Hello, dVerse Poets! It’s Merril welcoming you to Prosery Monday. Prosery is a dVerse word for prose incorporating a given line of poetry. 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.)

In the past year, we’ve been bombarded by misinformation, by hate, by fear, by weather and climatic changes, and of course, by a virus. So, this line from Adrienne Rich’s poem, “Planetarium,” seems appropriate.

Here is the line:
“I am bombarded yet I stand.”
From Adrienne Rich, “Planetarium”

Adrienne Rich (1929-2012) was a prize-winning poet and essayist. Her work often expressed her views of current social and political conditions.

“Rich’s work has explored issues of identity, sexuality, and politics; her formally ambitious poetics have reflected her continued search for social justice, her role in the anti-war movement, and her radical feminism. Using the cadences of everyday speech, enjambment, and irregular line and stanza lengths, Rich’s open forms have sought to include ostensibly “non-poetic” language into poetry” (Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/adrienne-rich)

You do not need to know anything about Rich or her poetry to participate in Prosery. You do not need to read the entire poem. However, I’ve included the link so that you can. There were other lines in this remarkable poem that I was tempted to use, and that I could imagine myself using, but I wanted to pick one that would work for everyone—and not take too many of your 144 words!

You must use that entire line. You may change punctuation and capitalize words, but you are not allowed to insert words 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 make certain to 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!