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We are pleased to have a guest host for today’s Poetics, Tricia Sankey.

Welcome to dVerse Poetics Tuesday. For tonight’s Poetics, I want to explore the theme of risk.   This could be –

tackling difficult subjects
laying bare a personal struggle in vivid detail
writing on any topic as long the word “risk” is used (perhaps the risk we take falling in love)
exploring a new writing form that you may find “risky” or unconventional

I’ve included a few poems on risk below to get us started:

“Risk”

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To reach out to another is to risk involvement. To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self. To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss. To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure. But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

“RISK” BY ANAÏS NIN

And then the day came,
when the risk
to remain tight
in a bud
was more painful
than the risk
it took
to blossom.

 

The following poem is a little longer but is a great example of an award-winning poet who takes risks in his writing.

Bullet Points

BY JERICHO BROWN

I will not shoot myself

In the head, and I will not shoot myself

In the back, and I will not hang myself

With a trashbag, and if I do,

I promise you, I will not do it

In a police car while handcuffed

Or in the jail cell of a town

I only know the name of

Because I have to drive through it

To get home. Yes, I may be at risk,

But I promise you, I trust the maggots

Who live beneath the floorboards

Of my house to do what they must

To any carcass more than I trust

An officer of the law of the land

To shut my eyes like a man

Of God might, or to cover me with a sheet

So clean my mother could have used it

To tuck me in. When I kill me, I will

Do it the same way most Americans do,

I promise you: cigarette smoke

Or a piece of meat on which I choke

Or so broke I freeze

In one of these winters we keep

Calling worst. I promise if you hear

Of me dead anywhere near

A cop, then that cop killed me. He took

Me from us and left my body, which is,

No matter what we’ve been taught,

Greater than the settlement

A city can pay a mother to stop crying,

And more beautiful than the new bullet

Fished from the folds of my brain.

 

If you are new to the dVerse, here’s how to take part:

· Write a poem in response to the challenge.
· Enter a link directly to your poem and your name by clicking Mr Linky below and remember to check the little box to accept the use/privacy policy. You will find links to other poets and more will join so check back later to read their poems.
· Read and comment on other poets’ work – we all come here to have our poems read.
· Please link back to dVerse from your site/blog.
· Comment and participate in our discussion below, if you like. We are a friendly bunch of poets.
· Have fun.

About our guest host:

Tricia Sankey is a Freelance Writer and Editor who enjoys blogging at www.triciasankey.com and tweeting her micropoetry @triciasankey. She’s traveled the United States as an Army Wife and received an MFA in Writing from Lindenwood University along the way! Her poetry and microfiction can be found on sites such as Red Wolf Journal and 50-Word Stories. Her short stories have placed in contests, most notably the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Contest.