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When We Gave Up the Ghost
Ekphrastic Challenge December 2023
This poem was written in response to the Rattle® Poetry Ekphrastic Challenge for December 2023 and was ultimately not selected. You can find more information here.
https://www.rattle.com/ekphrastic/
The image that this poem was specifically written about can be found here. (December 2023 – Jeanne Wilkinson's “Cold Sun”)
https://i0.wp.com/www.rattle.com/ekphrasis/EC23Dec.jpg?ssl=1
When We Gave Up the Ghost
Hey kid, come over here and sit down and let me tell you ‘bout the way things used to be, ah hell
You’ll never understand, but back then things were different, we walked to school everyday and
Fresh air did us good, so did playin’ in the yard, now your generation wastes time sittin’ on the
Electronic devices, that’s why y’all are fat, and after school, we’d go down to a Mom-‘n-Pop
Store and get a nickel soda, speakin’ of them, they’re gone, Wal-Mart came, put ‘em all out
Of business, that’s where the school building used to be, tore it down, that’s what they did
To all the old homes, the ones with character, bulldozed them for big bulky things, oh but
That was the style of our cars, bold with tailfins, and built to last, you could work on ‘em
Yourself, now you need a God-damn computer degree just to change the oil, bunch of
Bullshit, back then you only needed a high school education and a strong work ethic
You kids don’t know what hard work is, don’t seem to want to get your hands dirty
Now it’s all “give me” or “I want more,” entitled brats, and you treat no one with
Respect, used to be “No Sir” or “Yes Ma’am,” everyone deserved some decency
Even the ones changin’ oil or sweepin’ floors, and their color or creed didn’t
Matter, basic civility, now it’s all slurs, and you don’t like them only ‘cause
They don’t speak your language, or come from the same country, vote the
Same as you, you just God-damn fuckin’ hate ‘em, it’s almost as if you
Got no heart, got no manners either, when I was young we used to say
“Please” and “Thank you,” seems like those words have disappeared
From your vocabulary, like the word “dignity,” it means you didn’t
Go out with your pants down ‘round your ankles, your underwear
On display, or in a shirt so tight your titties show, used to dress
In Sunday best, acted with integrity, had morals, didn’t glorify
Cheatin’ on your girl, no, you treated her right, you took her
On dates and you asked her father’s permission before
You got married, stayed so, no divorce ‘cause things
Got tough, you worked your problems out, and you
Loved and forgave, communicated, you didn’t
Text on a phone, no, you spoke to people
Face-to-face, wrote letters, said “Hello”
Ah hell, kid, I don’t know anymore
Nothing is the same, everything
Has gone down hill and down
The drain, it’s worse than
What it was, don’t seem
To be gettin’ any better
Seems somewhere
Between there
And here, I
Guess we
Gave
, …
Up
.
Submitted under MRB
When I saw the image for December, I was struck by the feeling of loss - not death, but loss of value, like something left to decay. It got me thinking about how the older people tell the younger ones "back in my day" and how that world is being lost right before their eyes. I not only wanted to write a poem that captured that feeling but also displayed it structurally. I wrote this poem so that the lines keep getting shorter as you go down the poem. Essentially, the poem itself decays - down to a single period. This is what the poem is supposed to look like.
About the Creator
Rae Fairchild (MRB)
I love to write; putting pen to paper fills my heart and calms my soul!
Rae Fairchild is my pen name. (Because why not? Pseudonyms are cool!)
I do publish elsewhere under my real name, Mary Rae Butler. (Fairchild, an old family surname.)
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Comments (1)
Love the subject and structure. I feel the same way. Well done