Hello, dVerse Poets! It’s Merril welcoming all to Prosery Monday.

In the past year with lockdowns, restrictions, illness, and death all around, many have found themselves living in a new and much different way. And as we begin to re-enter society, many will step carefully, looking for signs that the world around them is safe. Many will think, if only we could find the right way, if only we had a map. Some may wonder, what is the new or next world?

Today, I’ve chosen a line from Jo Harjo’s “A Map to the Next World.”  Hajo belongs to the Muscogee (Creek) nation. She has won numerous literary awards and was U.S. Poet Laureate.

“To read the poetry of Joy Harjo is to hear the voice of the earth, to see the landscape of time and timelessness, and, most important, to get a glimpse of people who struggle to understand, to know themselves, and to survive.”

Source: Poetry Foundation

However, you do not need to know anything about Harjo or her poetry to participate in Prosery. I’ve chosen one line from her poem, “A Map to the Next World,” which you must incorporate into a piece of prose. This can be either flash fiction, nonfiction, or creative nonfiction, but it must be prose! Not prose poetry, and not a poem. And it must be no longer than 144 words, not including the title. (It does not have to be exactly 144 words, but it can’t exceed 144 words.)

There are so many wonderful lines in this poem, but I chose one I thought would work well for Prosery. Here is the line:

“Crucial to finding the way is this: there is no beginning or end.”

  You must use that entire line. You may change punctuation and capitalize words, but you are not allowed to insert words in between parts of the sentence.

Here’s how to take part in the Prosery Prompt:

–   Write a piece of flash fiction or other prose of up to or exactly 144 words, including the given line.

–   Post your Prosery piece on your blog and link back to this post.

–   Place the link to your actual post (not your blog or web site) in the Mister Linky site.

–   Don’t forget to check the little box to accept use/privacy policy

–   Please visit other blogs and comment on their posts!