Day two: Drama

Challenge 2: “Write a poem that plays with voice.” This one turned out more dramatic than poetic. Sorry. The voices won over.

Just another day in Maremma

Girl:
That olive tree.
Was it always this thick?
It’s as if…
as if it had eyes.

Olive tree:
Don’t mind me.
I’m just an olive tree.

Girl, turning abruptly:
But I can feel its eyes
on my back.

Horse:
It’s a rabbit.
It’s always a rabbit.
So pesky
and can peek
under the coat
better than I.

Dog:
RABBIT?
Where?

Girl:
Shut up, bestia.
If you don’t know
I’m not going to tell you.
You wouldn’t even know
if there was a…
a man
hugging the trunk
of that olive,
wouldn’t you?

Horse:
A man?

Dog:
A MAN? (He always wonders
in capital letters.)

Trunk-hugging man:
Ahh, wait till I post this
on Instagram.

Girl, pulling the skirt down:
I could swear
there was someone there.
But Bestia is not alarmed.

Dog, looking the other way:
RABBIT?

Olive tree:
Don’t.

Dog pulls
horse whinnies
girl falls
man clicks.

Olive tree:
Who says
nothing ever happens
in Maremma?