Writing inspired by the SWC creative writing prompt: The Previous Occupant
Who lived in the space you are in right now before you? Do you know about them?
If not, imagine a story explaining the scratch on the bedroom door frame, the cracked bathroom tile or the blue kitchen walls they left behind.
Meet You At Your Vantage Point
By Dagmar Bayer
The room as seen from your eyes when you leave it
A hare as seen from Albrecht Duerer
Albrecht Duerer as seen from a hare
And Hans Hoffmann
Painting the same hare
Or a hare alike
Hans Hoffmann as seen from Albrecht Duerer
A hare as seen from the eyes of a writer
A hare with amber eyes*
A novel as seen from millions of readers
A hare with amber eyes
A miniature as seen from a bookshelf
And a miniature within a miniature
An eye
The eye of a fly
A fossil fly within the amber substance
A bookshelf as seen from a fossil fly
A shiny wing
Indestructibly shiny in amber substance
Did the fossil fly suffocate in amber?
Are we too endangered to suffocate in time?
Or was it just trapped by time passing quietly
Like the boiling frog fable
Too much time passing too quickly, noticed too slowly
The sister as seen from the porter
The patient as seen from her sister
The second opinion as seen from another doctor
The tree in front of the window as seen from a passer by
The painting of a hare as seen from the bed
Time as seen from a fly
The room as seen when you leave it
No obligation to leave gently
Please – leave us a sign
Like a scratch in the door frame.
* Footnote: “The Hare with the Amber Eyes” is a novel written by Edmund de Waal and was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2010.
Love this thought-provoking poem, Dagmar. Many thanks for sharing it!
Thank you, Dagmar, for sharing this. Lovely!
Thank you for sharing this very provocative piece.. your written art is as substantial as your musical art.
Lovely!!!!! 🤗