Not As The Sparrow (30/30)
Well this is it...the final prompt from NaPoWriMo. For this last challenge, we had to find a short poem and rewrite each line replacing each word (or as many words as possible) with words that mean the opposite. I chose...
As The Sparrow by Charles Bukowski
To give life you must take life,
and as our grief falls flat and hollow
upon the billion-blooded sea
I pass upon serious inward-breaking shoals rimmed
with white-legged, white-bellied rotting creatures
lengthily dead and rioting against surrounding scenes.
Dear child, I only did to you what the sparrow
did to you; I am old when it is fashionable to be
young; I cry when it is fashionable to laugh.
I hated you when it would have taken less courage
to love.
My opposite rewrite: Not As The Sparrow
To refuse decay you must not give into rot,
and as your joy rises round and full
above the healed land
you skip over frivolously outward-fixed shores straightened
with colorful-armed, colorful bellied flourishing critters
momentarily alive and obedient to distant vistas.
Dear child, you do not do to me what the sparrow
did to me; you are young when it is passé to be
old; you laugh when it is passé to cry.
You loved me when it could have taken more courage
to hate.
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