Albatross

It’s a ghost in the night that keeps me awake
with whispering, muttering, sighing,
and nudges in my poetic ribs.
It pokes me with imagery
and ties me up in allegory
until I reach for notebook and pen.

It’s a ghost in the early morning, a wisp
of verse draped across my aching neck,
a metaphoric albatross
checking rhymes, ensuring
enjambment and caesura make
sense, without a syntactical break.

By dawn, it’s drifted into early sunlight
with the spectral grey remains of night.

Kim M. Russell, 29th April 2024

Image by Paul Carroll on Unsplash

It’s day twenty-nine, the penultimate day of Na/GloPoWriMo and, at NaPoWriMo the optional prompt is Taylor Swift based. Not my musical cup of tea, but I’ll give it a go. In recognition of her new double album, Merriam-Webster put together a list of ten words from Taylor Swift songs. The challenge is to select one these words and write a poem that uses the word as its title. I chose ‘albatross’ and rewrote an old poem.

Also linked to dVerse Poets Pub Open Link Night on 27th February 2025.

45 thoughts on “Albatross”

  8. This is stunning, Kim! I especially like this part; “It’s a ghost in the early morning, a wisp
    of verse draped across my aching neck, a metaphoric albatross checking rhymes.” ❤️❤️

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  9. Love the way you describe the insistence of the muse….especially with these lovely lines..

    “a wisp of verse draped across my aching neck”

    “whispering, muttering, sighing, and nudges in my poetic ribs”

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  21. I hear you, Kim! That moment when the poem comes and it won’t leave you alone until you reach for pen and paper and jot it down else it’s gone with the first sun rays! This was so relatable and made me smile ☺️

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