Spring is in full swing. Perhaps new life will make its way into some of our poems for this prompt. We are in the M section of the poetry journal and there were quite a few options, but many of them we way too long to type up for this post. And I definitely wasn’t going with the “meter” entry. I can never get my mind around the concept of meter in practice. I figured it out once, in theory, but that didn’t last long.
The Challenge
I settled on “metonymy,” which had the dual benefit of being something completely new to me and having a miniscule definition (so easy to type up).
METONYMY (meh-tahn’-uh-mee) A figure of speech in which a thing is represented by something closely associated with it, like “the White House” used to represent “the President of the United States.”
the poetry dictionary, pg. 172
My challenge is to write a poem, of any style, in which one or more of the paint chip words and phrases is used as a metonymy. You could write rhyming couplets or crazy free verse or a beautiful sonnet.
The paint chip words and phrases at your disposal are gauze, sagebrush, looking glass, rabbit hole, quicksilver, Plymouth Rock, and mountain town.
I do believe several of these make natural figures of speech.
My Poem
I’ve decided to go with couplets, which may or may not rhyme when all is said and done. And because it’s Good Friday, I’m using the cross as my muse.
What I See Gazing in the looking glass, I wonder what I'll see. The skin upon the surface, or what's deep inside of me? Will who I see today resemble what was past? Might quicksilver of the Spirit shine through at last? Dregs of the rabbit hole where I went astray By the blood of Jesus now washed away. Surveying the looking glass, reflecting grace. May God's compassion show upon my face.
Your Turn
Now it’s your turn. How will use these paint chip words and phrases to express something below the surface? You can post your poem in the comments, if you like. Or you can post it on your own blog and drop a link in the comments. I look forward to reading what you all come up with.