OCA Creative Writing Course Assignment 4
Hope is a Sparrow
Hope is a sparrow
Settled on her nest
Wings folded around her
As she settles down to rest.
She’s camouflaged and tiny,
You might forget she’s there,
But come dark days and mindless black
She’ll sing through your despair.
Her wings are not as bright as Joy’s,
Nor her beak as sharp as Anger’s,
But unlike both she’s steady
And will bear through want and hunger.
Keep this little sparrow with you,
Don’t let her waste away,
She’ll be there when all else has flown
To remind you how to pray.
Stars
Listen.
Do you hear the night?
The soft singing of the stars
The deep thrum of the moon.
It is wild out there
Empty
Distant
Like the depths of some vast abandoned ocean.
Our eyes are attracted to the light
The mystery that shines above
Great diamonds in the black.
Yet diamonds are, and will always be, devoid of any life
Old Soldier
Broken body,
Shattered mind.
The scars a war does leave behind.
Unsteady hand,
Hard gripped crutch,
Simple tasks are now too much.
Dread of nightmares,
Dread of waking,
Signs that your strong grip is breaking.
Tight shut windows.
Double locked doors.
Wishing for a life once yours.
One step forward,
Two steps back,
Will this world forever stay black?
Hopeless grieving.
Empty spaces.
Nothing will ever fill their places.
Fear I’m fading,
Can’t hold on,
Why should it get better with you gone?
Lost in darkness,
Lost in pain,
Lost without the light you gave.
The Forge
This place is a furnace
So hot and red and desolate
Each day we’re laid upon the anvil
And beaten into shape.
Growing pains are normal
The end seems faraway
But when it comes, I hope to be,
A shining, brand new, me.
Reflective Commentary
The main reason I have liked this module is being able to spend time purely on poetry. I have never
written a poem on command before, and it was fun. Before this, I have written poetry, but never to any
guidelines or instructions; it was simply the way the words came out. I’ve enjoyed being able to look at
poetry from a ‘how to write’ perspective and be given some tips on what makes a poem work.
For example, in the exercises on line length, thinking about the speed a reader reads long lines, opposed
to short lines is something I have not thought about before. I have started to experiment with this in
my poetry. Understanding where to use abstract and concrete ideas was eye opening. This is
something I have been doing without realizing it. Now I am able to do it more consciously and my poem
‘Sparrow,’ is an exploration of using a concrete idea to express an abstract one. Another useful tool
from this module is writing a list of what I want to write poetry on. I now have a list of things that I may
want to write poetry on in the future. Seeing my list, I realize that I like writing poetry about characters
in my stories.
I also found time to read poetry, something I’ve never had much interest in until now, and enjoyed
reading poems on Pinterest, mostly by poets Atticus and e.h. whose poems I’ve admired before. I also
read from whatever poetry books I could get my hands on, for example ‘Fog on the Loir’ by Scott
Bywater and ‘Clearings’ by The JaCK Poets, and some from an anthology ‘Songs of Ourselves.’ All these
sources were helpful to see what others have done for future reference.
Books I have read this module include ‘Nightfall’ by Shannon Messenger, ‘The Wizards of Once’ by
Cressida Cowell, Artemis Fowl and Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer, Magnus Chase
and the Hammer of Thor by Rick Riorden, Thor’s Serpent by Kelly Armstrong and Melissa Mar,
Everybody’s Normal Until You Get to Know Them by John Ortberg, According to Jennings by Anthony
Buckeridge, God’s Smuggler by Brother Andrew, and Enders Game by Orson Scott Card.