Tags

Welcome to dVerse! It’s Sarah here, and I’m behind the bar tonight, serving up drinks to humans and androids alike…

This prompt is a double tribute.

Please don’t be afraid. I’m going to start with the greatest sci-fi film ever made, but this isn’t a sci-fi prompt – unless you want it to be.

Firstly, it’s a tribute to Blade Runner – my favourite film of all time. That probably tells you more about me than you really need to know. It came out in 1982, when I was a bit  edgy, and heavy-handed with the old eyeliner, but it’s set in – ta-da! – November 2019. Yes, right around the corner. I have to admit that Ridley Scott and Phillip K Dick got a few things wrong in their vision of the future, but that doesn’t matter. It’s a great movie.

This is also a tribute to Rutger Hauer, who died this summer. He played Roy Batty, probably the most poetic sci-fi anti/hero ever. Here’s an image from Pinterest…

rutger

What I want you to be inspired by is the most famous speech from the film, delivered by Roy on a wet rooftop. There’s a clip here if you want to really get a feel for it, though it comes with a spoiler alert (if you can justify a spoiler alert for a film that’s 37 years old!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwI7o8XpoRc

And this is the transcript:

I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like… tears in rain. 

 

I also found a great interview with Rutger about that speech. He cut away anything that wasn’t necessary, to co-create something iconic. A lesson for all of us. Sometimes less is really much, much more.

 

https://www.radiotimes.com/news/film/2019-07-25/blade-runner-tears-in-rain-speech/

So, I’ve finished fan-girling now. Here’s the challenge:

I want you to write a poem that tells a story or shows a character just in the things they’ve sensed. This clip is about things Roy has seen, but you can choose a different sense if that works better for you. So maybe a mother could remember a pink romper suit, a blue prom dress, a black suit…a knight could remember the feel of a wooden toy sword, the heft of an iron blade…

You can use your own experiences, or your imagination; you can keep it real or venture into the realms of fantasy; you can keep it past, present or future – the choice is yours.

Once you’ve written, post it on Mr Linky, and then go on a little tour of sensory memories across the internet. Read and comment on your fellow poets’ work, and have a great time.