Context:
Now that you have read Book One of the Posionwood Bible and understand just how much loss Orleanna has felt, write a dirge poem (a slow, mournful lamentation) from Orleanna's perspective.
[FOR THE READER] Note the Posionwood Bible takes place in the 1900s. The basis of this book is that Nathan and his family become a missionary family and must travel to Africa to "cleanse the sinners." Their preconceived belief at this moment of the book is that the people of Africa are not people of God, and they must heal them before returning to the States. [SPOILERS→] Regarding this poem, I had to write something that consisted of her loss of freedom. Previously, she led a life of adventure but ever since she got married, she's been forced to live a sentiment lifestyle of a housewife.
Submission:
As I look out the window
Dishes washed, beds kept
Under the dark willows
My children are swept—
Swept by their entranced father
controlled by his morals, bothers
Following the ways in the proper
ways of the Lord in depth
His blessings are faithful
Both holy father and theirs
My children grow to be grateful
For the hands who had prepared—
them for the world and more
But I pray the nights before
That their lives go outside the door
Of what the church declares
Because that's all there is today
Looking outside the glass
I've lost sense of fun and play
My life used to roam in grass
With the lions and the forest
Where the vines were maddest
The mysteries of nature persist
I still yearn for the past
There's a hole in my chest
An emptiness inside
Longing more in the northwest
Where my joy was supplied
But now I have girls of my own
Four of them, beautifully shown
Guided by their father and the known
But oh, how the past resides
YOU ARE READING
Writer in Progress
Non-FictionAs an aspiring author and journalist, I have been taking literary courses to expand my horizon as a writer. Whether that be illustrating from different perspectives, recording naturalistic observations, or analyzing TV shows... I have been growing i...
