Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Poets United Midweek Motif ~ Captivity


“We are determined to answer evil with GOOD, slavery with FREEDOM, 
rape with hope!  We are against slavery, rape, beheading, torture, 
violations of human rights, corruption and misuse of religion!” 
― Widad Akrawi

“Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.” 
― Frederick Douglass



“The caged eagle become a metaphor for all forms of isolation, 
the ultimate in imprisonment. A zoo is prison.” 
― Nadine GordimerGet a Life



Midweek Motif  ~ Captivity

The United Nations uses March 25th to observe two separate International Days for victims of slavery and other forms of captivity.  Follow the links to read more about the United Nations' resolutions:

YOUR CHALLENGE:  Describe a captivity in a poem using imagery and narrative story ~ OR, simply use captivity as a motif.

my own photo in Père Lachaise Cemetery

Excerpt from  To the Right Honourable William, Earl of Dartmouth


by Phillis Wheatley1753 - 1784 

. . . . .
Should you, my lord, while you peruse my song,
Wonder from whence my love of Freedom sprung,
Whence flow these wishes for the common good,
By feeling hearts alone best understood,
I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate
Was snatch’d from Afric’s fancy’d happy seat:
What pangs excruciating must molest,
What sorrows labour in my parent’s breast?
Steel’d was that soul and by no misery mov’d
That from a father seiz’d his babe belov’d:
Such, such my case.  And can I then but pray
Others may never feel tyrannic sway?
. . . .   (Read the rest HERE at Poetry.ORG.)
The Captive Dove 
byAnne Bronte 
Poor restless dove, I pity thee; 
And when I hear thy plaintive moan, 
I mourn for thy captivity, 
And in thy woes forget mine own. 

To see thee stand prepared to fly,
 And flap those useless wings of thine, 
And gaze into the distant sky, 
Would melt a harder heart than mine. 

In vain ­ in vain! Thou canst not rise: 
Thy prison roof confines thee there;
 Its slender wires delude thine eyes, 
And quench thy longings with despair.
. . . . 
(Read the rest HERE at Poetry Soup.)

For those who are new to Poets United: 
  • Post your Captivity poem on your site, and then link it here.
  • Share only original and new work written for this challenge. 
  • If you use a picture include its link.  
  • Please leave a comment here and 
    visit and comment on our poems.
(Our next Midweek Motif is "cherry blossoms.")

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37 comments:

  1. Thank you for the challenging prompt Susan - we are already excited about next weeks too! Happy Wednesday...may it be full of freedoms

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    1. Thank you, Jae Rose! Me too. May your Wednesday and week ahead contain happiness. I am happy, always, to see you.

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  2. So many types of captivity its definitely a hot topic, Susan.
    Happy Wednesday everyone!!

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    1. And you are right in there opening up our hearts! So happy to see you.

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    2. I'm looking forward to a fragrant prompt next week!!!

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    3. Lol quite a challenge this time Moonie but I just might rack my brains and come through!! By the way, can we post 2 poems?? ;)

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  3. Hi All,

    Hope everyone's doing fine :-)

    Really challenging prompt Susan, I searched through my photo archives and found one.

    PS

    By the way, feel free to use some of my photos for next week's prompt

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    1. Oh! Thank you and thank you! I'll run a few selections by you. They are the most beautiful cherry blossom photos ever!

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  4. EEEK It's after 9:00AM here and I am just dragging myself out of bed! I am here and well, my loves, and will be around as soon as the coffee bean is ground, soaked and filtered into my cup with a tiny bit of skim milk. I stayed up late to write a poem which is unfinished, or maybe an essay instead. I have to think about it.

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    1. Posted it, thanks to Jae Rose and Leslie above who take me there!

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    3. Typing error.. my bad
      Susan would it be okay if I shared two poems for the next prompt? :) I have already written one out of sheer excitement! Haha :D

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  5. Hello Susan,

    Thank you so much for this prompt! I have out done myself!

    xoxo

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  6. Hi everyone, trying to post from my phone thing just not acting right hope it post.

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    1. You mean there might be more? How powerful! Thank you for posting, for opening your heart.

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  7. Hi kids, I managed to crank out a few thoughts, LOL....am looking forward to the cherry blossoms, next week, too! We have been enjoying ours for a couple of weeks now - so welcome.

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    1. Tha nks for your testimony, Sherry. Good to see you here.

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  8. Good morning....love the theme....the poem 'Captive Dove' reminded me the Jacques Prévert 'Pour faire le portrait d'un oiseau' ~ I know this remarkable poem in Russian, with accompaniment of Debussy "Arabesque" ( I played while a little girl read the poem) ...nice memory....Thank you for motif, Susan!

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    1. Those sound interesting. If possible, send links! Welcome to our special Wednesdays.

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  9. All the prompts are designed to spark ideas and this one worked for me again, Susan. A small poem honoring the subject you’ve chosen. Thanks Susan.
    I am going to read the other poems tomorrow. It's time to sleep .....G' nite!

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    1. Thank you, Panchali. You never write small poems--neither in length nor in meaning!

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  10. A topic that would be enough for a million poems, this! So lovely to be back and I look forward to reading some great poetry!

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    1. Today's poetry is very powerful, CC. I am very happy you could join us. I feel like I haven't see you in a long time!

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  11. I'm not getting much help from my net service so I might be a bit late in responding to the poems of our dear poets...a lovely prompt Susan..

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    1. Thank you, Sumana. We'll see you when you get here and greet you with joy.

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  12. Powerful prompt- thank you. And so many beautiful interpretations.

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    1. Yes, these poems are outstanding! Thank you for your post.

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  13. Hello!! Thank you for the challenge., Susan! I've addressed the theme in a loose way and also am posting on a week that reading will be tricky...I'll be performing a dance for the next five days...perhaps that's what I should have written about, it occurs to me now, captivating an audience! Any way...I will return reads as time allows. Thank you!

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    1. Read my last poem for the dance, dear Hannah. How wonderful that your are performing as Easter nears ... Spring and Passover and a hundred other festivals go with the wakening of seeds.

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  14. I have written a poem, Susan. I am happy to be released from the 'captivity' of winter!

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  15. I can't seem to catch up with myself lately. It's a little late, but I wrote something for your prompt. Thanks for challenging me.

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    1. You are very welcom! Next week: Cherry blossoms . . .

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  16. Hi everyone! Better late than never :) Looking forward to some good reading!!

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    1. Glad you made it. What you look for is what you'll find!

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