Finally, here is our (optional) prompt for the day! In her poem, “The Flying Nightdress,” Mandakranta Sen describes something fantastical and strange that occurs while the rest of the world is asleep. The imagery of the poem is dreamlike, but the situation it describes is otherwise presented quite straightforwardly. Today, we challenge you to write your own poem that takes place at night, and describes something magical or strange that happens but that no one is awake (or around) to notice.
Happy writing!
The disappearing Dunes
What with the recent chatter
of ceasefire and peace
talks
the city took enough melatonin
to glue apart fit and full
so, when the dunes caravanned in
loosely
draped over camels’ backs
as if they were promises
(they could be mistaken for promises—
lying as languidly as they did on so many backs)
but, no one was awake
no one noticed
in the silence that digs in between the muezzin’s
calls
in the darkest hour
on camel’s backs, the dunes moved in
like stealth does, first a blip
then only tankers
by now, all the erstwhile sleep-deprived
had slumbered inside into the
deep
outside, the camels rose, like camels do
awkwardly slow at first
then erect like tall grass,
a wind like no wind ever seen or heard
whooshed down the streets, the souqs and the siqs
and all the erstwhile sleep-deprived
by now in their dewy-sleep
clutched their duvets and their sheets
closer to their chins
as if it were the cranked-up AC
to be blamed
for goose bumping
their dreams
the tighter they gripped
the quicker they slipped
Dunes so big, they past-tensed
like dunes do, a grain at first
then total disregard
for lines
in clenched fists
