when the tower falls

we, the trapped, stay here at the foot of our tower of Babel,
remembering the film professor who said that every good movie
could be renamed “trapped” and it would stay the exact same.

do you think we are really trapped here? i cannot tell,
with wood up to my knees, my eyes, my everything,
waiting for the moment when my life crumbles down around me.

if i moved, perhaps the blocks would move; then again, they may not,
and who’s to say my footsteps won’t shake the ground they lay on,
won’t startle, like rabbits, the lifeforce that shakily pulls at us all,

the inevitability of death. it is never a question of if, but when,
and if we think it is an if, it is because the journey has just begun.

For falling of a tower aka destruction to be freeing- only you could think of something this great, winter!! I'm in awe of your unique idea to implement jenga into your theme, it's a game I have very fond memories of playing with my cousins growing up. There's also this subtle implication though that the narrator's life is tied to the stability of the ground, also disrupted by the fall? As if they're claiming death is the goal and ultimate freeing from bonds, oh I never looked at it this way! You're doing great, all the best this week!

Decided to do something really wacky with this one, as you can see! I can't quite tell how I like it, but I wanted it to look like a Jenga tower so here we are! This is inspired by and directly pulls from the lore of the newest We're All Gonna Die season of Smosh in collaboration with Jon Matteson and George Primavera. :] VERY niche reference but I'd love to hear thoughts on it even if you don't know it!! :]

Just felt inspired so decided to bang out another really quick one. Not super tidy but ah that's not what poetry is for :]

winter, I am in awe of pull. The unique formatting to appear like a Jenga tower, the dialogue asking for blocks to be pulled in between the character's thoughts, the way the thoughts keep going and going and going as more and more blocks are pulled, how it all falls apart at the end! Amazing. I can't stop thinking about it.

I'm loving the form and jenga tower inspo for this thread winter! Well done! I need to return to appreciate this more, but all of your poems are VERY pleasing to look at and that feeling of "dread" and urgency carries on through each poem so far too.

maybe i'll end up / wherever i'm supposed to / if there is such a place at all

I loved this trailing thought in midst of the disjointed line-breaks, it made the line feel sort of out of place like the concept of "finding" a place is too... Nice example of form mirroring content!

Here to talk about "pull." too! At some point toward the latter half of my first read, I remember thinking "oh look, the tower is stable now - there are no missing pieces anymore!" which contrasted in an interesting way with the increasing tension of the countdown. And then, when the tension snaps, we reach the end and see that the whole tower is essentially teetering on ONE PIECE!! AHH! The "and -- everything pauses" felt like a breath getting caught in the throat, like a gasp.

Your poems are so unique and inspiring! I also wanted to mention the shaping. I love the Jenga tower image and how that builds the poem. Fantastic work!!!

Soooo I'm insane and LOVE the badges so yes, I will be writing another three poems today to get the 7 in 7 days.

I don't really like this last one but EH it is what it is. :] There's only so many poems you can bang out in a day before you run a little dry on inspiration XDD Thanks for reading along :]