Day Twelve On April 12, 2022 NaPoWriMo.net
“Today’s prompt (optional, as always) should come as no surprise. Yesterday, I challenged you to write a poem about a very large thing. Today, I’d like you to invert your inspiration, and write a poem about a very small thing. Whether it’s an atom, a button, a hummingbird’s egg, dollhouse furniture, or the mythical world’s smallest violin, I hope you enjoy your poetic adventures into the microscopic.”
“Princess and the Pea”, he says
when I complain about something irritating
under the sheet. It might be grit, it might be
a ripple in the mattress, doesn’t matter, if it pokes
and prods my back I can’t sleep on it.
***
Sometimes, the tiniest speck seems blown
into a large annoyance. You know the kind:
put on a shoe with a pebble or two, take a step.
See? Nothing to do with a princess or a pea,
but everything to do with discomfort.
***
Consider the last time you had something in your eye.
A speck of dust, an eyelash: doesn’t much matter
if it made your eyes water you wanted it gone.
All very well to make cracks and mock. I hope
someday soon there’s gum stuck on his sock…
Carol A. Stephen
April 12, 2022
Quillfyre 