotional! I loved it! I also learned a new word, aerosolizing!
So many good lines, but I loved this : "erupting dreams in my arteries"