NaPoWriMo Day 24 - "Squirrel"

The prompt:

Today’s (optional) prompt is a fun one. Find a factual article about an animal. A Wikipedia article or something from National Geographic would do nicely – just make sure it repeats the name of the animal a lot. Now, go back through the text and replace the name of the animal with something else – it could be something very abstract, like “sadness” or “my heart,” or something more concrete, like “the streetlight outside my window that won’t stop blinking.” You should wind up with some very funny and even touching combinations, which you can then rearrange and edit into a poem.

To be honest I struggled following the meaning of today's prompt, so I've gone a little off prompt, although I have taken on the animal theme. Since last Autumn we've been seeing squirrels go back and forth through our garden, especially after the girls left some acorns out for them, plus it seems that one of our neighbours has been leaving out peanuts too. All three kids love to see the squirrels and watch them as they dart about. So my poem has been inspired by them:

We watch as they hurry-pause
Hurry-pause along the fence
Paws full of acorn or nut
Taking a nibble
As tail flits and shakes
Signalling
Flutter-flutter
Wiggle
Squirrel semaphore
A dart now
Arrowing down to the water table
Drinking quick
And up again with a nod
A twitch
Then off
Up and over the shed roof

Head

Some people lose their heads
Over how others cover theirs
Many a comment has been said
Surrounding what another wears

It's more important what's in their heart
Appearance matters not
Be we will all be split apart
If we continue to allow this rot

Violence

Lying in bed listening
In the middle of the night
Awoken

The sound of the neighbour
Beating his partner
Broken

The sobs and the grief
And the bitter cries
Pained

Leaving their mark
On my imagination
Stained

A public display
With no attempt at pretence

A tragic drama
Of domestic violence

Fall

Should I pay this charge, they'll wonder
After all they've no one to call
And at their age it could happen at any time
A stumble and an embarrassing fall

But it's not something they've thought about before
But now there is fear in their mind
Whatever happened to the good in the world?
When people were helpful and kind?

It would give them peace of mind if they paid
And they're running out of cash so they're told
But they'll pay for nothing if they don't fall over
An insurance against getting old

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/pensioners-charged-26-falling-fee-7033931

Split

To die alone
In our society
Is becoming more
Of a normality

Families split
And we live apart
We remain that way
Until our souls depart

So where's the love?
And the friendship bonds?
The community
To which our heart responds?

We are not islands
We need one another
Parent to child
Sister to brother

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34943805

Fence

The neighbour kicked down the fence today
She seemed to think it was the only way
The only opportunity for her
To get a new fence...Err?

She wasn't happy with the one she's got
And the hadn't the time to let this one rot
So she stuck in her boot and out the planks flew
We watched, well, what else could you do?

The trouble is, her theory had holes
As now did the fence, between its end poles
The repairs were made with the planks she kicked out
And you begin to wonder, what was that all about?

GenRent

We only have a desire
To feel safe
Extricating ourselves
From the chafing relationship
Of tenant and landlord
The deprecating effect
Of paying rent
For nothing in return
But a months notice
To clear out
An incentive to feel a part
Not apart
From the community
To place roots
The immunity from depression
And desolation
Of society
And a space
To call home
Which we all deserve
Rather than to spend
Our working lives
Serving up half our wages
To the landowners
Going nowhere
On the treadmill
With each passing stage
Laying a fear to take
Wives and children
The price we pay
Is too dear
For those in the population
Suffering the everyday ordeal
Of Generation Rent

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/jul/22/pwc-report-generation-rent-to-grow-over-next-decade

Beats

The beats shudder
Through the walls
Piercing the hall
With a louder sound
Than the sterero
A constant
Do-dum-do
That pounds inside
Your head
Distracts and disturbs
Keeping you awake
In your bed
As the reverb rattles
"For God's sake"
You want to shout
But you doubt
They would hear you

Billowing

They're lined up outside
Billowing smoke
Like dragons
Cutting from school

Scratches of flame
Light up with their eyes
As they toke
Pull; Drag; Suck

Before cartwheeling
With practiced flick
Their dog-end to the floor
Scattering
Their polluting seeds

Which grow into filth
And decay
Becoming a fascination
For tiny hands