Poetry Prompt 6 - ‘Chance Encounters’
August 15, 2008
This week’s poetry prompt is ‘Chance Encounters’. Write a poem about a chance encounter you’ve had or can imagine. Was it your future husband whilst on-board a flight across the Atlantic Ocean? Or maybe a small conversation with a beautiful young lady you had 30 years ago which has not faded from memory.
Two years ago I was living in central Berlin. When walking to the local supermarket one day I came across an elderly drunkard lying on a bench who sparked my interest and which resulted in a short-short-story which is as follows:
A man, lying on the bench. He seemed asleep, perhaps he was dead. That couldn’t be, he was in motion still. Fingers twitched, spread outwards ever so slightly then closed. His chest heaved, once powerful lungs expanding and contracting. The wrinkles around his eyes were deep, torturous, scars of a hard life. The eyelids fluttered like the wings of a butterfly. He was an old man, in his 70’s maybe, solid in build but weathered by the onslaught of time. On the floor, next to his reclining figure were a dozen beer bottles, all of them empty.
Long ago, his youthful vigour had disappeared. The once clear complexion without lines or blemishes, had faded into distant memory. Even he could not remember now, the days of his youth. Images from the past paraded through his mind but were distorted, mutated, like the broken film reel found in the dusty attic. Faces of those he once knew splintered into those he saw staring at his tattered clothing.
When he was awake, drinking beer after beer, in a drunken haze, he had watched people walking past. The bench was situated a few metres off the main road in a miniature park, therefore he was able to observe from a distance. From beneath the trees he had seen the mass of arms and legs, merging into one another, creating a fog that eventually sent him to slumber.
As I glanced at his large belly protruding from beneath his dark green jumper, I saw not an old drunkard but a baby being held by it’s mother, close to her breast. The loving eyes that had once looked down upon his forehead, the soft fingers that had tickled his ears and stroked his cheeks. A heart that had been filled to the brim with love, now deceased, like the innocent and playful smile of that child.
An old man, alone with his bottles, asleep in the centre of Berlin.
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Born in 1936, Werner had spent his entire life living in Berlin. From the tribulations of the Second World War he had garnered a great interest in Philosophy, especially Existentialism. He put this to use after his education by teaching in the main Berlin University. Years later, after a failed marriage and the unrelenting flashbacks from his war torn childhood, he turned to drink and fell into alcoholism. Finally, despite sympathetic attempts to help, he was made jobless by his employers. For a couple of decades now, Werner has become a regular site in the Mitte district of the city, always seen with a bottle to hand.
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When you have completed the poem, post the direct link in the ‘auto-links’ box below and also make a comment in the comment’s section. Before or following this, take time over the coming week to visit other entries from fellow poets and add a friendly comment or two regarding what you felt about their poem. This last part is vital if we are all to gain value from this exercise.
Next Thursday evening I will create a round-up of my personal favourite pieces but remember, this is not a competition. If you need any help or advice, then either contact me or pose a question in the comments section and I’m sure someone will be available to give you a hand.
Comments
13 Responses to “Poetry Prompt 6 - ‘Chance Encounters’”
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Please allow me to share a poem I wrote about a month ago called Inevitable chance. I am very fond of it, and it seems perfect for this prompt…
Catch!
Thrilled and grateful for a new site that aims to share and inspire. Thanks
PS. I have not posted a poem (on this prompt) yet . Just visited the site and meant to leave a comment, for now.
This isn’t new, but it’s a personal favorite — a limerick about meeting my husband on the Long Island Railroad.
I hope it’s okay that I am linking to a poem I wrote in April, it’s a patchwork poem, I find it to be suitable for this prompt,
I actually like this piece, I don’t usually like my writing, does it show?
somehow I just couldn’t come up with anything that’s worth posting
I went with a really short piece, since the subject makes me think of brief moments in time. Thanks for the inspiration.
This is a poem that was published back in 2005 that deals with a chance encounter of a rather different kind…a vampiric one! To see what happens to the tavern girl, please read it!!! ;-)=
Sascha xxx
I finally finished a piece on this weeks theme. It took me quite a few false starts and attempts. I’m still not sure about the second verse and I’ve been deliberating about posting it. I put it up, but it really sucks badly, I’ll remove it.
Bev
Thank you so very much for all your entries. I’ll be round in the next 24 hours to read all your poems.
I think I have submitted my comment earlier but does not seems to go through. Anyway, I have not pen anything here yet but will eventually. Will try my best in my next message. I loves the Inevitable Chance by Lirone. It’s beautiful.
Late for this week’s prompt, but I was out of town last week…
How I Met Him
So sorry to have missed the last two prompts. Time and circumstances prevented me from joining. I am looking forward to next week then when I can get back into the swing of things.
I truly enjoy doing these.
Missy
have been wanting to post something but never on time.. now i see time is still here… i posted this previously, but it seemed so fitting… 5 country songs