The fifth assignment from 30 Poems in 30 Days . Persona poems…
“Write a persona poem that incorporates one of the past two concepts. It should either address a social issue or it should provide a strong sense of place. One great way to do the latter is to write a poem in a public place, and to observe the people around you until you find someone interesting that you can imagine a back-story for.”
Barcelona
Eulalia held my hands,
held my head
to her breast,
said,
Don’t go out there.I looked for Alfredo
amongst the debris
of our hope,
each
body was his.There was little milk,
the mothers went hungry
for two years
while
Franco came.I was a restless girl,
then a revolutionary,
I grew old
when
Spain arrived.
Again, I had to sit on this one. If you are reading the comments over at The Writer’s Resource, who is hosting this project, you’ll see that I am not the only one and for all the same reasons.
For some reason Eminem’s Slim Shady kept invading my head while I tried to think of a persona to take on. I really didn’t want to write anything like that.
In the end, I fell back on a short story I wrote years ago at university; a fictional account of the Spanish Civil War which is a subject I care about deeply.
You convey so much with such economy – very moving! She’s real to me.