Happy Tuesday to all of you dVerse poets!  I am honored to serve as your host today for our poetics pub and I raise a “thank you” toast to Grace for inviting me.  As I am watching the bar today,  I hope you will consider the theme of “The Watchman” with me.

Harper Lee’s second novel, Go Set a Watchman, penned in the 1950’s, was recently discovered and published by Harper Collins, as the sequel of To Kill a Mockingbird.  Here is a quote by the protagonist’s uncle, Dr. Jack Finch:  

“Every man’s island, Jean Louise, every man’s watchman is his conscience.”

Perhaps you wish to write a poem based on this particular quote or the book, if you’ve read and were moved by it. 

Harper Lee’s title comes from the book of Isaiah:

         “…Go set a watchman; let him announce what he sees…Watchman, what time of              the night?  Watchman, what time of the night? The watchman says, ‘Morning comes          and also the night.  If you will inquire, inquire; come back again.” 

Who or what acts as our personal or social watchman?  Do we choose to believe or ignore this watchman? Perhaps you, like a watchman, need to share an urgent message of what you see happening today/tonight!

You might proclaim the watchman’s  warning and include hearers’ response, a sort of dialogue, sparring back and forth.  Robert Frost refers to a watchman in his poem, Acquainted with the Night:

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain — and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
A luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.

Maybe you want to focus on an image of a watchman and tell his story through a narrative poem. You’re welcome to borrow my image or include one of your own choosing in your post. No rules for form, whatever is effective for your watchman’s muse. Please remember it’s not necessary to write a novella as we’d like to have time to read everyone’s poetic offering!

Hope to see you all out in the trail.

If you’re new to dVerse, this is how to participate:
▪ Write a poem and post it to your site/blog.
▪ Enter a link to your poem and your name by clicking Mr Linky below.
▪ If you are promoting your work on social media, use the tag #dversepoets.
▪ Lastly, please visit others at their links and read their work.

Thank you all. Have fun!

 

bio notes: Lynn is a lover of words and the Word. She also loves a hard-working Iowa farmer, five strong sons, three dear daughters (by marriage), and four rambunctious grandchildren She’s an educator who has learned a lot from homeschooling boys, oy! Lynn’s poetry has appeared in local newspaper and “Lyrical Iowa” anthology. She blogs “A Poem in my Pocket” at madhatterpoetry.com