There was a poetry competition at the Dan O’Connell: Ted Lord asked for a line to give people and all the poems in the comp would have to use the line. I’d recently been walking in the rain and had come up with the line “the rain only strikes me every seventh drop”. I offered this to Ted and he liked it. So, on Saturday, I heard a bunch of poems by different people using my line.
Right up until Thursday, I hadn’t written my entry… but then a traumatic event occurred in my life and I ended up with the following poem, which, ironically, won the comp and the $100. I didn’t think that was quite fair, so I shouted all the other entrants a round. Enjoy!
major seventh
can’t stop
i am in shock
i run so fast
the rain only strikes me
every seventh drop
i am running
i am running
i am running
from the pain and anger
i am running
from the panic and the clock
from love and from heartache
from sympathy and need
i am running
spinning like a top
i am running
i am running
from responsibility
from knowing
from everything
i have a key without a lock
i run so fast
the pain only strikes me
every seventh shop
i can’t see
for the sweat in my eyes
i am running
i am running
from sadness, from disguise
i have a door without a knock
i run so fast
the gain only strikes me
every seventh crop
i am running
from interminable sadness
from a life
from this life
from trust
from hope
from loneliness
from the future
from the past
from today
i am running from everything
i am running from me