August

by nouriguess   Aug 2, 2013


In August, the sky is pure
like writing freedom on a sheet
of paper and shouting in the streets, like
singing when the music is silenced.
August is here now
and in August,
having you
beside me is a dream
I can't bring myself to have.
August never grows old,
and in August, we watch our
first dreams turn into dust and
death benefits,
and in August, the air has the taste
of poetry when it melts its way to the
middle of a heart,
and dries there.
In August, light
toddles on bricks and seeps
into our souls, teaching us not
to buy cigarettes and smuggled dreams
from cheap markets. In August,
the wind whistles with heartbreak.
In August, everything about
Damascus
becomes a caged memory;
the dirt on the streets, the cracks
on the ceilings, the crowded bus stops,
your words.
They all become a part of me, in August.

_______

This is terrible.
The challenge:

caged memories
the screams from next door
going home
having you
the cracks on the ceiling
dreams
silence
whistling wind
*having you must be 7th line*
*poem must be non rhyming and be longer than 15 lines*

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Latest Comments

  • 11 years ago

    by Angel Eyes

    Wow!!! This poem is beautiful!!! Very well written and yet, with such imagery. You really nailed it in writing this one. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Keep up the great writing. A great poem indeed.

    5/5

  • 11 years ago

    by Natalie

    Wow, I absolutely LOVED this poem Noura! It is so very perfectly happy, sad, young, old and true! The great art of a good poem, in my opinion, is leaving your reader wanting more, wanting to truly understand and you do that perfectly with this piece. I almost want to investigate, why August? Great that you have the skill to leave the reader with their own imaginations!

    "having you
    beside me is a dream
    I can't bring myself to have."

    There were many many many lines in your poem which made me stop and think about what you were saying but these words in particular took my breath away. I love it when simple words, unpretentious words can express raw human emotion and that is exactly what you do here. AND you do it, ever so poetically! It really hit home with me and made me reflect on my own personal experience so a i thank you wholeheartedly for that.

    undoubtedly a 5/5 from me and a congratulations for a fabulous, deserving win!

  • 11 years ago

    by Poet on the Piano

    The amount of imagery and emotion in how you tell us about the components of August is so intriguing

    I really don't know how else to comment but I'll try! Each part added to the whole and it strongly expressed to me the depth of August... the little secrets and thoughts it consists of that outsiders may overlook, especially how it impacts your home and the areas you grew up in or are around. Reminded me of every reminder you get in the city and of this person, how reminiscent they are all and how they all haunt your memory at the same time, not necessarily separate and picked apart.

    Love how specific you got with the "teaching us not
    to buy cigarettes and smuggled dreams
    from cheap markets."

    as well as how you mentioned poetry entering a heart then drying there, like it stays stagnant in the heat, doesn't move on but maybe that also means it is caked in there, so it remains.

    Absolutely beautiful Noura and you interwove the prompts you did use flawlessly! (noticed a few phrases weren't in your poem). I just felt like this was your voice capturing that nostalgia, desire, freedom, memory... you have this painful beauty of words that paint this picture of what August is truly like. Amazing write I say as well, I don't think it's terrible at all, you capture a lot in these lines.

    • 11 years ago

      by nouriguess

      Oh wow, I only just noticed that I didn't really use all the words given. I remember I used them though... Thank you for the comment. :D

  • 11 years ago

    by Britt

    I actually think this is amazing.. I will comment more when I have more time, but you nailed the challenge!

  • 11 years ago

    by WintersAngel

    I think this is a challenge well completed.

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