I’m not one for following rules! Even more so when reading instruction manuals, the very sight of them causes the same reaction in me as physics classes at school – my cognitive skills freeze!

However, I could not fail to be inspired by a creative writing prompt in my beautiful mslexia Diary & Planner.

This is what my mind saw: Take a favourite sentence. I had just the perfect one in mind:

‘Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.’ Confucius 

I came across these wise words for the first time earlier in the week while reading Khaya Ronkainen’s heartwarming and inspiring newsletter. (Do take a look at her wonderful poetry and blog here .)

Next, I believed I should place the sentence vertically down a page, a letter per line. Then create a poem or short fiction, starting with each letter on each line!

Creative ideas flowing I scribbled away with a satisfying whirl of energy. It became long; longer than I’d expected. Halfway through I returned to the instructions (quite typical for me!) and realised my piece was unravelling before me!

This was an acrostic writing exercise which involved selecting a sentence and listing the 14 words vertically. (Error #1 Mine was only 11 words) One should then make the first letter of each word into 14 new sentences or lines of poetry. (Error#2 I had made each letter of the sentence a new line – hence 50 line-long poem).

Instructions are great, and helpful at times yet they can be abandoned, as inspirations take us to new directions! Just so! Instead of scrapping my piece, I returned to it reinvigorated, daring!

I hope you enjoy my non-acrostic poem below and I wonder have you ever had any experiences where not following the instructions led to something new?

Listen

Listen!
I’m speaking
Fine
Except
I’m not.

Speak to me
Relish the moment 
Experience life
Accept it.

Listen
Lightly let your heart sing.

Yellow
Stains on your shirt
Immersed in fantasy
My imagination
Plays tricks.

Lions, or is it loins,
Enwrapped, enraptured,
Business, only business, you say.
Untruths, lies, fiction
Truth, tantalising close
Warped, twisted, broken
Especially from your mouth.

I sink down onto the chair,
Nestling amongst the blankets
Snug as a bug, as my mother used to say.
Insistent promises; you should become a writer.

Shut up, I whisper
Tornado of words whip
Over the coffee table, behind the TV.

Neither listen.

Me becomes we
Armed with history
Knitted over time.

Incorrigible, you really are, my Dad declared.  Was I? Am I?

Neither of us speak.

Groundhog Day number 63 or is it 541?
I forget.

The 
Clock
Oozes pain.
Mine and yours.

Please
Listen
I’m done
Come to me, though
As always, worn down.

Trust 
Eventually 
Destroyed. 

©Annika Perry, June 2024