For today’s daily resource I’d like to share this article about poetry and TikTok. When I first started writing poetry seriously, blogs were the big thing. That was twenty-five years ago, and now there’s poetry Twitter and poetry on Instagram and, yes, as new technology builds atop the old, poetry on TikTok.

And without further ado, here’s our daily (optional) prompt. For this challenge, start by reading Marlanda Dekine’s poem “My Grandma Told Stories or Cautionary Tales.” One common feature of childhood is the monsters. The ones under the bed or in the closet; the odd local monsters that other kids swear roam the creek at night, or that parents say wait to steal away naughty children that don’t go to bed on time. Now, cast your mind back to your own childhood and write a poem about something that scared you – or was used to scare you – and which still haunts you (if only a little bit) today.

I wrote this poem on the flight as I’m traveling. We’ll be out for 5 days. I hope the prompts over the next 5 days are like this one – easy to attack.

Here’s my poem for today – Brendon is coming

I look back and laugh.
Why, Brendon? 
A monster would hardly ever
be named, 'Brendon'. 

And yet, I have no clue,
what my three-year-old mind conjured
on hearing them say,
'Brendon is coming.'

There was no picture they'd shown me
of what he might look like 
or provided a description of him, like 'bloodshot' eyes, 
'gigantic' or ''baby-eater'. All they said was, 'Brendon is coming.'

'It wasn't so much what they said,
but how they said it' -
their voice lowered to a slow growl,
and their eyes looking furtively,

at the nearest opening-
as though he  was there, 
watching
and could walk in when he pleased.

It got me to finish my cheese,
stop sticking my fingers into plugpoints
and snuggle up to them, frightened.
All they had to say was, 'Brendon.'
 

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My debut novel, ‘Coming Home’ was released on 24th March 2023

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