Wednesday, April 20, 2022

WEP - A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall

 It's that time again. 

A new challenge was posted by the gals at the WEP. Write...Edit...Publish

Flash fiction at it's best! Are you game?

Then join the fun!

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A Hard Rain

She gazes and sighs

at the angry clouds

the surprisingly calm ocean

and the horizon so far

A Hard Rain is Gonna Fall

she questions her motives

is she validated

or just an attention seeker

all she wants

is freedom

independence

a life less hidden

but to achieve that goal

others will suffer

many will shake their heads

and say, what’d you expect

the girl's been off balance

her entire life

never did know

when she had it good

always seeking

never satisfied

I swear

even in death

she'll look for a third option

unsatisfied with Heaven

or Hell…

Yolanda Renee © 2022

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Your turn, just give it a try. 

A poem, a short story, flash fiction, or another artistic expression!


A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall has been described as the ‘most idiosyncratic protest song ever written.’ Bob Dylan, the Nobel Laureate and another 60's icon, wrote, composed and sung it in 1962 when he was only 21. It’s been covered by many artistes including Pete Seeger, Joan Baez and has never really stopped being sung ever since. Dylan has sold  more than 125 million records/albums making him one of the most popular artistes of all time.  

The form is modelled on the traditional ballad in the question and answer format, the themes being human suffering – pollution, warfare, isolation, angst. Sixty years after Dylan presented it at a performance at Carnegie Hall, the lyrics are striking in that how relevant they are still, how contemporary their feel and the depth of their appeal. Read more about the song here and here.

This one is wide open to all kinds of interpretations. Because human suffering – it’s as wide, deep and long as life is, of a trillion takes potential.

Use it to zoom in on our current ‘hard rain’ of covid. Chisel out your own pandemic flash from what’s going on around you.

Or weave a tale of some other woe – bleeding hammers, broken tongues, dead oceans, homes in the valley meeting damp, dirty prisons. The lyrics are epic, apocalyptic and offer rich pickings. Set your tale around the climate issues; the refugee crisis; the endless hardships that the hard rains of bullets and bombs, volcanic eruptions, oil spills have brought.

Or bypass all the bleakness and melancholy and simply spin a conversation between a parent and a child on some deep life issue. Or a light-hearted one. A million directions to go. The possibilities are endless.

 A freehand is what we give you,  you give the song a listen and see what happens...

Copied from the WEP Challenges page

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19 comments:

Denise Covey said...

Hi Renee! Glad you were able to post. What a succinct piece of poetry. People think they know what others are going through, but sadly, judgements are made with little understanding of the suffering known to some. "Judge not."

Elephant's Child said...

I love your take on this prompt. Judge not indeed - though too many do. Far too many.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Thanks Renee - lovely to read your poem ... we know not what is going to happen ... be kind as life takes us along ... cheers Hilary

Jemi Fraser said...

Awesome! We really don't know what people feel and experience, and sadly, many never make the effort to find out and help!

Olga Godim said...

Poignant and powerful.

N. R. Williams said...

I love your poem, Renee. I must confess, I don't understand the song at all and I'm a child of the sixties. Haha.
Nancy

L.G. Keltner said...

Wonderful poem! It's so easy to look at other people and judge without understanding what they are going through. Well done!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Hard person to look for a third option.

Nilanjana Bose said...

Will death allow travel between the various worlds? That girl is so me!! :) :) Loved your take, said so much in such a few words!

A Hundred Quills said...

Hi Renee. Wrote a piece on judgement today. This echoes so well. We are quick to seal fates.
-Sonia

Sally said...

Great writing - you are you - and nobody has the right to judge you unless you are a criminal, which I am sure the girl in the poem is not x

Carrie Ann said...

Ooo, a poem! Love the twist in the end! :)

Kalpana said...

Haven't we all felt that way? I appreciate how universal that feeling is and you drew it out. Your poem could be used for a writing prompt. I have already spun a tale in my head.

J Lenni Dorner said...

https://youtu.be/PHzOOQfhPFg No Doubt - Just A Girl
This actually reminds me more of this song instead of the prompt one.
I really liked it though.

desk49 said...

Not seen
yet hidden
deep within
ones mind.

Ornery Owl of Naughty Netherworld Press and Readers Roost said...

This could have been written about me. I still deal with suicide ideation, but not to the intense levels that I did when I was younger. I'm one of those people where Heaven wouldn't want me and Hell would be afraid that I'd take over. They'll probably just leave me here on Earth to haunt those who deserve a good haunting.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Never satisfied, always seeking. Great take on the prompt!

Anstice Brown said...

I love your poem. Society has always expected women to reign in their ambitions, to take up as little space as possible and to be grateful of the small freedoms granted to us because it's "better than it used to be." There's nothing wrong with wanting more and reaching for the stars. Why should we limit ourselves for fear of making others uncomfortable?

Deniz Bevan said...

I'm really impressed by all of you who wrote poems for this challenge. I miss writing poetry!