And today’s Writing101 Poetry’s prompt is Graffiti by Andy Townend. You can see his poetry here.
My poetry of today has sweat and tears, as I attempted to practice the sonnet form. I wrote about Amsterdam squatters, and tried to write from their viewpoint.
I shot the featured image in an abandoned house in Amsterdam. Some of them were occupied by squatters. They occupy abandoned or unoccupied area of land and/or a building – usually residential – that they don’t own, rent or have lawful permission to use.
There are many residential squats in Dutch cities. We call it ‘Kraken’ in Dutch. Dutch squatters use the term krakers to refer to people who squat houses with the aim of living in them (as opposed to people who break into buildings for the purpose of vandalism or theft).
You can read the squatters story here that I posted back in June.
Et voilà, here is my take on the prompt.
We have no money, no affluence
You put your euros on real state
We have no roof, no fireplace
You have a ghost house to lay waste
We break doors like cannonballs
You send your men and call us vandals
We paint our voice on your walls
You see no art, only scandals
If poverty is our fate
And your wealth is your destiny
We can only commiserate
Imprinting walls with your tyranny
Diehards never die
Equality is just a lie
Bio: Andy is a photographer, writer and poet. British born, he has lived and worked in the UK, Australia, Serbia, and Belgium.
Andy’s first venture into blogging began in 2011 with belgradestreets, a project that resulted in the publication of two books featuring his photographs of Belgrade, Serbia, exhibitions, and a TV documentary. You can follow Andy on Twitter @andytownend and check out his work on andytownend.com, belgianstreets, and belgradestreets.
Oh yes! You got the motivations and the impetus for these works of art!
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What a combination–hard work indeed, and you must feel good about your result. The artwork is inspirational. Sometimes the obvious is a hard hitter and a strong way to end your poem: “equality is just a lie.”
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Really LOVE the poem and the graffiti.
Both very strong, thanks, Lucile
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Thank you, Anna. For reading and enjoying it.
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Thank you, on many levels, Lucile, a thoughtful, intelligent post. As always. Now, I think, for my post, I should have returned to Doel. And maybe I will, before I’m done.
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You’re very welcome, Andy. I loved the prompt and that made it delightful to make.
Don’t miss the opportunity in case you’re not going to be around anymore in the area.
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Wow, I can really hear the voice of the graffiti artist, and everything is so true in a sad way. Beautifully sad poem.
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Thank you so much for your comment. I truly appreciated it.
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The poetry seems to have a sad, barren message, yet the graffiti shows a colorful voice with a glimmer of hope! Beautifully done, Lucile! Great prompt from @andytownend!
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Thanks, Terri! Your comment is spot on.
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